About Us | shakespeare

Welcome Comrades,

If you’re on this page, you’ve decided to become part of the solution to BSS and have joined our BAN BAD BARD REVOLUTION.

Here’s our doctrine:

(WILL)POWER TO THE PEOPLE: We are New Hampshire’s only professional outdoor classical theatre company that performs “family friendly” fare in alternating repertory. Featuring actors and directors from all over the world, we are a “lean, mean theatre machine” whose mission is to “put the ‘shake’ back in Shakespeare” (and other classics). In July and August we host a Summer Festival, with outdoor and “rainy-day” indoor stages spread out over three locations in two neighboring towns (the resort town of Waterville Valley and the university hamlet of Plymouth). These venues play host to seven different evening productions and four different matinees a summer. The rest of the year, we provide seasonal productions at various locations across the East Coast. All of our shows are audience interactive--aimed at making classical theatre accessible and

understandable to audiences of any age.

FREE YOUR WALLET, FREE YOUR MIND: We believe that the communal aspect of theatre is vital to society. That the tears, love and laughter felt by an audience is an essential part of the human experience. It is a gift meant to be shared by everyone, regardless of socio-economic status. To that end, we present ALL of our Boston Globe and New York Times featured “bare bones bard” productions FREE to children under 12, and most free or “Pay What You Can” to adults. The centerpiece of our summer is the “Focus on the Family” Series, which is aimed at putting a smile on your face while keeping dollars in your pocket. Our theatre is truly a “labor of love”. While the actors and directors who join us each summer are paid stipends, our full-time year-round staff are volunteers—who give of their time and talents to provide year-round performance opportunities to school children, free workshops and performances to schools, senior centers, homeless shelters and other charities, as well as producing the Summer Festival in Waterville Valley. We do not have huge corporate sponsors, grants or “big name” donors. Our sponsors and donors are “regular folk” from mostly blue collar and middle class backgrounds who donate to us in increments as small as $5. As George Bailey says in It’s a Wonderful Life, “these are the people who do most of the working, living and dying around here”. These are our donors and the monies we get from these “just plain folk” fund 75% of our offerings and make it possible for us to provide free theatre.

YOUR FELLOW COMRADES: We attract a diverse and loyal following—with most of our audiences returning at least twice over the summer and coming back year after year. Look out over our theatre lawn space on any given night and you may see bikers (in full leather) with Budweiser and pizza sitting next to the garden club ladies in their decorated straw hats next to an elegant group with a table (replete with cloth and flowers) who are drinking goblets of champagne from an ice bucket and next to them is a group of teens eating fast food! As well, we are a regular “United Nations” of the North Country, with patrons coming from far-flung Tunisia, India, Great Britain, Australia, Canada as well as almost every state in the union

BE A PART OF THE “REVOLUTION SOLUTION”: Don’t let Bad Shakespeare Syndrome keep you down. Grab a blanket, pack a picnic, fill a cooler with beverages (of your choice) and let your ticket cast your vote against Bad Shakespeare.... one small step in your recovery from Bad Shakespeare Syndrome.