Equity, access, and inclusion are core values of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Theatre has a remarkable power to bring people together and to allow us to examine our shared humanity. With our specific commitment to Shakespeare and other plays of classic stature, we constantly tackle the ongoing question of how these works resonate in our specific contemporary communities. The reach and influence of Shakespeare’s works throughout our culture allows his plays to serve as a kind of social glue, binding us together with common language, characters, and stories. Therefore, we believe that these works must be wholly available and made more accessible to all people. 

Most theatre practitioners and scholars today recognize that the classical theatre canon has been misused sometimes as a tool of systemic racism and gender bias, alienating some people from these works. CSC recognizes that we should do more to mitigate these harms and to aggressively pursue greater equity on our stages, in our classrooms, and in our offices. 

Differences in identity including age, background, class, gender, religion, nationality, disability, race, sexual orientation, and thinking style bring vibrancy to our organization and to our content and such differences help us better connect with the stories that reflect our world. Our EAI values are intended to inform all ongoing discussions, committees, rehearsals, programming, and performances. 

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company aims to be an organization that works continually toward equity and inclusion in an intentional, respectful, and welcoming way. 

Current Commitments

Casting and Artistic Positions – CSC is committed to fostering conscious and intentional casting – on our mainstage, for our student matinees, and in our community programming. We aim to engage directors and designers from underrepresented groups to lead the creative process. We will determinedly seek out younger artists from these communities to mentor. We promise artists that CSC strives to be an equitable space, where all are welcomed and wanted. 

Hiring, Staff, and Board – To reflect the communities in which we live, we will endeavor to increase representation in our administrative staff, teaching artists, and trustees. We will provide transparent information in job postings, including salary levels, and eliminate requirements that discourage otherwise qualified candidates. Our staff and board will strive toward anti-hate and anti-discrimination practices and adhere strictly to our Code of Conduct. 

Audience: Without diverse  audiences, we cannot truly serve our community. Our student matinee program is already heavily invested in Baltimore City Public Schools whose students regularly attend at no cost to the schools or students. We have created our Shakespeare Beyond program to bring our Shakespeare Wagon to parks and communities throughout the region to serve all kinds of audiences in their own neighborhoods.  We will work harder in marketing outreach to Baltimore’s city neighborhoods and community organizations as we aim to increase diverse representation in our audiences. We also work to ensure that our theatre remains accessible to patrons with disabilities and mobility needs. 

Content and Programming – We continually strive to redefine what “classic theatre” means in Maryland today. We will continue to research and recommend plays and stories of a classic tradition that are from underrepresented voices in gender, culture, nationality, and race. Our goal is for these stories to be included in our mainstage season. We will endeavor to maintain and develop these perspectives in our programming.  And we always recognize that diversity onstage is a critical way to connect with all communities so that everyone feels included. 

Community – We will support and maintain our community ensemble programs and continue to devise further programming that invests in the Greater Baltimore Community and Maryland. We have created a Black Classical Acting Ensemble, tasked with both mentoring and training local Black actors at no cost to them as well as creating a vigorous and thoughtful Afrocentric model of actor training for classical plays – something that has not been deeply explored in the US. Our Shakespeare Beyond program is a critical tool for community outreach, bringing opportunities to participate in the arts—we will include community arts organizations in our performances -- to neighborhoods with limited access to creative programming. 

Partnerships – Our goal is to create wider and more substantive partnerships. We’ll listen carefully as we develop new programming to better serve the broad spectrum of culture in Baltimore and Maryland. Through review of vendors and commitments, we are working to increase the amount of business we do with Black owned/led and women owned/led companies and contractors. We’ll continue to serve as a stage for advocates, artists, and educators of all types through intentional collaborations with Baltimore’s bright creative network.