Masterclass 2026: Getting to Know Heartbreak House

Getting to Know Heartbreak House A two day workshop with Elizabeth Swain

As a way to prepare for Antaeus’s first production of the season, we invite you to explore George Bernard Shaw's sparkling comedy, Heartbreak House. Our Company Member, Elizabeth Swain, will lead you through an in-depth exploration, which Shaw subtitled: "A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes." You’ll read sections of the play aloud, discuss how actors approach the roles and scenes, and learn what makes Shaw such a unique, incisive and hilarious playwright. As always, participants will have a chance to share their own impressions and ask questions of Elizabeth and the group. *Please note, students under 18 require permission from the moderator to take this academy class. If you’re in this category, please reach out to us at academy@antaeus.org.

About Elizabeth Swain Elizabeth Swain (elizabethswain.net) is a director, actor and teacher, and a member of ANTAEUS. Directing includes Two Noble Kinsmen and Romeo and Juliet for The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival, The 6th Act’s An Evening of Betrayal, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Measure for Measure co-directed with Armin Shimerman, and Marston’s The Malcontent for ANTAEUS, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth for CSULB. She has directed staged readings for Classical Theatre Lab and ANTAEUS. As an actor she has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway and in many regional theaters, including The LA Women’s Shakespeare Company and ANTAEUS (The Curse of Oedipus, Macbeth, Top Girls). She has taught at Cal Arts, Barnard College and is Professor Emerita at Marymount Manhattan College. She was awarded an NEH Fellowship to study at Shakespeare’s Globe in London and holds a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center.