Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

Our mission is to: 1) use dramatic performance and participation to enrich young people’s educational experience in the arts and humanities; 2) inspire young people to see Shakespeare as relevant to their contemporary experience; 3) assist actors/teachers to further develop their own professional practice in relation to working with young people; 4) to assist teachers in the task of instructing dramatic presentation; and 5) To cultivate future audiences for theatre and the arts.

We believe Shakespeare can and should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age, culture, language, education or socio-economic background.

History of Organization

Shakespeare in Action (SIA) was founded in 1988 by Artistic Director, Michael Kelly. Since then, we continue to bring Shakespeare to young people through innovative programming.

1991 Shakespeare in prison - Michael Kelly brings Shakespeare to young offenders in prisons. Warden Andy Warren described the program as “a stimulating and vital experience."

1996 SIA produces, Romeo and Juliet – critics are impressed: “Why has this company been kept away from the public for so long when they do such interesting work?’’ - Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star.

1999 SIA tours New Zealand.

2000 SIA launches Shakespeare for Kids summer programs. It's instantly pronounced “innovative and fun” by C.B.C. As It Happens.

2006 SIA launches Shakespeare for Kids Library Club – Young people across GTA and in the 13 priority neighbourhoods gain access to free Saturday workshops.  

2008 SIA begins working on Mask and Madness in Macbeth – a new main-stage production, co-produced with Workman Arts, aimed changing the way we view mental illness.

2009 SIA launches the National Shakespeare Youth Festival.

2010 SIA becomes Company in Residence at Central Commerce Collegiate Highschool and produces a full season at the school's theatre.

2011 SIA launches Shakespeare in Action Virtual Lab: http://lab.shakespeareinaction.org/

Accolades and Accomplishments

• 2011 Michael Kelly wins the JBC Watkins Award from the Canada Council for the Arts for his work with Shakespeare in Action.
• 2007 Wins the Arts Education Partnership Initiative award from the Ontario Arts Foundation.
• 2003 SIA Artistic Director, Michael Kelly receives an Individual Artist Award from the Canada Council.
• 2001 SIA's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream wins a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Costume Design.
• 1999 Wins the Theatre International Pilot Program Award from the Canada Council for the Arts.
• 1994 Wins the Ontario Arts Council Award of Distinction for Arts Education.
• 1995 SIA receives a Special Project Award for Summer Youth Projects from the Toronto Arts Council.
• 1993 SIA is granted a Residency Program Award for Arts-In-Education from the Ontario Arts Council.

Programs

>Shakespeare for Kids Library Club

Shakespeare in Action remains the only fully professional company in Toronto committed to performing classical theatre for young audiences. We hire professional actors in accordance with CAEA regulations and provide actors with unique opportunities to work directly with young people in both an artistic and educational context. This allows artists to develop their professional practice of working with young audiences and heightens the experience of actors working in the classical theatre milieu.

Our main-stage productions are presented in Toronto, and we primarily tour performances to Toronto and Southern Ontario. We are initiating new programs designed to expand our geographical scope and increase our reach through regional and national touring. Currently, we service approximately 30,000 people per year.

This year we are undertaking an exciting season of artistic and outreach work, including:

• Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and The Diary of Anne Frank (Main-stage season)
• Shakespeare Alive (Secondary School tour)
• The National Shakespeare Youth Festival (Education outreach program)
• Shakespeare for Kids and Teens Summer Camps (Three locations; Summer)
• Shakespeare for Kids Library Club (30 branches of Toronto Public Library)
• Shakespeare Fight Club (Community outreach program)
• The SIA Virtual Lab (online teacher and student resource)
• Sonnets by Kids for Valentine’s Day (fundraising and educational program for youth aged 7 – 12)

As Artistic Company in Residence at Central Commerce Collegiate Institute, we now co-ordinate a 500-seat theatre, two rehearsal/performance studios, and an administrative office within the school.

Shakespeare for Kids Library Club

The Shakespeare for Kids Library Club is a unique program serving hundreds of children aged 7 – 12 each year across the City of Toronto. The program is run at 30 branches of the Toronto Public Library each year, mostly in neighbourhoods designated a priority by the City of Toronto. In 2010-11, the program was accessed over 3,250 times by 603 participants. At each branch, we run a total of 6 sessions, each of which run 2 hours. Over the 6 weeks, participants play drama games to stimulate creativity and movement, explore language exercises to develop vocabulary and self-confidence in speech, and are introduced to three of Shakespeare’s plays. Participants read from specially abridged readers-theatre scripts, created by Michael Kelly, our Artistic Director. Plays include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and Hamlet. Classes are taught by our specially trained artist-mentors, who have worked in professional theatre across Toronto, as well as trained as educators. We limit class sizes to 24 to ensure a high student to instructor ratio.

Funding and Program Partners

We are proud to partner with the Toronto Public Library and TD Financial to deliver the Shakespeare for Kids Library Club. For seven years, we have worked with the TPL to expand and evolve the project into it’s current form, and we are proud to have served over 2,500 young Torontonians to date, who have collectively accessed the program over 15,000 times. That has represented over 15,000 visits to local branches of the Toronto Public Library. The TPL has offered their unconditional support as we look to expand the program to a further 10 branches in 2012.

TD Financial is the key sponsor for the project. Each year, TD commits $80,000 to make the program a reality in the 30 branches we currently serve. TD have supported our project since 2007 and have increased their support with each new year.

Program Impact

In the six years since we started the Shakespeare for Kids Library Club, we have introduced over 2,500 young Torontonians to Shakespeare. The program has been accessed over 15,000 times. In 2010-11, 603 children participated in the program 3,248 times, an increase of 5% over the previous year’s figures. In many of the communities we serve, this is the only opportunity to explore theatre in a participatory, hands-on way, and is the only program of its kind that focuses on Shakespeare. In each of the branches we serve, the program is over-subscribed and there is intense demand from branches across the city to host the program.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

"Almost all Ontarians polled in 2010 (95%) believe that the arts enrich the quality of life"

(Toronto's Vital Signs® 2011)

The library is the heart of many Toronto neighbourhoods; it’s often the place newcomers go to first for access to community resources and support, and information in their home language.

Participant Vignette

Sasha is an 11 year old girl living in Toronto’s St James Town neighbourhood, designated a priority by The City of Toronto. Sasha attends a local school and does well academically, however, struggles with self-confidence and communication with others not in her direct family and community. Other than productions presented at her school, Sasha has never seen live theatre and her only contact with creative programming has been through an after-school project focused on visual arts. Sasha’s family are regular users of the Toronto Public Library branch in her neighbourhood and Sasha’s mother signed her up to participate in the Shakespeare for Kids Library Club. Sasha’s family was nervous about her attending the program as English was her second language and the family had not had contact with Shakespeare’s plays. Sasha was nervous about not knowing her fellow participants.

At her first session, her mentor, Kate Fenton, lead Sasha and her fellow participants through drama exercises and helped the participants to get to know one another. The group also played some word games and Sasha did very well. Kate identified Sasha as a bright student, but with a more limited vocabulary and weaker literacy skills than some of her peers in the group. Sasha enjoyed the first day and continued to participate in all of the 6 sessions offered at the branch. Over the course of the 6 weeks, Sasha read and performed scenes from 3 of Shakespeare’s plays, including Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet.

Kate worked intensively with Sasha, assisting her with her reading development and using an action-based approach to help make sense of the less familiar words in the plays. Sasha’s parents and teachers noticed a markable improvement in her reading skills, as well as an enhanced vocabulary. Most notably, Sasha’s self-confidence and communication skills improved. Sasha shared the stories and skills she learned in the program with her peers and class.