Actors' Shakespeare Project

Somerville, Massachusetts

Founded in 2004, Actors' Shakespeare Project has produced 19 plays in 13 unconventional venues throughout metro Boston, has launched education and outreach programs, and has garnered outstanding reviews and recognition. Simplicity, engagement, relevance, and relationships are the heart of the company's work and its outreach to underserved youths, with the understanding that all youths are vulnerable and all youths are valuable. The company believes that Shakespeare's words are relevant to our times, and it brings these words into the voices, bodies, and imaginations of its actors, audiences, and neighborhoods. Actors' Shakespeare Project approaches each Shakespeare play as the centerpiece of an extensive residency for adults, teachers, and youths that takes place in schools, after school in neighborhood service agencies, and at facilities operated by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services.

As part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, Actors' Shakespeare Project will work with students in 10 underserved metro-Boston schools around the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Othello. Activities will include lesson plans designed by Curriculum Specialist Lori Shaller; school-based visits conducted by a team of teaching artists; open rehearsals with director's talk and actor discussion; post-play discussions with the cast; and post-production workshops, including acting exercises and games to further explore the plays and relate them to students' lives. In addition, at least one teacher from each of the schools will attend the week-long Teachers Institute at Salem State College.

Educational Residencies for Juvenile Offenders
Actors' Shakespeare Project's Incarcerated Youth at Play program brings Shakespeare's rich dialogue and resonant themes to new life within the voices and bodies of youths in lock-up or on probation, as well as in the adults who work with these youths. Through exploring the language and the characters who speak it, these youths make powerful, personal connections to their own lives and their world. The program includes residencies in lock-up or treatment facilities and probation programs, and includes Department of Youth Services teacher training.

Visit them at: www.actorsshakespeareproject.org