Arts Midwest today announced the recipients of $1.17 million in Shakespeare in American Communities grants, with $1 million going to 40 professional theater companies partnering with schools, and $170,000 going to 10 organizations partnering with facilities in the juvenile justice system.

Teaching Artist Symone Williams with students during a classroom session of The Romeo and Juliet Project at Bartlett Freshman Academy in Bartlett, TN in early 2020. Photo by Merit Koch, courtesy of Tennessee Shakespeare Co.

Now in its 19th year, Shakespeare in American Communities is a theater program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. By providing grants to theater companies that produce Shakespeare’s works, the program supports high-quality productions and educational activities in middle schools, high schools, and juvenile justice facilities throughout the United States. These performances and educational events may take place virtually or in person between August 1, 2021, and July 31, 2022.

“After a year filled with ever-changing circumstances within communities, Shakespeare in American Communities is proud to support theater companies and organizations as they work alongside educators to bring live experiences back to students.” said Christy Dickinson, Senior Program Director at Arts Midwest. “Theater educators and teaching artists across America are planning in-person and creative hybrid approaches that connect young people with William Shakespeare’s plays. This programming helps students develop social and emotional skills important to their success.”

“Through its expressive power, the arts have an enormous capacity to connect people across divides,” said National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Delving into the stories and characters of William Shakespeare is particularly fitting now, as we begin to emerge from the pandemic and reengage more fully with the people and issues in our communities.”

Examples of projects supported:

2021 Shakespeare

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

Cincinnati, OH

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Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is planning a production of Romeo and Juliet on their Mainstage and will provide student matinees for middle and high school students coming from Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana.

Alongside these performances, students will receive pre- and post-show discussions, backstage tours, workshops, and in-school residencies. The Company can deliver this content virtually, as needed, to continue to adapt to circumstances that may arise.

San Francisco Shakespeare Festival

San Francisco, CA

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San Francisco Shakespeare Festival (San Francisco, CA) will tour The Merry Wives of Windsor to schools in remote communities and to those with large immigrant populations.

The production will be cast and directed in accordance with the company’s values of inclusion and interrogation and will be adapted to fit into a one-hour class period with an open conversation afterwards with the actors. Teachers will receive a three-week study guide in advance to the show to prepare their students. There is an option to add-on an actor led Playshop to enhance students’ engagement.

The Classical Theatre of Harlem

New York, NY

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The Young Company, a collaboration of the The Classical Theatre of Harlem with Columbia University School of Arts MFA Theater program, provides graduate actors the opportunity to gain experience as teaching artists while working with diverse and artistically underserved middle and high school students in New York City.

The company will perform a live production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and lead in-school workshops to facilitate students’ rich exploration of the text and themes of the play. This program is offered to schools with greatly reduced or free tickets to the performance.

Since the program’s inception in 2003, Shakespeare in American Communities has introduced more than three million middle and high school students to the power of live theater and the masterpieces of William Shakespeare. The program has supported more than 13,200 performances and 52,000 related educational activities at more than 11,500 schools and juvenile justice facilities in 4,700 communities in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. One hundred and twenty-seven theater companies and organizations across the United States have taken part in the program, presenting 34 of Shakespeare’s 37 total plays.

Grantee Companies and Organizations for 2021-2022

Below are the theater companies working in schools and the organizations that will work in juvenile justice facilities selected to participate in the program for 2021- 2022.

Shakespeare in American Communities is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.