Our Mission Statement (adopted 26th October 2022)
Our purpose is to continue to provide a long-term cultural, educational and community resource for the people of York and beyond by involving the wider York community in the production of the whole cycle of Shakespeare’s plays, along with the finest plays of his contemporaries.
This purpose will be achieved by:
- Maintaining a charitable trust to oversee the activities of The York Shakespeare Project.
- Involving Schools, Community Centres, Churches, Amateur Drama Groups, other local community bodies, workplaces and individuals by the provision of workshops and other activities relating to the work of the York Shakespeare Project.
- Soliciting and administering funds in respect of financing both the outreach and the production activities of the York Shakespeare Project.
- Producing each of Shakespeare’s plays, in approximate chronological order, using largely local amateur actors, stage managers, technicians, costume and prop makers etc and drawing in such outside professional expertise as production needs and available funding may allow.
- Aiming to produce each of the plays of Shakespeare, within the boundaries of the City of York and beyond, during a twenty-five year period, starting from the Spring of 2023.
- Augmenting and invigorating the programme of Shakespeare’s plays by including plays by Shakespeare’s Elizabethan and Jacobean contemporaries. The programme may also include other Shakespeare related material on a small or large scale such as: dramatisations of Shakespeare’s poetic works, plays in which Shakespeare may have been a minor collaborator; more modern adaptations of Shakespeare plays; new plays inspired by or related to Shakespeare’s plays, including site-specific or devised pieces; the precise programme to be decided by the Committee.
- Seeking to work with a wide variety of other artists, musicians, community groups, venues, festivals etc so as to sustain and develop YSP as a vibrant and committed community group; and arranging playreadings, workshops, talks, theatre visits, study groups, screenings, streamings, social gatherings or other novel activities to foster a strong sense of community within the group.
- Showing that the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries are fun, relevant and accessible to all.
You can read more about the history of the project and its story so far by clicking the links below:
For details of individual productions, see our ‘Previous productions’ page.