Theater for Young Audiences

Classic Stage Company (CSC) has made Shakespeare engaging and accessible to New York City students for well over a decade in classrooms through interactive actor-driven workshops, vibrant study guides, and unforgettable performances in our East Village theater. Now, in our 51st season, we are thrilled to expand programming to appeal to students of all ages, from kindergartners to high school seniors.

Contact gina.cimmelli@classicstage.org to book your group tickets. In order to receive the group discount you will need to ensure 10 or more tickets per show.

THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI
By Bertolt Brecht
(Translated by George Tabori)
Performances Begin October 30, 2018
On-sale To the Public on September 20, 2018
Student Matinee – Thursday, November 29 at 11AM

In 1930s Chicago, mobster Arturo Ui will stop at nothing to control the cauliflower trade. Terror and bloodshed follow. Can anyone stop him? Brecht’s skewering of Adolf Hitler and totalitarianism is given renewed significance in a production directed by John Doyle. Written in 1941, the play was one of the Berliner Ensemble’s greatest box office successes.

Two 19th-Century Plays by August Strindberg in Repertory

MIES JULIE
By Yaël Farber
(Adapted from August Strindberg’s MISS JULIE)
Performances Begin January 15, 2019
On-sale To the Public on November 8, 2018
Student Matinee – Thursday, February 14 at 11AM

Farber’s fierce adaptation of Strindberg’s MISS JULIE resets the classic play to a farmhouse in the Karoo of South Africa on the evening of the annual Freedom Day celebration. When the white Afrikaans landowner’s daughter, Julie, falls for her father’s charismatic Xhosa farm laborer, John, their erotic evening together erupts into a brutal battle fueled by gender, race, power, and ancestral domain.

THE DANCE OF DEATH
by August Strindberg
Performances Begin January 17, 2019
On-sale To the Public on November 8, 2018
Student Matinee – Thursday, March 7 at 11AM

Retired military man Edgar and his wife Alice have given up on any semblance of civility toward each other on the threshold of their 25th wedding anniversary. Due to their isolation, however, they are as codependent as they are hateful. Seething with cruelty, and punctuated by absurdity and humor, Strindberg’s electrifying play was ages ahead of its time in its bleak examination of marriage and the social institutions governing it.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
By Marc Blitzstein
Performances Begin March 19, 2019
On-sale To the Public on January 31, 2019
Student Matinee – Thursday, May 9 at 11AM

In Steeltown, USA, laborer Larry Foreman struggles to unionize fellow steel workers against mounting attacks from a greedy industrialist, who uses his power to influence nearly everyone else in town. Marc Blitzstein’s folk opera, created through the Federal Theater Project, was famously shut down on the eve of opening night by federal authorities fearing its pro-labor stance.

*Program and dates are subject to change

Resources

Our free study guides are packed with information about Shakespeare, his language, the play, and our specific production. It even includes simple activities that you can facilitate with your students to expand on the work they’ve done during the workshops!

For access to our current study guide, please email education@classicstage.org.

Shakespeare Smackdown

The Sixth Annual Shakespeare Smackdown will be held on MONDAY, MAY 7, 2018.

CSC’s Shakespeare Smackdown is a chance for your students to show off their acting chops on our stage! Participating schools may send student groups to represent them in performing selected short scenes from a Shakespearean play selected by CSC Education each year. No two groups present the same scene, and scenes are performed in chronological order. The effect is a collaborative, student-driven, mini-production of the play. Students are recognized for their efforts with prizes, including tickets to productions at CSC, free workshops for their schools, and much more.