NEA Grant Enables Shakespeare Live! to Come to NJ Schools

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced that The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's acclaimed educational touring company, Shakespeare Live!, has been selected, for the third consecutive year, to participate in their acclaimed initiative Shakespeare in American Communities: Shakespeare For a New Generation.

The Shakespeare Theatre will receive $25,000 in matching funds to bring live performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar to economically disadvantaged schools in underserved rural, suburban and urban areas in the mid-Atlantic region during the 2006–2007 school year. The Shakespeare Theatre is one of 36 companies nationwide, and the only one from New Jersey, to be selected by the NEA for participation in this program. The largest tour of Shakespeare in American history, Shakespeare in American Communities: Shakespeare for a New Generation is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Arts Midwest, a regional arts organization based in Minneapolis, is managing the program.

Said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, "What is most remarkable about our Shakespeare for a New Generation program is that it not only benefits students across the nation by bringing them to live theater, often for the first time, but that the program also helps their teachers by making their English assignments literally come to life — from the page to the stage."

As a part of Shakespeare for a New Generation since the program's inception in 2004, by the end of the current school year with the NEA's support Shakespeare LIVE! will have performed for more than 8,250 students at 21 schools which could otherwise not afford the program, including:

Stamford, Connecticut:

· Trailblazers Academy

Atlantic City, New Jersey:

· Oceanside Charter School

Burlington, New Jersey:

· Burlington City High School

Camden, New Jersey:

· Cooper's Poynt Elementary School
· Veterans Memorial Middle School
· H. L. Bonsall Elementary School
· Creative and Performing Arts High School
· Woodrow Wilson High School

Elizabeth, New Jersey:

· William Halloran Elementary School
· Grover Cleveland Middle School
· Terrence C. Reilly Middle School

Hackensack, New Jersey:

· Hackensack 5/6 School
· Hackensack Middle School

Irvington, New Jersey:

· University Middle School

Jersey City, New Jersey

· Academy I Middle School
· Learning Community Charter School

Newark, New Jersey:

· St. Philip's Academy

Vineland, New Jersey

· Vineland High School South

West New York, New Jersey:

· Memorial High School

Staten Island, New York:

· Intermediate School 2
· Intermediate School 51

Currently in its tenth anniversary season, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Shakespeare LIVE! program brings professional actors and guest artist-educators to schools and other venues throughout the state and wider region, where they perform abridged productions of Shakespeare's plays, engage in post-show discussions with students and family audiences, and conduct interactive theatre workshops.

Prior to each Shakespeare LIVE! performance, teachers receive a comprehensive, show-specific study guide, prepared by educators on staff at The Shakespeare Theatre. An invaluable tool for enhancing students' appreciation and understanding of Shakespeare, each study guides provides important historical information, an introduction to the language, a scene-by-scene synopsis of the play and thematic perspectives, as well as engaging classroom exercises, quizzes and topics for discussion.

For more information, visit www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org or www.artsmidwest.org. For more on the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, visit www.shakespeareNJ.org.