The Hunts Point Shakespeare Ensemble is a year long program that involves youth  from each of the local elementary and middle schools. HPAC collaborates with the New York Shakespeare Society to provide comprehension sessions on Shakespearean literature and acting classes run by a professional teaching artist.

This year, the children performed As You Like It at the Point, as well as the 52 Street Theater, off-broadway.  As the biggest and most successful show yet, the children of Hunts Point were able to dazzle thier friends, family and supporters with an amazing comprehension of the 400-year-old playwright’s story.

In 2008, the Ensemble performed A MidSummer Night’s Dream at The POINT, and the 2009 Ensemble performed The Tempest, adding two performances in addition to the community production, including a full length production at the off-Broadway Julia Miles Theater and  participation in the Shakespeare Birthday Marathon at Symphony Space. The students’ families attended all performances and the ensemble has been established as a point of community pride. As one parent noted after the children received a standing ovation at the local performance, “It makes me feel like the whole community of Hunts Point is supporting my child.”

The Shakespeare Ensemble creates an opportunity for children to look inside themselves and discover their true potential. The program directly benefits literacy skills and promotes behaviors that support academic success. Students learn to follow through on a long-term commitment, how to work together collaboratively towards a collective outcome and reach difficult goals.  The Shakespeare Ensemble’s success is in part due to the support of their families and contributions of alliance members.  The POINT CDC  provides rehearsal and performance space, local artists created the set and costumes, and each of the schools provide year long encouragement.

For more pictures from the 2010 production of As You Like It, click here.