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Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company is a professional non-profit theater company founded in 1999 by Artistic Director, Linda Lowy. Its mission is to provide Shakespearean theater to elementary and secondary educational institutions throughout Massachusetts and adjacent states in New England.
Shakespeare Now! accomplishes its mission by touring schools with its live staged Shakespearean performances and in-school, interactive student workshops.
Since 1999, Shakespeare Now! reaches thousands of students every year through its school touring season. The company has also staged full-length Shakespearean productions which schools attend as field trips.
Shakespeare Now! produces and hosts the Annual Boston Shakespeare Sonnet-thon, a popular event held at the public library in Boston in April, Shakespeare’s birthday month. The Sonnet-thon is a marathon performance of all 154 sonnets. It is open to, and performed by, the general public, during which attendees recite or read the Shakespearean sonnet of their choice.
Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company’s school-touring season consists of three touring productions which perform in repertory: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth. These productions are performed by small casts, and achieved in an “empty space” format, enhanced with designed costumes and stage properties. The shows are one hour in length, and followed by a Question and Answer session with the actors.
The company’s workshops are a blend of theater activities with a focus on students speaking and embodying Shakespearean text. The workshops serve as reinforcements to the plays which students study, and also provide opportunities for students to do character and scene work.
Although Shakespeare Now! receives requests to travel to states outside its base, the company remains regional within New England.
In 2007, 2008, and 2010, the notable stage director David F. Wheeler directed Shakespeare Now! full-length productions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar in Boston.