The Taming Of The Shrew By William Shakespeare

The ShakesPEERS Core Company performs a free, 60-minute version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew for family, friends and neighbors at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library in Northwest D.C.

ShakesPEERS Core Company is a youth theatre group composed of 37 students ages 14-19 who live or attend school in the District of Columbia. ShakesPEERS meet regularly at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Education Studios on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons to study and rehearse scenes from Shakespeare.

ShakesPEERS offers students the resources to develop new skills and build self-confidence through the creation and performance of classic plays, poems and stories. The three tiers of the ShakesPEERS program - Young Company (grades 4-6), Core Company (grades 7-12) and After-School Partnerships (grades 7-10) - fulfill a vital need in the community by providing a nurturing place during non-school hours for young people to explore their creative voices. At all levels, ShakesPEERS promotes personal responsibility, academic preparedness, creative expression and community involvement.

Leadership support for ShakesPEERS is provided by the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation with additional support from Capitol Hill Community Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, ExxonMobil, The Morningstar Foundation, President's Commission on the Arts and The Weissberg Foundation.

Consistent with the Company's central mission - to be the leading force in producing and preserving the highest quality classic theatre - the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Education Department is positioned as both a local and national resource for students, teachers and audience. The central mission of all education programs is to deepen understanding of, appreciation for and connection to classic theatre in learners of all ages. The Education Department provides this enhancement through increased use of technology, scholarly dialogue with community and audience members, and by continuing to strengthen collaborations with schools locally and throughout the country.

In support of the artistic work on stage, the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Education Department has four categories of programming: School Programs, Community Programs, Training Programs and Audience Enrichment Programs. The education programs of the Shakespeare Theatre Company challenge students, teachers and individuals to seize the ideas, emotions and principles contained in classic texts and explore them in a contemporary way, finding connections between classic theatre and our modern perceptions.

Heralded as "the nation's foremost Shakespeare company" by The Wall Street Journal and "the best classical theatre in the country, bar none" by The Christian Science Monitor, the Shakespeare Theatre Company annually produces five plays in its 451-seat theatre in Washington, D.C.'s Pennsylvania Quarter and one free play in Rock Creek Park's 3700-seat Carter Barron Amphitheatre.

Artistic Director Michael Kahn has led the organization for 20 years, establishing a reputation for artistic excellence on stage as well as a series of community-minded education programs and, in 1999, the Academy for Classical Acting, a one-year MFA Acting program in conjunction with The George Washington University.

By www.shakespearetheatre.org