Category: Featured

We are excited to announce our new season – three plays, to be presented in March of 2026, at the beautiful Hudson Theatre Backstage (6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038). The Box Office is now open – reserve your tickets today!

CYMBELINE

Can’t decide which is your favorite Shakespearean plot device? We’ve got ‘em all! Mistaken identities and secret marriages; banishment and betrayal, long-lost siblings; potions, prophecies, and divine intervention; murder, war … and a happy ending that ties up ALL the loose ends!

Saturday, February 28 at 1 pm
Sunday, March 1 at 5 pm

Saturday, March 7 at 1 pm
Sunday, March 8 at 5 pm

ROMEO AND JULIET

A long-simmering feud between two rival families comes to a boil when young Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet try to step across the line drawn in the sand. One of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, no matter how many times we see it, we still hold out hope that this time it will end differently.

Saturday, February 28 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 1 at 1 pm

Saturday, March 7 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 8 at 1 pm

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Talk about coincidence – two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, end up in the same city, unleashing misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and utter chaos, until all is resolved in the happiest of happy endings!

Saturday, March 14 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 15 at 2 pm

Saturday, March 21 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 22 at 2 pm

We’ll be opening registration for our 2026 Summer program soon. Meanwhile, if you are interested, please fill out the form below, and we will notify you as soon as registration is live!

We are pleased to announce that registration for Shakespeare Youth Festival LA ’25 is now open. We are tentatively announcing two plays, however, we reserve the right to change our selection, or add a new section/play to best suit the needs of our students.

If this will be your first time participating in an SYF program, please email us at speak@shakespeareyouthfestival.com to schedule an introductory meeting (phone/Zoom).

All rehearsals will be held at World City Center (3911 W Adams Blvd – just east of Crenshaw). Performances are tentatively scheduled at the Hudson Theatre (6539 Santa Monica Blvd).

Tuition for each participant is $750. 
Finances should never be a barrier to participation – we encourage you to apply for Financial Aid. If you have received financial aid in the past, please email us for details on continuing.

COMEDY OF ERRORS

Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is a fast-paced play about the mix-ups that happen when two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth end up in the same city without realizing it. This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and utter chaos, until all is resolved in the happiest of happy endings!.

For grades 3 through 8 (in Fall 2025)

REHEARSALS
Saturdays from 1 pm to 3 pm
First rehearsal – Saturday, October 18
No rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend
Winter Break – December 27 and January 3
Retreat – Sunday, February 22 (extended afternoon rehearsal)
Techs (4:30 to 7:30 pm)-
Tuesday, March 3
Thursday, March 5
Tuesday, March 10
Thursday, March 12

PERFORMANCES
Saturday, March 14 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 15 at 2 pm

Saturday, March 21 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 22 at 2 pm

CYMBELINE

Can’t decide which is your favorite Shakespearean plot device? Try Cymbeline – it’s got them all! Overpowering parents and rebellious children; mistaken identities and secret marriages; exile and false accusations; long-lost siblings; potions, prophecies, and divine intervention; murder, war, poison … and another happy ending that ties up ALL the loose ends!

For grades 8 through 12 (in Fall 2025)

REHEARSALS
Saturdays from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
First rehearsal – Saturday, October 11
No rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend
Winter Break – December 27 and January 3
Retreat – Sunday, February 8 (extended afternoon rehearsal)
Techs (4:30 to 7:30 pm):
Wednesday, February 18
Friday, February 20
Monday, February 23
Wednesday, February 25

PERFORMANCES
Saturday, February 28 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 1 at 5 pm

Saturday, March 7 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 8 at 5 pm

We are excited to announce our new season – three plays, to be presented in March of 2025, at the beautiful Hudson Theatre Backstage (6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038). The Box Office is now open – reserve your tickets today!

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

Meet Proteus and Valentine in the OG “bro-mantic comedy.”

Saturday, March 8 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 9 at 2 pm

Saturday, March 15 at 2 pm
Sunday, March 16 at 2 pm

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

Set against the backdrop of post-apocalyptic LA, it’s the anti-Romeo & Juliet …

Saturday, March 22 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 23 at 5 pm

Saturday, March 29 at 5 pm
Sunday, March 30 at 5 pm

AS YOU LIKE IT

Cross-dressing women, a professional “fool,” and mass weddings galore.

Saturday, March 22 at 1 pm
Sunday, March 23 at 1 pm

Saturday, March 29 at 1 pm
Sunday, March 30 at 1 pm

We are excited to announce openings in our production of “As You Like It.”. If this will be your first time participating in a class, workshop, or production, please email us at speak@shakespeareyouthfestival.com to schedule an introductory meeting (phone/Zoom).

All rehearsals will be held at World City Center (3911 W Adams Blvd – just east of Crenshaw). Performance venue details are still being finalized, and will be announced before rehearsals begin.

Tuition for each participant is $700.
Finances should never be a barrier to participation – you may apply here: Financial Aid. If you have received financial aid in the past, please email us for details on continuing.

AS YOU LIKE IT

Evil Duke Frederick is not a nice guy. After a rigged wrestling match goes sour, Rosalind and friends escape the rigidity and nastiness of the cruel city, where they were the victims of arbitrary and unfair rules, for the Forest of Arden, where “Do Unto Others” is the law of the land, and where a cast of eccentric characters are all just trying to find someone to love.

READ A SYNOPSIS

For grades 3 through 8

REHEARSALS
Saturdays from 3 pm to 5 pm
First rehearsal – Saturday, October 12
No rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend
Winter Break – December 21 and 28
Retreat – Sunday, March 2 (extended afternoon rehearsal)
Techs (4:30 to 7:30 pm)-
Tuesday, March 18
Thursday, March 20
Tuesday, March 25
Thursday, March 27

PERFORMANCES
Saturday, March 29 at 1 pm
Sunday, March 30 at 1 pm

Saturday, April 5 at 2 pm
Sunday, April 6 at 2 pm

ONE WEEKEND ONLY!! Join us for Ren Week ’24 and our production of Love’s Labours Lost!

Friday, July 26 at 6 pm
Saturday, July 27 at 4 pm

Village Green
5300 Obama Blvd
Enter at Cloverdale and Obama Blvd, and park near Court 12, then follow the SYF signs to the West Green.
(https://maps.app.goo.gl/EbJPZDX7p1TnZLfr7)

Please bring chairs or blankets for seating.

No reservations needed!!

WHAT IS RENAISSANCE WEEK?

We are delighted to present our 3rd Annual Renaissance Week (aka “Ren Week”) production, inspired by a tradition at Staunton, Virginia’s American Shakespeare Center, where actors gather to explore a play according to the staging conditions in Shakespeare’s day. The following are some of the guiding principals of our process:

Natural Light
Shakespeare’s actors rehearsed and performed outdoors, in daylight. This means that the actors can see the audience, making you an important part of the performance.

Short rehearsal periods
Plays were generally mounted with just a few rehearsals; the actors would come to the first rehearsal already knowing their lines. Audiences loved coming to the early performances, knowing that the production was still being crafted.

No directors
Crafting the production was a collaborative effort, by a group of theatre artists who, like us, had worked together many times, and shared a history.

No designers
Actors devised their own costumes from what was on-hand – back then, it was often discarded clothing from their supporting patrons!!