The Young Shakespeareans 

The Young Shakespeareans’ Bridging Silos Initiative is designed to bring together students from different neighborhoods, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds who might otherwise remain isolated in separate “bubbles.” Too often, children grow up with limited exposure to peers outside their immediate community, reinforcing bias, distrust, and even disdain. By uniting students early through the shared challenge of producing and performing Shakespeare’s plays, TYS creates opportunities to replace division with connection, empathy, respect, and collaboration.

 

On stage and in rehearsal, young people practice listening, trusting, and depending on one another. In this process, students discover shared humanity across lines of race, class, and geography. These formative experiences help pierce prejudice at its roots and plant the seeds of connected leadership — preparing students to grow into adults who build bridges rather than walls. 

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With the support of the Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation, this Initiative was launched in Summer 2025 and included an ensemble of students hailing from 6 different cultural backgrounds attending 4 different high schools and 4 different colleges across LA County. 

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Beyond individual growth, the Bridging Silos Initiative strengthens the social fabric of Los Angeles by linking schools, families, and communities across divides, using the arts as common ground.