When we produced our first Shakespeare play more than ten years ago, we did it for ourselves — for the educational benefit of the kids involved. Over time, both our company and our audience have grown significantly, to the extent that we can now claim to have a real influence on the performing arts community of San Jose and its neighboring cities. Today, a typical Youth Shakespeare production has a cast of 30, a technical crew of about 10, at least 20 parent volunteers, and an audience of 500 or more over the course of 5 performances. One of the most interesting aspects of this community is that it represents a cross-section of ages and backgrounds. One of our defining principles is to encourage children of various ages to work together on productions that are in turn presented to people of all ages. We welcome new cast members into the group at the age of 8, and many of our members stay on until they leave for college. We welcome whole families to come and see our shows, offering free tickets to those who are 7 or younger, and we keep our young audience in mind when we are rehearsing. For example, we try to make the storyline very clear, and we tend to tackle the more accessible plays in the Shakespeare canon, avoiding some of the more difficult histories and tragedies. Part of our mission as a company is to develop new generations of cast, crew, and audience members who are interested in reading, performing, and watching Shakespeare's plays. Each new production brings new participants and new audience members into this community, and the entertainment and education benefits are continuously handed down.
