Milwaukee Shakespeare

Milwaukee, WI

The mission of Milwaukee Shakespeare is to create theater experiences of uncompromising artistry that tell the stories of William Shakespeare with clarity and innovation. Now in its eighth season, Milwaukee Shakespeare is the only professional theater in Milwaukee devoted exclusively to the presentation of Shakespeare's works. With a three-production season and year-long educational programming, the company draws from the rich pool of Milwaukee-based actors, designers, and directors, as well as national and international talent.

Milwaukee Shakespeare's education department seeks to transform the lives of our community through outreach that promotes a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare's works. To this end, productions of 2 Henry IV (part of a four-year epic history series entitled REBEL & KING), Twelfth Night, and Cymbeline will each feature student matinee performances and talkbacks, with up to 3,600 students and educators attending these matinees. Workshops for students both in conjunction with and beyond the season productions' content will reach in-school and extracurricular groups. In addition, longer-term residencies with Milwaukee Shakespeare teaching artists will build a more intimate connection with theater and language arts curricula in partner schools. Institutionalized this year, Milwaukee Shakespeare's “Night Out” offers subsidized tickets to evening or weekend performances and personal pre-performance preparation to underserved student groups. Finally, the company will embark upon curriculum research and development to align programming with state and local standards. Working with local educators, the Milwaukee Shakespeare Junior Board (comprised of junior high and high school students), and artists, the education department will study how to sculpt teaching-artist approaches to support those standards, while vitally engaging students' imaginations in the study of Shakespeare's text. For all programming, cultivation of Milwaukee Public Schools and Parental Choice Program schools within the Milwaukee County area is top priority, but outreach is expected to extend to more than 60 schools or school groups in a nine-county area in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

http://www.milwaukeeshakespeare.com/