Statement from Our Director

An update from Director Paul R. Tetreault on anti-racist work and the 2020-2021 season at Ford’s Theatre.

Read Statement

Lincoln Online Oratory Project

Breadcrumb

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 five free virtual lessons via video conference by a professional teaching artist

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 for the 2020-21 school year is now open! Deadline for application is December 11, 2020.

Apply

Featured Projects

3 Videos

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.

Scott Ward Abernethy

Scott was raised in Pennsylvania and holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Washington. He’s been an acting instructor and private coach throughout the DMV for 4 years. His acting career includes productions with the Kennedy Center, Constellation Theatre, Longacre Lee, Rep Stage, Keegan Theatre, ACT, Seattle Shakespeare Co, Book-it Rep, New City Theatre and Sound Theatre. His film work includes The Infection, Off the Record and Only Connect.

Heidi 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.

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.