THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company has opened registration for high school students who will work, learn and perform alongside its professional actors this summer.

The 13- to 19-year-olds in the Rhodes Junior Apprentice Company will take biweekly classes taught by Kingsmen Shakespeare Company actors. Classes andrehearsals will cover improvisation, voice and movement for Shakespearean acting, advanced acting techniques, stage combat, the structure of Shakespearean verse, line interpretation, character development and staging.

Under the direction of Andy Babinksy, a member of the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company who has taught and directed in the organization’s Summer Theatre Camp for 8- to 16-year-olds, the students will present “Twelfth Night” at 6:30 p.m. July 26, 2 p.m. July 28, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 2 and 2 p.m. Aug. 4.

The apprentices will write Shakespeare-spoofing skits that they will present in Will’s Corner before each of the festival’s main productions this summer. They also will interact with audience members as part of the “Greenshow” pre-show entertainment, work backstage, stuff programs and sell refreshments.

Classes and rehearsals begin June 19 and continue through the festival’s run. This year’s festival, which will feature “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Romeo and Juliet,” is slated from June 29 through Aug. 5. Pre-show entertainment featuring the Rhodes Junior Apprentices and college-aged apprentices begins at 6:45 p.m., and shows begin at 8 p.m.

The junior apprentice program is named in honor of Rick Rhodes, an Emmy Award-winning composer from Oak Park who coordinated it for many years before he died in 2005.

The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, the professional theater company of CLU, coordinates apprentice programs for professional and aspiring Shakespearean actors and provides an educational tour program in local schools and summer theater camps in addition to presenting the annual festival.

The junior apprentice program costs $300. Students can apply online at www.kingsmenshakespeare.org. For more information, call 805-493-3014