Public Announces Shakespeare Initiative for Teens

By Adam Hetrick
15 Dec 2009

The Public Theater will introduce New York City teens to the classics as part of the new Shakespeare Initiative, which will launch in summer 2010.

The first program will be a conservatory-style day camp for young aspiring actors. A Midsummer Day's Camp will run weekdays from Aug. 2-13, 2010, and will culminate in a performance at the Public Theater on Aug. 14, 2010. Curriculum includes acting, voice, movement, games, text analysis, clowning and stage combat. Faculty from the Public's Shakespeare Lab will lead the day camp.

Also offered will be a five-day intensive entitled Shakespeare Spring Break, running March 29-April 2, 2010. The workshop will focus on The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's Tale, which are being presented by Shakespeare in the Park this summer. The performance-based program will also center on textual analysis of the plays.

"The idea behind the Shakespeare Initiative is the same one that's always driven The Public Theater's work: to make Shakespeare accessible to the widest possible audience, and no segment of the audience is more vital to Shakespeare's future than young people," Shakespeare Initiative director Barry Edelstein said in a statement. "These programs are designed to engage teenagers' hearts and imaginations, and, we hope, plant in them a lifelong love for this wonderful material."

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