Why These Plays Still Matter.
Shakespeare’s words still move us. His plays are full of questions and feelings that live in all of us. “To be, or not to be?” “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” “What’s in a name?” These moments of truth remind us what it means to be human.
Facing the Hard Truths
Of course, there’s another side. Shakespeare's work also reflects ideas we now reject. Women treated as property. Outsiders mocked or reduced to caricatures. Harmful images of race and power that do not belong on today’s stage without question. These plays were written in a world that no longer exists, and their continued presence in our culture must be examined thoughtfully. Not everything in these texts is worthy of celebration, but that does not mean we throw them out. It means we take responsibility for how we use them.
Building a Reflective Stage
We believe that if these plays are created with care—crafted intentionally, with our community’s full range of voices—they can still do what they’ve always done at their best: bring people together. In the audience and on stage, you’ll find a wide mix of people: young and old, rich and poor, religious and secular, Black, White, Latinx, Asian, queer, straight, and everything in between. We are complex. These plays are complex. When treated with care and curiosity, they make space for that complexity. They become mirrors that show us who we are—and how much we share.
The Responsibility of Telling
Honoring the shared stage means making deliberate choices about how we tell these stories—and who gets to tell them.
Conscious Casting and Collaboration
That’s why we don’t ignore the hard parts of Shakespeare. We face them directly. Our casting is always culturally-specific and consciously chosen. We reject the idea of “colorblind” storytelling. Instead, we commit to casting that reflects our full community and honors the cultural context of each role. We want our artists to bring their whole selves into the work, including the conversations that happen in the room. Every voice in the process matters. There is no single “correct” interpretation—only thoughtful, respectful collaboration rooted in listening and lived experience.
Honoring the Craft
This work demands skill. The structure and language of these plays are intricate and rich, and they ask a lot from the artists who perform them. That’s why we also invest in training—especially for young or emerging artists who haven’t yet had access to this kind of work. We believe these plays should be a tool, not a gate.
Why Live Performance Matters
We do all this because we believe live performance matters. There is nothing like being in the room when a story unfolds—no pause button, no rewind. Just people, together, feeling something real. When we do it right, that shared experience opens a door to empathy. And empathy, we believe, is how healing begins.
