“It’s interesting to get a different perspective from the professionals,” she said. “It’s exciting.”

Obradovich was one of many students to attend a series of classes hosted by a group of actors from the Stratford Festival. The festival is a seasonal chain of Shakespearean plays and performances that take place in Stratford, Ontario, every year.

Stratford actors Nicolas Van Burek and Brad Rudy led Thursday’s class among others throughout the week at MSU.

Van Burek said a group of Stratford actors visit schools across Canada and Michigan and instruct theater-based courses on topics such as monologue scenes, drama courses and stage combat.

“It’s a bit of a mix of all sorts of stuff,” Rudy said. “The response from students seems to be pretty good.”

Debbie Gift, director of education programs at Wharton Center, has collaborated with MSU staff, students and Stratford actors to organize the sessions for this week.

Gift also has taken the actors to several high schools surrounding Lansing to work with their students.

She said the actors are hosting a combination of events open to the public and classes specifically for students in certain university departments.

“With MSU’s global face, it’s important to expose students to experts from around the world,” Gift said.

Van Burek said their classes were designed as an addition to the curriculum that already exists at MSU.

“The whole purpose of us coming here is to give something to students who may not otherwise have had a chance to be exposed to something like this,” he said. “We are deepening and broadening their understanding.”

A string of MSU organizations have sponsored the week-long visit from the Stratford actors.

The Stratford Festival hosted a one-man performance Thursday evening by Tony Award-winning actor Brian Bedford entitled “The Lover, the Lunatic and the Poet.”

On Friday, Bedford will direct an artist insight session from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and a classical acting class from 2:30-4 p.m. — both at Fairchild Theatre.