{"id":1675,"date":"2012-07-06T07:11:23","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T11:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2012-07-06T07:12:10","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T11:12:10","slug":"shakespeare-festival-st-louis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/07\/shakespeare-festival-st-louis\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare Festival St. Louis"},"content":{"rendered":"

EM’s List<\/a> Member<\/strong>
\nShakespeare in the Streets of St. Louis<\/strong>
\n[This post is by EM’s List Editor\/Curator,<\/strong> Stephanie Moore<\/a><\/strong><\/em>]<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.sfstl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/shakespeare\/layout\/images\/logo.png\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis<\/a>, founded in 2001, can be spotted in the schools, in the streets, and in the parks of St. Louis, Missouri. Through a variety of educational workshops and tours, community involvement, and the production of a full-scale Shakespearean play, the Festival connects with over 85,000 community members a year.<\/p>\n

The core values of the Festival\u2013Community, Conversation, and Collaboration\u2013have led them to develop two community-focused programs: Shakespeare in the Streets and Shake 38. These programs encourage community members to connect with Shakespeare\u2019s works by being part of the adaptation and performance on a new play or by reading plays in unusual spaces.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare in the Streets<\/a>, sponsored by PNC Arts Alive & the National Endowment for the Arts, engages an entire neighborhood in the process of adapting and performing a Shakespearean work addressing the unique community identity of the residents. The Festival hopes that this program will energize residents and allow them to share their neighborhoods character with the Greater St. Louis community.<\/p>\n

Local Benton Park\/Gravois Park\/Cherokee Street business owners and residents created the inaugural play, The New World<\/em>, in collaboration with a creative team from the Festival. Throughout the year the creative team attended neighborhood events and meetings, engaging residents and community leaders in discussion about the history and current concerns of the neighborhood. The playwright, Nancy Bell, then combined the stories from residents, Shakespeare\u2019s The Tempest<\/em>, and her own impressions of the neighborhood to create the script.<\/p>\n

The cast was full of diverse community members. Kids and local business owners shared the stage with professional actors. Following one month of intense rehearsals the cast presented three free performances of The New World<\/em> at the intersection of Cherokee Street & California Avenue April 27-29, 2012. The audience of over 350 was comprised of Shakespeare lovers, neighborhood kids, and people who just happened upon the stage blocking the street.<\/p>\n

This program is one that illustrates the idea that community ownership in the creative process can go a long way to opening doors for honest dialogue around community concerns and successes.<\/p>\n

Shake 38<\/a> is a marathon of Shakespeare readings that lead up to the opening performance of the annual Shakespeare performance in Forest Park. For the 2012 season all 38 plays will be read over 5 days leading up to the full-scale production of Othello in Forest Park. This marathon creates a buzz in the community as it prepares St. Louis for the main event: free Shakespeare in the Park!<\/p>\n

In collaboration with other non-profits throughout St. Louis The Festival hosts multiple Shake 38 events and encourages readings at hospitals, nursing home, community gardens, or any other place imaginable. The Festival also offers \u201cBlind Shakes,\u201d which are similar to blind dates for Shakespeare enthusiasts. These \u201cBlind Shakes\u201d are readings of a play by whomever shows up at the time and place indicated on the schedule.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis has taken their core values to heart and created two programs that not only immerse the community in theater but also fully engage them in dialogue about their own neighborhood.<\/p>\n

————<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EM’s List Member Shakespeare in the Streets of St. Louis [This post is by EM’s List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, founded in 2001, can be spotted in the schools, in the streets, and in the parks of St. Louis, Missouri. Through a variety of educational workshops and tours, community involvement, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[12,13,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-1675","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ems-list","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-community-engagement","9":"tag-examples-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-r1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1839,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/09\/passage-theatre-company\/","url_meta":{"origin":1675,"position":0},"title":"Passage Theatre Company","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"EM's List Member Shakespeare in the Streets of St. Louis [This post is by EM's List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Passage Theatre Company: Showcasing the People of Trenton, NJ Passage Theatre Company has been a part of the Trenton, NJ cultural scene for over 25 years. 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A contemporary, one-hour children\u2019s opera,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EM's List"","block_context":{"text":"EM's List","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/ems-list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Atlanta.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1339,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/04\/ems-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":1675,"position":2},"title":"EM’s List","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In Bimodal Engagement, I intimated that there was a plot afoot at Engaging Matters to spread the word about great examples of arts and community engagement activities. The form the plot will take is a recognition list called EM's List (Engaging Matters: EM. Maybe not clever but, for me, easy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EM's List"","block_context":{"text":"EM's List","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/ems-list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/StephanieMooreColor.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2082,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/11\/leap-into-community-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":1675,"position":3},"title":"Leap into Community Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"ArtsEngaged in Illinois ArtsEngaged is coming to Illinois! I will be presenting my workshop Mainstreaming Engagement for the Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and Illinois\u2019 Local Arts Network on Thursday, November 15 (Oak Park, IL) and Friday, November 16 (Peoria). Thursday, November 15, 2012 9:30 am - noon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EM's List"","block_context":{"text":"EM's List","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/ems-list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Chopsticks-300x174.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1431,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/04\/mca-chicago\/","url_meta":{"origin":1675,"position":4},"title":"EM’s List: Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"EM's List Member A Community Engagement Residency [This post is by EM's List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago positions it as an innovative and compelling contemporary art center where diverse audiences can experience works and ideas of contemporary artists as well as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EM's List"","block_context":{"text":"EM's List","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/ems-list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Bean-Chicago.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1931,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/09\/citizen-musician-initiative\/","url_meta":{"origin":1675,"position":5},"title":"Citizen Musician Initiative","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"EM's List Member Citizen Musicians [This post is by EM's List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Citizen Musician Initiative: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Who are Citizen Musicians? 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