At Rodman for Kids, we believe access to the arts should go far beyond simply attending a performance. Through our Theatre for Kids program, we work alongside partners who help create experiences where young people feel connected, uplifted, and empowered long after the curtain closes.
One of those partners is Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, whom we partner with to ensure that all of their Stage2 student matinee performances of Romeo & Juliet are available at no cost to thousands of students this year. Through accessibility supports, educational resources, student-centered performances, and free opportunities to continue engaging with the arts, CSC exemplifies what meaningful access can look like.
We spoke with Bill Stiles, Director of Programs at Rodman for Kids, about why this partnership matters and how it reflects the heart of our work:
Q: How does the partnership with CSC fit into the broader work Rodman for Kids does with youth-focused organizations and schools?
BS: The partnership with CSC seamlessly fits into what we are doing with our Theatre for Kids Program. We want to deepen the connection youth have to performing arts not only through making opportunities accessible, but connecting them to their lives. CSC meets youth where they are at with accessibility supports like open captioning and touch tables, they run talkbacks where youth hear from young actors who are truly near peers to them, and the schools signing up are connecting the day right back to the classroom and reinforcing learning through the experience of seeing live theatre. CSC is a standard bearer for what we look for in partnership.
Q: Why is it important that some performances are designed specifically for students?
BS: Students not only get all the supports we’ve discussed, but they also get to be authentically themselves in receiving it. You want them to feel the emotions of the show and not feel like they have to be silent observers. The energy a CSC student matinee, and frankly any Theatre for Kids show, has is infectious and powerful. Additionally, CSC makes these shows 90 minutes, allowing kids to get a condensed and powerful rendition without the additional barrier of a 3 hour run time that a full Shakespeare production can have.
Q: How do experiences like CSC’s Stage2 productions empower educators and communities beyond a single day?
BS: CSC does tremendous work in the leadup to a performance, sharing helpful information for educators and students about what they’ll be seeing, giving ample time for educators to embed the show they’ll be seeing, like Romeo & Juliet this year, into their curriculum if it isn’t already. Hearing the inflection and delivery of Shakespearian language provides such great context where kids will read it with a higher confidence and level of understanding. There’s also resilience that comes from learning something challenging, and if kids see art as a learning tool to help with that, they’ll be more likely to come back to it again.
Q: What is the importance of creating experiences that are both educational AND welcoming for all students?
BS: It’s the most critical thing we can do as people. If an environment is educational but isn’t welcoming, it’s neither. When you think of a hierarchy of needs, people need to feel safe and welcomed to truly learn. If you aren’t accommodating them, if you aren’t creating spaces for them, then you’re not really educating them. By creating welcoming and educational spaces like CSC has, you’re not only teaching the educational components, but you’re teaching that inclusion is an expectation and a duty, not an add on.
Q: How have you seen CSC’s work align with our CUE Model?
BS: We’re looking to set the table by Connecting our youth with knowledge and activities ahead of time, and what’s amazing is that we didn’t have to tell CSC that – they already did it in deep and meaningful ways. The day of the performance, we want to Uplift our youth, and CSC drives that forward with all of the accessibility supports in addition to the power of a talkback and the intentionality of near peer actors performing. Lastly, we want to Empower youth to build on their experience and go see the next show or dive a little deeper, and what better way than being able to say they can see another performance for free on Boston Common every summer. It’s a no cost loop back to take a one off action into an annual tradition and perhaps a passion.
Q: What does meaningful access to the arts look like to you?
BS: Frankly, it looks like the partnership between CSC and Rodman for Kids. It’s removing every barrier you can to open doors wide and create a space that goes beyond accepting that kids will attend, and moves into generating a space FOR them. It’s leading with good intent and following with dedicated execution. It’s making sure every kid who walks into a theatre knows they belong from the moment they step in until they exit.
Through partnerships like the one with CSC, the Theatre for Kids program continues to show that access to the arts is about more than attendance – it’s about belonging, connection, and creating experiences that can inspire young people for years to come.