Tennessee Shakespeare Company Receives Arts Midwest Grant

Arts Midwest today announced $1 million in grants to 40 nonprofit, professional theater companies across 26 states, plus the District of Columbia, to perform the works of William Shakespeare for students through Shakespeare in American Communities.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company was announced as one of the 40 recipients (one of only six in the southeastern U.S.) for the second time in its history. The grant will support TSC's innovative and successful Romeo and Juliet Project in underserved Freshman high school classes in 2016-17.

The awards mark the fourteenth consecutive year of Shakespeare in American Communities, a national program managed by Arts Midwest in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Each of the participating theater companies will present productions of Shakespeare plays to students from at least 10 schools. Accompanying educational activities include in-school residencies, workshops, or post-performance discussions. Performances will take place between August 1, 2016, and July 31, 2017.

Since the program's inception in 2003, Shakespeare in American Communities has introduced middle and high school students to the power of live theater and the masterpieces of William Shakespeare, benefiting more than 2.8 million individuals, including 2.3 million students, with live performances and educational activities.

In this 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death, both the Shakespeare in American Communities program and Shakespeare's work continue to be relevant. "Each year, the theater companies we support present Shakespeare's plays to a new group of middle and high schoolers across the country," said Susan Chandler, Arts Midwest's vice president. "And those students discover-through the artistry of these 40 outstanding theater companies-that Shakespeare wrote about the joy of young love, the perils of war, and the inequity of racial injustice. We are grateful that the National Endowment for the Arts' partnership with us opens students' eyes to Shakespeare and all the meaningful issues he wrote about that continue to resonate today."

One hundred and four theater companies across the United States have taken part in Shakespeare in American Communities since 2003. These companies have presented 33 Shakespeare plays through 10,500 performances and 32,500 educational activities at more than 8,500 schools in 3,600 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Please view the complete list of the 40 theatre companies that have been selected to participate in Shakespeare in American Communities for 2016-2017 here: http://www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org/sites/shakespeareinamericancommunities.org/files/list_of_award_recipients.pdf

Additionally, to enhance the educational impact of Shakespeare in American Communities, Arts Midwest and the NEA have developed a comprehensive Shakespeare in American Communities website in order to share resources and grantee spotlights: www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org

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