ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’S VITAL ROLE IN ARTS EDUCATION

Alabama Shakespeare Festival believes arts education fosters lifelong success by providing experiential lessons in critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, leadership, and character. Arts education is a critical component of ASF’s mission and its programming.  ASF Board and staff are dedicated to enriching the classroom and personal and life experiences of students through theatre and the dramatic arts.

ASF meets this charge at a level of globally renowned excellence on its stages and through a multitude of educational programming and assets. This page offers a behind-the-scenes look at what students and educators, alike, take away from ASF’s world-class productions, camps, and classes.

Theatre Arts Education Improves the Lives of Alabama Students
and Makes Alabama Communities Stronger

For arts educator Jeff Glass, who teaches theatre arts at Wetumpka High School in Elmore County, his 10th-grade high school English teacher and a SchoolFest performance at ASF were instrumental in putting him on the path to changing the lives of some 2,000 students over his 19-year career.

Unlocking Self-Discovery with Classes & Summer Camps

ASF’s after-school classes (Acting Academy) and summer camps foster self-esteem and self-expression outside of school for students in grades K–12. Students explore their creative side through acting exercises and the performance of an abridged Shakespeare play.

For Acting Academy teacher and Camp Instructor Sean Golson, giving young students the same opportunities for self-discovery and space for aspirations that ASF provided him is a rewarding challenge.

Students consistently attest to the confidence-building, skills-building, and friend-making benefits of their time in ASF Acting Academy classes and summer camps. 

ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL MANUFACTURES INSPIRATION

Alabama Shakespeare Festival celebrates the creative force in each child; in fact, ASF sparks it. Everything on ASF’s stages is made by hand right here in the theatre’s shops and studios.  This video of the making of ASF’s 2022 production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth explores the time and skill required to manufacture inspiration.