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Shakespeare in American Communities Continues with Shakespeare for a New Generation
This stage isn't located in New York or Chicago. It's the stage of a local high school in a rural town. And the audience isn't your typical dinner-and-a-show crowd. Instead, middle and high school students are experiencing live Shakespeare, some for the first time. This is the scene in many towns across America as the National Endowment for
the Arts, in partnership with The Sallie Mae Fund and Arts Midwest, a regional
arts organization based in Minneapolis, launches Shakespeare in American
Communities Phase II: Shakespeare for a New Generation. Shakespeare for a New
Generation will provide middle and high school students—many of whom have
never seen a professional play due to geography, economic conditions,
disabilities, or other difficulties—the opportunity to experience a
professional production of the greatest playwright in the English language.
Shakespeare for a New Generation builds on the success of Shakespeare in American Communities, which is bringing Shakespeare's plays produced by seven noted professional theater companies to communities and military bases across the country. Most Americans under the age of 18 have never seen a live professional play. Through the two phases of Shakespeare in American Communities, the NEA expects to reach up to one million students. "The unqualified success of the first phase of Shakespeare in American Communities resulted in many more communities eager to participate in this program. With Phase II, we will bring the finest new productions of Shakespeare to hundreds of additional schools and communities," Dana Gioia, NEA chairman, said at the project's Phase II announcement on January 8, 2004. "We've received letters and e-mails from teachers and students who've taken part in Phase I, saying it opened up a whole new awareness of theater and of language for them." As part of the program, 21 professional theater companies, selected by a
panel, will receive matching funds, ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, to support
activities for students from at least 10 schools in their community, state, or
region during the 2004-05 school year.
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As the lights of the theater dim, the audience settles down. The curtains
rise to reveal a world of love, tragedy, and comedy. The audience is enthralled
by the words of William Shakespeare and finds the play's themes are
relevant to their lives today.
