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ABOUT
Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, Inc., also known as Indy Shakes, is in its 17th year of producing high-quality, fully professional theater productions. Indy Shakes is proud to offer our Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre performances to the Indianapolis community for FREE! Our staff, board, and company members have created a strategic plan that encapsulates our organizational goals including Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Community Engagement, and more. As we continue to grow our presence in our new home in the Near Northwest Community, we also aim to acknowledge the history of the land we now call home. We feel strongly that we are entering into a new era as an organization as we seek to redefine the intersection of professional theater and community.
As an artist-led organization, we also have a focus to serve local theater artists. We offer local theater artists of all levels artistically satisfying, paid jobs during a time of year when many of the local arts organizations are not producing.
Our Company is comprised of actors, technical and production professionals, and others. A team effort that makes creating the productions so satisfying for team members—and ultimately for the audiences.
MISSION
To share the joy of live professional theatre with all; to build community with Indy’s Near Northwest and beyond.
VISION
To redefine the intersection of professional theatre and community.
VALUES
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We value providing open, accessible performances.
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We value creating opportunities for theatre artists to thrive.
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We value making high quality, professional theatre.
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We value a commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.
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We value listening to our community.
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We value centering voices of color in all facets of our organization.
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We value harnessing the power of live theatre to inspire and transform lives.
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We value using the work of Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights of color to make art that is inclusive, representative, and that celebrates the diversity of our community.
OUR VENUES
OUR NEW HOME AT RIVERSIDE
Indianapolis Shakespeare Company is thrilled and honored to have our permanent home at Riverside Park. Inspired by the Riverside Park Master Plan, Indy Shakes sought out a partnership with Indy Parks and Recreation, Indianapolis Parks Foundation, and Indiana Landmarks in January 2018. The Lilly Endowment granted our partnership $9.2 million in
funding to restore the Taggart Memorial and build out an outdoor amphitheater. This has resulted in the world class Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre.
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it”
— Shakespeare, As You Like It
2021’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the first Indy Shakes production held on the Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre stage. Ricky 3 – A Hip Hop Shakespeare Richard III was produced there in 2022, followed by Love’s Labor’s Lost in 2023.
We have commissioned a play to honor the history of the neighborhood and its residents and will produce it at the Taggart in 2024. Join us for performances of the play Riverside in late July!
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We at the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company acknowledge that the land we gather on is the stolen land of native people, the Miami and Kickapoo. We acknowledge that it is only through their loss that we have the privilege to be here. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the indigenous peoples past and present who have stewarded it throughout the generations and we hope that through our creative work we will be able to honor their land and their people, past, present and future. We honor all residents of color in the Near Northwest, past and present. We acknowledge that in the not-so-distant past, Riverside Park was segregated and designated as a "whites only" park. These truths call us all to commit to listening, learning, and building equitable systems so we can move toward a better future.
