Photo Credit: Photo by Craig Schwartz, courtesy of A Noise Within
A Noise Within performs Midsummer Night's Dream, featuring Trisha Miller, Greta Donnelly, Rachel Han, Lauren Sosa.
$1.17 million will support Shakespeare programming for young people across America.
Today, Arts Midwest announced the recipients of $1.17 million ($1,172,579) in Shakespeare in American Communities grants, with $1 million ($1,002,580) going to 43 professional theater companies partnering with schools, and $170,000 going to 7 organizations working with students in the juvenile justice system.
“Shakespeare in American Communities brings meaningful concepts and stories to life for students across the country. Through live theater, these grantees provide invaluable opportunities for young minds to cultivate empathy, deepen understanding, and ignite a lifelong passion for creativity.”
Joshua Feist, Grants Officer at Arts Midwest
Photo Credit: American Players Theatre of Wisconsin
American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Student Workshop at Mount Horeb High School in Mount Horeb, WI. From left, APT Actors Casey Hoekstra, Rasell Holt, and Trevyn Wong
Celebrating its 21st year in 2024, Shakespeare in American Communities is a theater program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The program supports high-quality productions and educational activities exploring the work of William Shakespeare in middle schools, high schools, and juvenile justice facilities throughout the United States.
Theater companies are able to choose to either perform a play by Shakespeare or conduct performances that use the works of William Shakespeare as an inspiration. Paired with these performances, each company will host educational activities with students to creatively explore Shakespeare’s work and its context. These performances and educational events will take place between August 1, 2024 and July 31, 2025.
Applicants can choose a range of grant awards ($15k-$25k) to help smaller organizations meet the required match more easily. Four new Juvenile Justice grantees were awarded this year and six new grantees were awarded Schools grants.
140
Theater companies and organizations have taken part in Shakespeare in American Communities
62,000
Educational activities have taken place at more than 12,400 schools and juvenile justice facilities
4,900
Communities have been reached in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia since 2003
“The experience of seeing a live, professional theater production can be eye-opening and transformative, especially when paired with educational activities that help students further understand the meaning of a play and the process by which it is created. We are pleased to continue our 20+ year history of helping theater companies expand their reach, including to students in rural and other underserved communities who might not otherwise have access to this opportunity.
National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD.
Shakespeare in American Communities: Juvenile Justice
FY2024 New York
Drama Club will bring Shakespeare’s text to life in ELA classes in 2 District 79 schools for adjudicated youth in NYC. Students will explore the language and themes of Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, or Julius Caesar through improvisation as they build a culminating performance demonstrating their grasp of the material and its relevance to their lives.
Black Arts MKE will celebrate the genius of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” to engage & empower youth by leveraging the characters who are challenging the status quo to inspire self-discovery, critical thinking & personal growth. Free student matinees & engaging activities (reflection journals, character monologues, etc)will empower youth to find their own voices via self-expression will be offered.
Barter Theatre’s 2025 production of Hamlet will be performed at its 167-seat Smith Theatre for 9th-12th grade students in Central Appalachia. This production will highlight the similarities between the lives of the students of this region and Hamlet’s, and it will feature talkbacks and workshops designed to help Appalachian students claim Shakespeare as their own.
Marin Shakespeare Company will provide a free, 1-hour, bilingual adaptation of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. In this romantic comedy, the men will mainly speak Spanish and the women English, adding a new layer to Shakespeare’s comedy. Student groups may also receive free transportation and pre- and post-show classroom visits from actors. Our region has a high number of Spanish-speaking students.
Explore the Grantees
Below are lists of theater companies selected to participate in the Shakespeare in American Communities program for 2024-25. Or, explore all grantees in Arts Midwest’s searchable grantee database.
Shakespeare in American Communities: Juvenile Justice
Grants to support theater education programs in juvenile justice facilities that illuminate the works of Shakespeare and addresses his work in modern context.
Theatre Company/Organization
City
State
Award
Southwest Shakespeare Company
Mesa
AZ
$25,857
Gateway Regional Arts Center
Mt. Sterling
KY
$19,857
Youth Arts: Unlocked
Swartz Creek
MI
$25,857
¡Oye! Group
Ridgewood
NY
$25,857
Drama Club
Jackson Heights
NY
$25,857
Junior Players
Dallas
TX
$25,857
Texas Shakespeare Festival
Kilgore
TX
$20,857
TOTAL
$169,999
Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools
Grants to support performances of Shakespeare and related educational activities for students from five or more schools.