The Neighborhoods Program

Some neighborhoods are defined by place. The houses on this street. The buildings in this town...

Other neighborhoods are defined by time. People who lived in a certain era have common memories. Where were you when you heard that JFK was shot or the Twin Towers had been attacked? Kids who grew up in [the same time] have common memories: TV shows on certain nights, toys and games we played with, foods we ate, music, the clothes and shoes that were in fashion a certain year. 

- Michael Ciba, Osher Lifelong Learner and "Neighborhoods" participant

This monologue (above), written during a class at OLLI, captured the developmental process behind Shakesperience's Neighborhoods Program. The project is a natural progression from a company named for the playwright who utilized empathy to create a sense of communication, a sense of connection between actor and audience. It's a company that views Shakespeare as a catalyst for human interaction across time and space. The connection implied in Neighborhoods goes beyond those people and ideas in our immediate vicinity and connects us through mood, culture, thought and experience.

Funders and Partners include: Waterbury Police Activity League, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Connecticut Community Foundation, ION Bank, Saint Mary’s Hospital Foundation, CT Humanities, DECD Office of the Arts, Elizabeth Carse Foundation

Bring Shakesperience to your “Neighborhood.” We come to your school/library/senior/community center to solicit oral histories. Through various brainstorming and interviewing and writing exercises, participants create plays, poems, songs, monologues, and more to form the basis of a performance piece. Contact us to get involved.

“Best of "Neighborhoods.” An option for all ages, Shakesperience tours to your "neighborhood" to perform the most successful and popular history vignettes from the past 5 years of the program. Contact us to get involved.

Residency Program. At your school or after-school program, we help students to, not only create an historical play about their neighborhood, but bring their own personal narrative to the table, as well. Contact us to get involved.