Meet Rodney Cottier

Associate Director
Rodney Cottier is the Associate Director, and was until recently Head of the Drama School at LAMDA, where he has had over forty years’ experience as a stage director and teacher of stage combat, acting and text, and where he has directed twenty-six plays from Shakespeare’s canon, as well as many by Shakespeare’s contemporaries: Webster, Middleton, Tourneur, Ford, and the later English Comedies of Manners by Congreve, Etherege, Vanbrugh, Shadwell. He now divides his time between LAMDA and North America, where to date he has visited one-hundred-and-eighty-four universities & theatre companies in thirty-five states, focusing on Shakespeare’s First Folio.

As a fight director, Rodney has worked at Shakespeare’s Globe as Master-of-Fight, choreographing Mark Rylance’s Hamlet, King Lear [twice, most recently with Kathryn Hunter], Two Noble Kinsmen, and Romeo & Juliet, as well as at the Royal Opera House, English and Welsh National Opera, the National Theatre Studio and many regional theatres.
Headshot black and white Rodney

US & Virtual Masterclass Series

As a guest lecturer, Rodney has visited, to date, one-hundred-and-eighty-four universities & theatre companies in thirty-five states, focusing on Shakespeare’s First Folio. Rodney tailors the masterclasses he delivers to the institution.

Enquire about booking    About Shakespeare Masterclasses

Shakespeare Summer Schools at LAMDA

Immerse yourself in Shakespeare's work and experience LAMDA's training for yourself in our 4 or 8-week summer school programmes. Spend an unforgettable summer of classical actor training in the city of London, bringing Shakespeare's texts to life.

Find out more

Rodney knows his subject so well, it’s as if he compiled the Folio himself.

- Participant, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Rodney's lecture is immediate, funny and super entertaining. I wish I had him in the classroom for every Shakespeare class. The students were discovering things about Shakespeare and themselves they never thought of before.

- Professor, University of Illinois Chicago

His respect and passion for the text is truly contagious.

- Education Manager, Guthrie Theater

An expert in his field and I recommend him highly to any theater department.

- Board Member, California Educational Theatre Organization

Rodney's First Folio Masterclass is an interactive, caffeinated tour through the skills of analyzing and performing Shakespearean text. Highly recommended for both beginning to accomplished theatre and literature students [he] never fails to enlighten and entertain.

-Theater Professor, University of Redlands

His Socratic chops are masterful. Offering them a treasure trove of craft — Thank you! 


- Chair, Fordham University

Such a brilliant workshop, so enriching, and a sincere pleasure to participate. I'm looking forward to the possibility of future LAMDA programming!

-Participant, Princeton University

Exhilarating, and marvelous. It was a
magical morning.

- Participant, Portland State

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