who are we now?

This summer, theater students from UVU and BYU teamed up to create the Grassroots Shakespeare Company. Originally, their goal was to create an original-practice production of a Shakespeare play. After the unexpectedly brilliant success of that little venture, a few of the grassrooters wanted to share the original-practice experience with everyone! So, the GSC became an educational experiment as well. On a monthly basis, Grassroots now produces workshops in which literally anyone can explore what it was like for actors in Shakespeare's day to perform. They memorize cue scripts, rehearse for a few hours, and perform to outdoor audiences for free. It's lively, fast-paced, and a little motley, but most of all, it's fun.


As you can probably glean from the reviews, the news, and the photos, we're having a good time playing with Shakespeare's original performance methods. And we're all about inclusion, so if you have ever had a desire to step on stage and try your hand at acting, or even if you just want to watch some very entertaining theater, check us out! We send out regular updates to our fans on facebook, and special workshop invitations to our email list, so join both today!


So far, our workshops have included Hamlet, The Winter's Tale, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we plan to produce a Macbeth workshop in September! So check out the photos, send us an email, and become a fan on facebook. And let's play!

A Midsummer Night's Dream - ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Thaaaaat's right, ladies and gents, we're doing it again. On Saturday, August 29th, the Grassroots Shakespeare Company is performing a one-night-only showing of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and you're invited to participate!

Try your hand at original practices, and be a part of the fastestand funniest rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream since 1595!

HOW TO GET INVOLVED:

1) If you'd like to participate, email grassrootsshakespeare@gmail.com immediately. If the workshop fills before you sign up, you are invited to come observe the process, but you might not be on stage.

2) If you sign up and pledge a $5 dollar contribution before Saturday August 22nd, you'll receive your very own cue script, taken from a particular scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Memorize it. I can't stress this enough. In order for original practices to work, you've got to be memorized before our first and only rehearsal.

3) Arrive at Scera Park at 5:00pm SHARP on Saturday August 29th, memorized and wearing whatever costume you'd like. You'll then participate in the most invigorating and collaborative rehearsal ever. With the others in your scene, you'll figure out your relationships, your place in the play, your blocking, and everything else about your performance. It's fun, fast-paced, and so 400 years ago!

4) At 8:00pm, we're going to take a little break to enjoy a delicious barbecue! So bring your appetite!

5) At 9:00pm, we will run the entire 1-hour show, from beginning to end. Your scene will fall somewhere in there, so you'll need to be listening for your cue line!

6) Casting is gender-blind, just as it was in Shakespeare's day (because only men were allowed to perform), and you are encouraged to invite friends/family/lovers/bosses to come see your show!

SPREAD THE WORD.

SPREAD THE LOVE.

SPREAD THE GRASSROOTS.