The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival

"My daughter (age 7) is still speaking of Shakespeare Camp and from time to time recites lines from Shakespeare and plays some of the acting exercises you taught her."

"The show came out beautiful. The teachers were so supportive and the children were aware of that support as it gave them great confidence in their performance."

"My children didn't know what to expect but on the first day they came home excited. By the end of the first week my son told me he's having the most fun he's ever had in his life!"

This was my son's third year at Shakespeare Camp and he had a blast! He keeps wanting to go back each year."

Ira Glass, host of This American Life, mentions his visit to a Bay Area Shakespeare Camp!
(Camp scene occurs about 1 minute and 10 seconds into the podcast)

Summer 2008 Dates & Locations	Summer 2008 Registration Form	Shakespeare Camp Teaching Artists	Shakespeare Camp FAQ's
Advanced Acting Workshop	Emergency Form	Behavior Agreeement	McLaren Registration Form
Shakespeare's Suggestions List

Summer Shakespeare Camp Session Dates

We are currently accepting enrollments for Summer 2008 camps. You may enroll over the phone (800-978-PLAY or 415-558-0888) with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express or download a Summer 2008 registration form to fax or mail with payment. To receive email updates, sign up in the yellow box to the left.

The dates of the 2008 camp sessions are as follows:
- Special Early Session: June 2 - June 13 (Burlingame Teen Only)
- Session 1: June 16- June 27
- Session 2: July 7 - July 18
- Session 3: July 21 - August 1
- Session 4: August 4 - August 15

Summer 2008 dates and locations!

The Bay Area Shakespeare Camps are led by Shakespeare Festival company actors, designers, and directors who are devoted to making the camp experience enjoyable and fun, as well as enriching and informative. The program aims high in its commitment to involve students in a true learning process. The students benefit from this professional atmosphere of fun, creativity, heightened literacy, and self-expression, all of which are integral parts of the program.

Each two-week session presents a series of structured, performance-oriented workshops under the guidance of trained Shakespeare Festival staff. Each camp finishes with a mini performance of a Shakespeare play, staged and acted by campers for an audience of family and friends. The performances conclude with a celebratory cast party. These educational camps are appropriate for first timers as well as more experienced young actors.

Campers at each session are introduced to three key facets of drama and theater:

•		Discovering Shakespeare introduces campers to the beauty, versatility and meaning of Shakespeare's language and to what life was like in Elizabethan times. Students work in-depth on a shortened version of a Shakespeare play and learn how to create characters and on-stage relationships.
•		Voice and Movement challenges students to learn and use the power and expressiveness of their voices and bodies when conveying thoughts, moods and character traits. They learn theater games, vocal projection techniques, and improvisation skills.
•		Production and Design teaches students the basics of the technical side of theater. The students learn about costuming, props, and set design. They collaborate on the set design and construct costumes and props for their showcase performance on the final day of camp.

If you would like to be included in email updates or would like to receive a schedule in the mail please contact us and let us know your preference. If you attended camp last summer you will automatically be included in updates or mailings.

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp image bar

About Bay Area Shakespeare Camps

The Shakespeare camps began with a single session of 30 campers in the summer of 1993 under the title of Midsummer Shakespeare Camp. At that time, the Shakespeare Festival saw a real need to offer young students the opportunity to study Shakespeare in a fun, supportive atmosphere and teach them the necessary skills to perform his work. The Bay Area Shakespeare Camps now serve nearly 800 young people, ages 7 to 18, throughout the Bay Area, with sessions in San Francisco, Oakland, Cupertino, Los Altos, Pleasanton, Pacifica, Berkeley, Danville, Walnut Creek, Burlingame, and other locations. Read additional information about Shakespeare Camp for Teens (ages 12-18) or The Advanced Acting Workshop for experienced performers.

Download the INSIDE of the Camp Brochure (pdf file)
Download the OUTSIDE of the Camp Brochure (pdf file)

Sign Up Now!

Shakespeare Camps for ages 7-18 meet Mon - Fri, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, for two weeks. Materials and supplies are included in the $420 camp fee. A final performance for family and friends is presented on the last day of each session. Aftercare is available at most locations from 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM for an additional $135. View 2008 camp dates and locations.

•		Download the registration form (pdf) for Bay Area Shakespeare Camps, Summer 2008
•		Download the emergency form (pdf) for Bay Area Shakespeare Camps, for permission and emergency contact information
•		Download the behavior agreement (pdf) for Bay Area Shakespeare Camps (required for enrollment)

Support the Bay Area Shakespeare Camps

Festival donors ensure that camp fees are kept at a price that is affordable for the most participants and not dictated strictly by "what the market will bear." At only $420 per session, ($7 per hour), camp fees are well under the cost of most other summer camps and well below the price of normal childcare. Your support today will help ensure that camp fees remain low and supports our mission to ensure that Shakespeare is truly accessible to all by removing barriers to cultural participation.

Become a member of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and support the Bay Area Shakespeare Camps today!