Looking back at the history of Los Angeles Drama Club, we have put on some formidable Shakespeare plays on a shoestring. (Remember The Tempest?) After all, this company started in a backyard with a glitter-covered shoebox sitting out for donations. Some days there was five dollars in the shoebox. The show went on.

Since 2007, our loyal families’ continued support has allowed us to rehearse and perform in a professional theater (not a church basement or a stark auditorium), a theater with lights, sound and our own greenroom. When the children come to rehearsal, they walk “up a steep and very narrow stairway,” breathing in the scent of the theater, which they will likely always remember. Because of our families, we are able to provide this experience for them.

The giant task of managing Drama Club has always been a labor of love, but we also realize that two people producing and directing three Shakespeare plays, teaching Improv & Camp, running Outreach Programs, AND overseeing it all, is not a sustainable business model!

Drama Club is entering an exciting new stage. Our 501(c)3 status is making it possible for us to teach Shakespeare in other communities, take our kids on the road, create a scholarship fund, and offer free community-building social justice classes. To do that, we need to create a framework that will support all of this.

So what do we do? We call on you. It is your involvement that we need. Volunteer for a committee, spread the word, and please recruit your cousin, the 501(c)3 Tax Expert!

Whether it’s a financial contribution or a gift of your time and talent, we accept with humble gratitude. Please read our Wish List and see where you fit in.

And to the Choir to which we are already preaching … thank you for continuing to be part of this growing community of parents and activists who want this for their children … and for all children.

That said, “The Play’s the Thing” – now go and register your Player for Shakespeare Youth Festival, LA!