The Play's The Thing This Weekend As Youth Actors Do Shakespeare

NEW HAVEN, CT — Shakespeare in the Park is back for 2021 with a new festival, Elm Shakespeare Company’s Youth Take Center Stage.

For one weekend, August 13, 14, and 15 students from five Elm Shakespeare programs, will appear at the first-ever Youth Festival of Shakespeare in Edgerton Park.

Elm Shakespeare will celebrate over 70 students from widely different backgrounds and communities as they come together to share their passion and creativity, with five distinct productions of Shakespeare plays.

In a world steeped in competition, the Youth Festival of Shakespeare provides students from schools across New Haven the opportunity to revel in each other’s success and share the unique and challenging experience of bringing these plays to life.

The festival includes a production of "Romeo & Juliet" by the anti-violence group Ice the Beef in the culmination of a year long collaboration with Elm Shakespeare. Having debuted at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, this unique interpretation includes an interactive epilogue in which the performers explore how the tragedy might have been averted. It performs Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m.

"Pericles," performed by the participants of Elm Shakespeare’s five-week Shakespeare Intensive, is an epic fairy tale of love, loss and family redemption. With over 30 characters, six locations, and three shipwrecks, not to mention a couple of mistaken identities, it promises non-stop action and a whirlwind of costume changes. It performs Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m.

"As You Like It," presented by Elm’s Teen Troupe, offers original live music and dance in a glorious tale of love with no less than four happy couples, all performed by some of Elm Shakespeare’s most experienced students. It performs Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m.

Finally, the festival will be kicked off by an irresistible opening act, a double feature by Elm’s youngest performers in a culmination of their summer camp experience at 2 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Presenting both "Midsummer Night’s Dream" and Henry V, it will feature the Players Camp signature DIY kid-driven aesthetic and promises to delight.

This is not your standard educational fare but a "unique partnership between the professional production and design team of Elm Shakespeare and Elm Education, the festival surrounds these remarkable young performers with professional costumes, sets, lights and sound."

"It will be a feast of great theatre, both feeding the senses and inspiring the heart," a news release reads.

All festival performances are free to the public and last just under 90 minutes, with just a 30 minute break in between. Audiences are encouraged to bring a blanket or a lawn chair, a picnic and stay for more than one.

COVID-19 mitigation guidelines

And about pandemic precautions, the Shakespeare Company said it "takes the new delta variant of COVID seriously, and is working closely with city officials to keep everyone safe."

Staff and volunteers will be masked, and all audience members will need to register for contact tracing, maintain social distance, and wear a mask when not seated during the performance.

For more information and a full schedule for the Youth Festival click here. For more information on Elm Shakespeare Company, click here.

About Elm Shakespeare Company

The Elm Shakespeare Company ignites a spark in our humanity, enriches the lives of people from widely diverse backgrounds, and strengthens the artistic and educational landscape of the Greater New Haven region. We are committed to offering accessible theater and innovative educational experiences in our parks, classrooms, neighborhoods, and now to your computers!