Shakespeare In Detroit Announces 2017 Season

From SiD: Shakespeare in Detroit (SiD) is pleased to announce its 2017 season, a fundraising campaign with a goal of $150,000 to help support the company’s next two years, and outreach plans to engage Detroit’s youth and actors with disabilities. SiD is a professional theater company that pioneered the first open-air Shakespearean production with a local cast in the City of Detroit in August 2013 during its performance of Othello at Grand Circus Park.

SiD’s founder, Sam White, is looking forward to these new prospects as the theatre company enters its fourth season.

“We are taking our work to new heights in terms of quality, creativity and accessibility over the next two seasons, which will take us through our 5th anniversary in 2018,” says SiD’s founder, Sam White. “We depend on individuals and businesses for our work and hope they will sustain us through our 5th milestone year.”

Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign

Shakespeare in Detroit (SiD) is committed to expanding the pioneering work it has done for more than three seasons with heightened artistic and cultural merits that serve as a cultural commons for people of all ages, races, and income levels – from West Seven Mile to West Bloomfield; Canton to Canada.

SiD depends on individuals, businesses and local organizations to produce theater that fuses classical art with Detroit's historical and green spaces while adding a fresh artistic energy that is inspiring and inclusive. With a goal of $150,000, a successful campaign will ensure that SiD can continue providing Detroit with a consistent cadence of high-quality, site-specific performances and Shakespeare in the park over the next two years.

Henry V season opener

The season will begin with the world-premiere of Aaron Martin’s Shakespeare in Detroit-inspired film, “Sonnet 65,” starring acting company member Morgan Breon at Cinema Detroit – the first in a series of short films being produced by Mr. Martin and SiD in 2017. The screening will be followed by a discussion with White, Breon and Martin, along with a showing of Kenneth Branagh’s classic “Henry V.”

The season continues with a site-specific, ticketed performance of Henry V, directed by D.B. Schroeder, at a historical mansion in West Village, home of The Banyan Foundation. The space will officially be announced with more details in the next week.

Summer productions

The SiD line-up for 2017 will also include the bedrock of each season, a free production at the company’s current summer home, New Center Park – “Hamlet” in July of this year.

“Our free shows are crucial to our commitment to accessibility for all,” says White. “Every income level, race, religion, gender, age, families of all kinds, come out to enjoy our shows, center stage on West Grand Boulevard in the New Center District.”

The 2017 season will conclude with a performance of “Taming of the Shrew” on the grounds of the historic Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.

Outreach efforts for students and actors with disabilities

Shakespeare in Detroit is in the early phases of developing an outreach program embedded in a local high school where students can create their very own productions under the direction and guidance of SiD’s company members.

Outreach efforts will also include a performance of “Romeo and Juliet,” featuring actors with disabilities, a collaborative effort with 4th Wall Theatre Company in 2018.

“We really want to share Shakespeare with as many people as we possibly can over the next two seasons and beyond, and we hope our community will stand behind us as we move forward,” says White.

Image Courtesy of SiD