“ THE FUNNIEST & FREEST MIDSUMMER I HAVE EVER SEEN!
”
“A FEMINISTFRESH,TWIST TO EMMA
”
“ THE PIANO LESSON IS A HIGHLIGHT OF THESEASONTHEATER
”
This season at Actors’ Shakespeare Project has been a resounding success and a testament to the transformative power of live theatre and the enduring relevance of classic stories reimagined for our time. Audiences, artists, and youth came together to explore stories filled with laughter, longing, love, and an immense amount of enthusiasm. We are continually inspired by the passion, creativity, and resilience of everyone involved with ASP. Theatre, for us, is an act of hope—a way to communicate, imagine new possibilities and bring people together. We look forward to another season of discovery, dialogue, and unforgettable storytelling.
Our professional productions of Emma, The Piano Lesson, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream achieved critical success and resonated deeply with the community. One critic proclaimed, “Once again, ASP delivers a production that raises the bar for Boston-area theater.” We were also honored with twelve nominations by the Elliot Norton Awards committee and all three shows joined our best-sellers of all time. This is what we have been working towards in our new home at The Mosesian Center for the Arts and in our ongoing partnership with Hibernian Hall—raising the bar of our artistry, and our commitment to audiences and the community.
In ASP Education, we witnessed Boston Day and Evening Academy students speaking truth to power in their devised Julius Caesar and the English Language Learner population at Brighton High crafting an Open Mic Poetry Slam. We walked the halls of Elsinore and flitted around an enchanted forest in Hamlet and Midsummer school break theater camp weeks for ages 8-12. Our teenagers authored and performed a play adaptation of Emily Wilson’s Iliad translation at the statewide Junior Classical League conference, and are gearing up for their second annual co-production with Central Square Theater’s youth ensemble. And our student matinee series was a force, as youth asked insightful questions of The Piano Lesson cast during post-show discussions and flew out of their seats with joy as the night club fairy world of Midsummer took center stage.
As this report illustrates, ASP is determined to not only produce impactful theater and education programs, but to provide access and facilitate equity wherever possible. At a time when funding for the arts has been slashed and threatened from every direction, we know this: We would sooner cease to exist than stop providing all of the programs and efforts that make theater more available to our traditionally underrepresented neighbors and friends. Because the work we do would mean nothing if it was only available to the wealthiest and most privileged among us.
With the proposed elimination of federal funding for arts agencies, changes in grantmaking priorities that specifically restrict funding for projects and organizations that promote DEI and gender ideology, rising costs, a plummeting stock market, cutbacks in corporate philanthropy, and financial uncertainty for our most loyal donors, ASP finds itself at a pivotal moment in our history. The rescinding of expected funding for arts nonprofits all over the country is creating large holes of support for the upcoming year,causing uncertainty as we dance the line between the unprecedented success of our most recent productions, and the financial strife that is sure to only get worse. With the expected dip in giving for next season, we are facing a reality where we will be forced to not only raise ticket prices, but to cut back on our Community Access Initiative activities, specifically as it pertains to subsidizing tickets for those who need it most.
Join us in our fight to provide widespread access to quality theater and theater education in Greater Boston and keep our accessibility programs alive and thriving next season. With your help, we will be able to fill the massive hole left by federal support and not only meet this year’s Community Access Initiative numbers, but surpass them.
Thank you for all of your continued support and your commitment to the arts in Boston. We are so honored to have you in our community.
Gratefully,
ASP’s “lively, creative production climbed right over the language barrier to capture my students’ attention with bold staging and direction.”
LISA ROBBINS, ESL EDUCATOR
“Students screamed with joy in their seats as the music and dancing kicked in, and I was so thrilled to think that Shakespeare was being given this kind of life, 400 years later, to a whole new generation of audience members. It felt like Shakespeare was now a rock star.”
DOUG LOCKWOOD, MIDSUMMER ACTOR
Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP) deploys the creative energy of theatre artists and the power of language and stories to create shared experiences for our community. Our artistic productions and education programs challenge and interrogate long-held expectations about Shakespeare and classic work; build bridges between diverse viewpoints; and empower people to more deeply empathize with each other.
ASP is committed to actively examining and combating the multifaceted nature of racism in our company, our community, the theater industry and the United States. Racism is dehumanizing to everyone it touches and creates an environment that is not conducive to creative expression. Actors’ Shakespeare Project seeks to dismantle organizational systems, processes, structures, and cultures that discourage any person from engaging with us. We pledge to foster diversity, inclusivity, and equity across all of our Board, staff, artists, productions, educational programming, and business operations. The stories of all people will be reflected in all the work that we do.
This year, we formally launched our Community Access Initiative, which allows us to challenge the makeup of our audiences and program participants to ensure that underrepresented people and stories have an equitable presence not only on the stage but also in our seats. Read on to see how donors like you helped the Community Access Initiative grow this year!
Welcomed 8,691 total audience members to 3 venues across Greater Boston
Received
3 Critics’ Pick Awards • 12 Elliot Norton nominations • and a Best of the Best citation from The Boston Globe ... and ran one of our most successful student matinee series of all time, welcoming 1,298 students and teachers
• Officially settled into our new home at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown
• Launched the Community Access Initiative
• Staged three full productions: Emma, The Piano Lesson, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Held two week-long development workshops for house of sueños, a latinx adaptation of Hamlet
• Produced three of the five highest selling shows in ASP history, all of which received Critic’s Pick designations
• Offered 4 Breakspeare camps, producing Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest at The Rockwell in Somerville
• Launched our annual Summer Youth Intensive where 20 high school and college students will rehearse and perform a fullystaged rendition of Romeo & Juliet in partnership with Central Square Theater’s Youth Underground
• Adapted and performed Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad at the National Junior Classical League statewide convention with our young people
• Ran 4 residencies in Boston Public Schools (Boston Day and Evening Academy, Boston International Newcomers Academy, Brighton High School, and English High School), each of which highlighted and amplified youth voices
• Re-introduced Adult Classes to ASP’s Education programs repertoire: ASP Resident Artists led workshops on Shakespearean text analysis, monologues, and stage combat that received rave reviews from experts and novices alike
US TO ... WHICH COST US ...
• Provide 1,700 $20 seats to our professional productions so that everyone could attend who wished to
• Maintain the lowest midsize professional theater ticket price in town
• Host an entirely pay-what-you-will BlackOut performance of The Piano Lesson
• Provide 298 complimentary and 867 $25 or less student tickets to student matinees, and transportation assistance for two schools
• Provide 1,962 complimentary and discounted $10 or less tickets to community members for all of our productions (an average of 450 complimentary tickets per production)
• Provide 17 full and 8 partial scholarships to our education programs
• Stipend 5 young people to participate in our Summer Youth Intensive
• Provide 10 workshops and 4 extended residencies at no cost to the schools
• Implement hearing accessibility technology for all performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Provide competitive compensation and reasonable work expectations for all staff, actors, production team members, and teaching artists
• 20 tickets for $20 program: $63,900
• Student matinees with 20% of tickets complimentary and the remainder for $25 or less: $97,125
• Select Pay-What-You-Will performances starting at $10, including BlackOuts: $12,950
• $10 Tickets through Mass Cultural Council’s EBT Card-ToCulture Program: $6,825
• Free tickets for select local community groups : $2,812
• Full and partial scholarships available for all youth and adult programs : $15,872
• Expanded student matinees for local middle and high schoolers, including talkbacks and in-school visits: $27,000
• Deepened access to in-school programs for schools that can’t afford workshops or residencies: $3,159
TOTAL: $229,643
Anne Aitken
Michael Anderson
Susan Bennett
Emily Bozeman
David and Diana Brady
Paul Brunick
Nancy Buck & James Sebenius
Suzanne Chapman
Jean Cummings
Austin de Besche
Christy Dickinson
J Patrick Dowdall
Mark Edelman
Tim Ehrlich
Scott Emerman
Douglas Evans
Glenda Fishman
Stone Soup Fund
Cynthia Good
Steven Greenberg
Amy Griffin
Paul and Pascha Griffiths
Susan Hall
Sarah Hancock
William Harris
Bruce Herrmann
DONOR IMPACT
Jeffrey Hughes and Nancy Stauffer
Robert S. Hurlbut
Dorrie King and Jerry Flannelly
Jenny Leopold
Susan Lewinnek
Roger & Sheila Lockwood
Monica Luke
Anastasia and Will Lyman
Robert and Wendy Macdonald
Richard Mandel
Charlie McDermott
Amy Merrill
Lawrence Morris & Betty Salzberg
Amy Ruth Nevis
Margaret (Meg) L. Newhouse
Wendy Nicholas
Beatrice Oakley
James Osborn
John and Sharon Parisi
Faith and Glen Parker
Laura Perille
Gene and Margaret Pokorny
Leah Randolph
R. Lynn Rardin & Lynne A. O’Connell
Suzanne Ricco
Patrick Rivelli
Michael Roitman
Joel Rosenberg & Carol Tierney
David Sandberg & Dina Mardell
Lori Shaller
Mara Sidmore
Deborah Stone
Wesley Taylor
The Howard and Katherine Aibel
Foundation
Carl and Sharon Turissini
Morris Tyler
Mary Vines
Oliver Wadsworth
Jean Walsh
Ruth Weinrib and Paul Weiss
James Weiss
Howard Weiss and Maxine Peck
Sheryl White
“I had so much fun [at Midsummer] and was in such a good mood because of it. It meant trying something new and different.”
TECH BOSTON STUDENT
*Donor
list over $250 between August 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025
Members of the Bard’s Benefactors pledge to donate $750 or more each year for a term of three years, in support of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s operations and growth. Patrons who join the Bard’s Benefactors have the opportunity to be invited to several private events per season, as well as receive prime seating for all of our productions.
A special thank you to our inaugural Bard’s Benefactors: The Behson Family, Mary & Jim Vines, Jean Walsh & Graham Davies, Alan Pratt & Cynthia Good, Rabbi Lori Shaller, John & Sharon Parisi, Jean Cummings, David Sandberg & Dina Mardell, and Sheryl White.
If you are interested in joining the Bard’s Benefactors, contact kelsey@actorsshakespeareproject.org
Globe ($5,000 AND UP)
• One personalized experience per season with a member of the ASP Team, such as a backstage tour or lunch with the Artistic Director
• Invites to all post-opening night cast & crew celebrations
• Invite to the engagement event for each production
• Recognition on website, in playbills and in digital programs
• Advanced membership sales & seat selection
The Gallery ($2,500 AND UP)
• Invite to an engagement event for each production
• Recognition on website, in playbills and in digital programs
• Advanced membership sales & seat selection
The Yard ($750 AND UP)
• Invite to one engagement event of your choosing per season
• Recognition on website, in playbills and in digital programs
• Advanced membership sales & seat selection
Our Community Access Initiative activities rely on donors like you to make the biggest impact. You can help us continue to bring theater and theater education to our underserved neighbors and community members next season. With your help, we will be able to not only meet this year’s Community Access Initiative numbers, but surpass them, providing even more widespread access to the arts in a time when it’s needed most.
$40 will subsidize a 20 for $20 seat for one of our productions
$65 will provide one Blackout or Teacher Appreciation Night ticket to an audience member in need
$250 will provide snacks and costumes for one week-long Breakspeare camp
$1,000 will provide a partial scholarship for one student in our Summer Youth Intensive
$2,500 will provide tickets for a full class of Boston Public school students to see Macbeth
