Stage2 Student Matinees

Learn More About Our 2024 Stage2 Student Matinees Below!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Stage2 Student Matinees

Each Spring, CSC presents our Stage2 Student Matinee Series at a theatrical venue in Boston, MA . Stage2 productions are presented using Shakespeare’s original text, cut for length to under 2 hours without intermission. Our cuts focus on highlighting the themes, ideas and language that will resonate strongly for a student audience and typically created with grade 6-12 curriculum in mind. Our creative team and performers make choices that serve to illuminate the storytelling for this audience without “watering down” the source material. School groups have the option of staying for a short post-show talk-back with the actors. Our Stage2 matinees are performed by our CSC2 Company giving students a great chance to attend live theater in a setting created just for them.

Our Stage2 matinees open for booking in September each year. Past titles have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and Julius Caesar.

“The vast majority of the students that attended the show had never seen a live Shakespeare production and I couldn’t have wished for better production to be their first.  The clear vitality and talent  of the cast, coupled with the physical aesthetic of the piece, undoubtedly enlivened the student’s perception of what “live Shakespeare” can entail.”

– 2016 Educator on A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I had a fun time and the acting was amazing. It felt like the whole play was really coming to life. I also loved being able to hear some of the questions and comments from other kids.

-2017 Student on Julius Caesar

(Photos: Left, A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016, Right, Romeo & Juliet 2019, Photo Credit: Nile Hawver)

About CSC2

John Hardin (Mercutio) in Romeo & Juliet, CSC2, 2019-Photo by Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Studios

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Stage2 Performance Series provides the opportunity for students and their teachers to attend high-quality live theater created with them in mind. These abridged productions use Shakespeare’s original text, and focus on the themes and stories that will resonate most with young audiences. Performed by our young professional CSC2 Acting Company, these performances bring together the next generation of actors with the next generation theater goers.

CSC2 is a company of young actors that works with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company to further develop skills in classical acting through performance, artistic and professional development, and through different educational and coaching settings.  The ensemble is built of twelve, non-Equity, early-career actors with some professional experience. 


Featured Photo: Romeo & Juliet at The Strand Theater 2015, Photo Credit: Nile Hawver

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