Mission
To enchant, enrich, and build community through professional theatrical traditions that are accessible to all.
Vision
To hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature.
Shakespeare Festival/LA artfully creates professional, relevant theater that reflects the history, landscape, and people of Los Angeles.
History
Our first Summer Festival production of Twelfth Night in Pershing Square (1986). L-R: Herman Arbeit (Sir Toby Belch), Dana Stevens (Viola), Ben Donenberg (Producer) and Larry Coven (Sir Andrew Aguecheek).
In 1986, Shakespeare Festival/LA presented the first Summer Festival, with performances of Twelfth Night in Pershing Square. The audience included friends, a few earnest theatergoers, and the homeless residents of the Square. The homeless took great pride in the production, and each night they became more and more involved in its promotion and management, showing the audience where to sit, handing out programs, answering questions, and thanking everyone for coming.
One night, our gracious hosts presented SF/LA founder Ben Donenberg with four large trash bags filled with aluminum cans. Wanting to contribute, they explained that the actors could take the cans to a recycling center and get a nickel a piece. Deeply touched, Mr. Donenberg declined their offer, but in response created the Food for Thought admission policy, requesting that audience members donate food to gain admission instead of buying a ticket.
First Lady Laura Bush (center) speaks with members of the music team for Will Power to Youth's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
©Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
Twenty years later, Shakespeare Festival/LA continues to create accessible theater that serves and builds community in innovative, unexpected ways. In 1993, the organization expanded to include outreach programs such as Will Power to Youth, an academic enrichment program that combines hands-on artistic experience with paid job training, specifically created to provide arts education to at-risk youth.
The program has been so successful that in 2005, First Lady Laura Bush attended a Will Power to Youth performance in Los Angeles as part of a regional tour of exemplary youth programs. Will Power to Youth is currently being replicated across the country as part of the federal government’s Gang Reduction Programs.