The Young Shakespeareans
Transforming Futures through the Power of Arts Education
OUR MISSION
​To unleash the potential of children in underserved neighborhoods through challenging programs proven to build confidence, embolden ambition & empower futures.​
To elevate perceptions, and attract attention to & investment in underserved children by
showcasing their remarkable performances of the challenging works of the English-speaking
world's most revered playwright.
OUR VISION
A learning community employing theatre arts to maximize children's academic, social, and aesthetic potential;​
Program delivery onsite at neighborhood schools leading to increased family access, student attendance, and neighborhood commitment and pride;
Increased student compassion, self-awareness, and social-emotional literacy through analysis
and understanding of dramatic literature and universal themes;​
Cooperative participation of students, parents, faculty, administrators, and neighbors of all
ages and socio-economic groups;​
Public commitment supporting high expectations for all children regardless of ethnicity, origin, native language, or socio-economic group;
Increased public awareness of the tremendous value in historically marginalized communities.​
OUR HISTORY
"The streets are waiting for our kids."
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We hear this too often from too many residents of Los Angeles' neighborhoods that are disproportionately impacted by poverty, homelessness, and gang violence.
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THE BEGINNING
In 2010, our Founder witnessed how just 12 weeks of Theatre Arts at Nevin Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles produced an inspired performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", drastically transforming a group of 4th+5th graders, their school, and their entire neighborhood. It was stunning and unmistakable.
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The program clearly brought value for the children, anchored and lifted the neighborhood. Realizing the potential to also attract support for South Los Angeles from the broader community, our Founder developed and piloted a curriculum to provide early and formative intervention, raise students’ awareness of their innate talents, and create a positive peer community where they could safely explore their potential and expand their sense of possibility.
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In 2017, Nevin was joined by West Vernon Avenue Elementary School, and in 2019 when alumni from both schools found themselves together at John Adams Middle School, they lobbied their Principal to have TYS there. Normandie Avenue Elementary School rounded out TYS' presence in South LA.
THE PANDEMIC YEARS (2020-22)
Just as our elementary and middle school students were deep into their 2020 Spring programs, COVID imposed an abrupt and unwelcome halt bringing plenty of confusion & crying. Within 9 days TYS quickly pivoted to online instruction for our middle school students so they could complete their program, but unfortunately privacy issues prohibited online interaction with our elementary schoolers. In May, TYS' 6th thru 8th graders at John Adams Middle School performed an impressive "Romeo & Juliet" while quarantined in their homes. Intuiting that the pandemic would not pass quickly, TYS spent June through December developing a program to keep our students engaged with learning and with each other in the coming year.
TYS' innovative VIRTUAL PROGRAM launched in January 2021. We hand-delivered green screens, lighting, art supplies, and microphones to our middle-school students so they could enjoy online instruction in Performance, Scenic Design, Costume Design, and Music. At the end of May, they performed remotely from their homes on a UNIFIED VIRTUAL STAGE with Scenics and Music created by their classmates. And, in a WORLD-WIDE FIRST, they virtually wore Costumes designed and drawn by their classmates that were animated by a new technology in beta from Snap.com whose Official Lens Creators from across the globe volunteered their time and talent to help create what was previously "impossible"!
The dregs of COVID demanded continued agility and determination for TYS' productions of "Macbeth" in Spring 2022. TYS' 6th & 7th graders at John Adams learned and performed remotely from their classroom desks backed by green construction paper. Our John Adams 8th graders joined students from Los Angeles Academy of Arts & Enterprise (LAAAE) in WESTLAKE (TYS' first High Schoolers) to enjoy the SHAKESPEARE CENTER's extraordinary gift of stage space and WORKFORCE contracts. Ongoing COVID restrictions limited socially-distanced audiences to a very small number, so the masked students served as crew and pantomimed action to their lines pre-recorded in a make-shift sound studio, resulting in an impressive short film. It was a true adventure!
BACK ON SITE IN 2023 (but only in one school)
- TYS launched its CAREER PATHWAYS PROGRAM hiring a production team of TYS High School Alumni to conceive and design a new production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for West Vernon Avenue 4th & 5th graders. Charged with selecting a context consistent with their heritage, they chose to set it in 1920's Post-Revolutionary Mexico, and created a soundtrack, scenics, and costumes that celebrated their families' native cultures;
- In our first SUMMER PROGRA, we EXPANDED INTO WESTLAKE to launch SHAKESPEAREAN SPORTS for middle school students at the Los Angeles Academy for Arts & Enterprise who learned the disciplines of staged swordplay and hand-to-hand action.
Spring 2024 brought more exciting news!
- HOPE BROWN took the helm as TYS' Executive Director;
- TYS expanded our reach into the San Fernando Valley with Fair Avenue Elementary School in North Hollywood presenting an action-packed version of "Romeo & Juliet";
- West Vernon Avenue's 4th & 5th graders performed it to a hip-hop soundtrack, with 7 Career Pathways High School Student Alumni hired as Teaching, Technical, and Costuming support;
- LAAAE High School students mounted a beautiful summer production of "Othello".
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Academic year 2024/25 was jam-packed:
- Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School in South LA joined TYS' roster resulting in the creation of our first NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT PIPELINE providing continuous, on-site Theatre Arts Education programming for elementary through high school students;
- West Vernon Elementary prompted a pilot of SHAKESPEAREAN SHORTIES expanding our programming to 2nd+3rd graders;
- LA Empowerment Congress' invited TYS students to perform at their JUNETEENTH Celebration, prompting the creation of POETIC JUSTICE, a new program weaving high school students' voices with Shakespearean monologues to create original commentary on social issues;
- the BRIDGING SILOS INITIATIVE was launched, bringing together students from 4 high schools and 4 colleges across LA County who produced gorgeous performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
2025/26 HAS BEGUN WITH A BANG!​
- Josh Groban of the Find Your Light Foundation selected TYS to be featured in a CNN interview with Elex Michaelson highlighting the importance of Arts Education;
- Two new productions added to TYS' repertoire - a frothy "Much Ado About Nothing" set in 1960's Detroit; and a reimagination of "Macbeth" set in 1500's MesoAmerica during the wars between the Indigenous Chichimeca and the Spanish Conquistadores.
In the face of today's challenges, everyone at TYS continues to create, strive, and thrive !