About Us

Mission | History | Our Sponsors

Mission

Our mission is to bring Shakespeare and other classic theater forms to students throughout Western Pennsylvania and the tri-state region. We will demonstrate through live performance the excitement and accessibility of the classics.  Shakespeare-in-the-Schools’ core audience always has been, and will remain, the K-12 student and teacher.

Shakespeare-in-the-Schools educates and engages students and teachers with Shakespeare and other classic works through: touring shows, field-trip matinees, K-12 artist residencies, teacher workshops, talk back sessions, and study guides.

We believe that live performance:

• allows students to process classical dramatic literature on an emotional and an intellectual level;
• acclimates students to the customs and pleasures of attending live performance and gives them an introduction to theater as an art form;
• introduces students to classic texts within a fun and exciting atmosphere, where the works are placed in a context that shows their relevance to contemporary student life;
• illuminates the human experience, forging connections between people and the world around them as well as creating empathy for others

History

1980-- The University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Theatre Arts produced the popular Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival (TRSF) from 1980-1995, founded by the academic chair, Dr. Attilio “Buck” Favorini. 

1984--Under the umbrella of TRSF programming, the Theatre Arts Department inaugurated Shakespeare-in-the-Schools (SITS) with a high-school field-trip matinee series. The series, aimed at secondary students, combined attendance at a live performance of Shakespeare with performances and workshops in the classroom. The Matinee Series remained highly popular throughout the life of the Festival, at its height serving more than 6,000 students during two weeks of sold-out performances.

1989--Shakespeare-in-the-Schools added a touring component, reaching thousands of young people each year. Presented by small casts of professional actors using creative scenery and costumes, the SITS tour features specially adapted versions of the classics, new plays, and shortened adaptations of major plays from the Shakespearean canon.

1995-When the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival closed its doors in 1995, the Shakespeare-in-the-Schools program continued as a sponsored project of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Theatre Arts.

2007—Tamara Goldbogen, a specialist in theatre for youth, arrives on board the SITS team to steer the program in new and exciting adventures!

Our Sponsors

Strong internal leadership, in addition to consistent success with K-12 teachers and students, proved the success of SITS, and led to increased University support following the acquisition of SITS by the University of Pittsburgh Theatre Arts Department in 1995.

SITS is supported through Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, the generosity of private foundations and individual donors, and corporate contributions.  SITS currently receives generous support from the following organizations:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Bergstrom Foundation

The Buhl Foundation

The Grable Foundation

Howard and Nell E. Miller Foundation

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

University of Pittsburgh, School of Arts and Sciences

This project is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through its regional arts funding partnership, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA).  State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly.  PPA is administered in Allegheny County by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.

Tradition is a powerful element at Pitt Theatre Arts, where audience members who attended school matinees in their childhood are now supporting Shakespeare-in-the-Schools as donors, parents, teachers, and alumni.

Interested in becoming a donor? Click here for more info!