Site Closed

Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service closed the historic site starting March 14. That closure currently extends through May 17. Our production of “Guys and Dolls” has been postponed to spring 2021.

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Lincoln Online Oratory Project

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Have your students experience the power of oratory.

Using the words of President Lincoln, students will learn the historical context of a speech, the power of oratory and the fundamentals of performance and public speaking. As part of this distance learning program, students will:

  • Learn how to analyze and understand complex text
  • Learn our approach to effective public speaking and performance
  • Receive three free virtual lessons via video conference by a professional teaching artist (available to first 10 applicants)

At the end of this project, your class is invited to create a video of the speech they learned to showcase their performance skills. All participating class videos will be shared on our YouTube channel and potentially featured on our website.

The application window for the 2019-2020 school year is now closed. The application for the 2020-21 school year will open in June of 2020. Please come back to apply for the next school year!

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Meet Our Teaching Artists

A selected number of schools will have the privilege of receiving virtual classroom instruction to improve performance and public speaking techniques.

Hiedi Fortune

Heidi Fortune is a professional actor and teaching artist. Heidi holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts and a MA in Arts Administration from Winthrop University.

James Johnson (J.J.)

Johnson is a teaching artist and professional actor raised in Front Royal, VA and holds a BFA in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University. Johnson has worked with Theater J, Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Imagination Stage, Kennedy Center, among others.

Victoria Reinsel

Victoria Reinsel is a classically trained professional actor, director, and teaching artist. She holds an MFA and M.Litt in Shakespeare in Performance from Mary Baldwin College. Victoria has worked with Shakespeare Theatre Company, American Shakespeare Center, Orlando Shakespeare, Taffety Punk, Chesapeake Shakespeare, among others, and she co-founded Brave Spirits Theatre.