Help Kids Experience Shakespeare

Do you remember the first time someone said you did a great job, or you got on the honor role, graduated from college, got your first job, your first promotion? Remember how magnificent you felt? Alone in your bedroom you may have heard an inner voice say: “Someone believes in me! Appreciates me!” Whatever it was you did, you were validated. You felt great! And it was a highlight, perhaps even a turning point in your life.

 Think on that feeling for a moment.


Validation of talent is critical to an artist and that is what Shoreline Arts Alliance is all about: recognizing outstanding young artists and fostering their passion. Letting them know we recognize their talent, we believe in that talent and foster their dreams. We stand ready to give them scholarships, mentors, and recognition. But we cannot do it alone.

We need your support.

Behind every great artist is a string of critically important people who have supported them, believed in them, and applauded their efforts. Without that validation, that fostering of their passion, we would never have the great artists, dancers, musicians, actors, writers, painters, photographers, etc. that we are so fortunate to experience.


For the past 4 years, Shoreline Arts Alliance has held a theater performing arts summer program, Rising Stars, for children in our community. All the children who attend the theatre program get the opportunity to participate in our Shakespeare performance done in the Town Center on the historic green of Guilford, CT.

Each of these week-long, energy-filled and entertaining theater experiences encourage creativity, reading and interpretation, and engagement in an artistic endeavor. Rising Stars embraces the theater arts and will speak to each child’s desire and need to be recognized, to have their own voice and yet be nurtured as a successful individual as well as a contributing member of a team.


For 5 nights in August the Guilford Town Green will bustle with activity. Chairs, blankets, and picnic dinners will dot the landscape as residents and visitors gather to enjoy a FREE, family-friendly performance of a Shakespeare classic, The Temptest. We have offered this magical "theatre under the stars" experience for 15 years. Performances will also include an American Sign Language interpreter, large print and Braille programs, assisted listening devices, and pre/post show talk-backs making this opportunity accessible and available to many who may not otherwise have the experience of live theatre. 

Due to the government's increasing amount of budget cuts to the arts, we no longer have all the necessary funds to support this incredible experience and performance this year. That's why we need your help!


All funds gifted will go towards putting on the summer program for as many children as possible, putting on the Shakespeare performance and providing accessability for our community, and ensuring all the actors and actresses get paid properly for their craft.

Where your gifts will be going:
$14K for Artists, Actors, Technical Team and Teaching Artists
$8500 Theater Experience for Kids
$7500 for Accessibility Features (Sign Interpreters, Braille and Large Print Programs, Mobility Assistants, Special Lighting, Hearing Assist Devices)


We make art happen.
You make art happen.
Together, art happens.

Interested in our other programs? Visit our website to see what else we do for the arts!