The Children's Shakespeare Theatre

The Children's Shakespeare Theatre is an independent organization of children ranging in age from 8-15 who come from Rockland County, NY. Under the direction of Diana Green, the group produces two of Shakespeare's plays each year for presentation at various venues in Rockland County. The group's chief goal is to give young actors an opportunity to experience Shakespeare's words and deep understanding of the human experience and to help them, through instruction in voice, movement and acting techniques, to translate their experience to a broader audience of children and adults.

Membership in the group is open to all children in Rockland County and spaces are filled from a waiting list by audition as they come available.

CST holds auditions in June of each year for the following season. Company members are given priority consideration for parts and then new members begin with smaller parts.

Diana Green was an actor in the original Children's Shakespeare Theatre in 1972. It began as a small group of children gathered in the living room of Jean Brock, an actress and teacher in the local schools. They first assembled simply to read through Macbeth before attending a production starring two of Ms. Brock's friends. Their enthusiasm grew until they had enough children for full-scale productions. The original group was in existence for 5 years and produced 6 plays.

The development of the present troupe called the Children's Shakespeare Theatre began in September of 1999 when actors were gathered from the community by Diana Green and formed into the first company. They rehearsed for 6 months at the Palisades Presbyterian Church where they then mounted their first production in March of 2000. It was a full-length production of A Midsummer Night's Dream which involved 24 actors between the ages of 3 and 14. They held 3 performances for packed houses and the community was very enthusiastic.

In the second season, 2000-2001, the company almost doubled due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of audience children. They now had 2 casts with a total of 43 children for a full-length production of As You Like It. Many community volunteers also participated in the areas of drama coaching, production, scenic design, concessions, music and choreography. They held 6 performances for packed houses at both the Church and the South Orangetown Middle School.

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