This summer, the Piedmont Shakespeare Company will open its inaugural season performing Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” across six locations in the Piedmont-Triad area.
The company was created by Elon professors David McGraw, serving as executive director of the company, and Kim Shively, serving as a co-artistic director, alongside University of North Carolina School of the Arts professor Carl Forsman. It aims to bring free Shakespeare to people all over the Piedmont Triad region. On Feb. 15, the company announced auditions will be held on March 2 at Elon and March 9 at UNC School of the Arts as well as other employment opportunities.
The company will tour six locations across the region with stops at the Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre south of Burlington, Arts 1 Theater 202 in Lexington, the Oak Ridge Town Park Amphitheater, the Van Dyke Performance Space in Greensboro, the King Central Park Amphitheater, and will close at the May Dell Amphitheater at Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem.
Shively said the decision to focus on Shakespeare came from the continued relevance of his works.
“At a time where we are becoming increasingly siloed, increasingly divided,” Shively said. “There’s something about Shakespeare’s experience of humanity that makes and the way that Shakespeare talks about our shared humanity that really brings together people in a way that I haven’t seen any other theater do because Shakespeare was writing for everyone.”
When Shively began teaching at Elon in 2016, she said she wanted to find her partners and start a summer theater to return to her roots.
“That’s the tradition I come from,” Shively said. “It’s been such a powerful influence in my life.”
Once she connected with McGraw, Shively said they had a quick partnership and began planning to start a company. As the pair got ready to launch their company, the COVID-19 pandemic began.
McGraw said the pandemic decimated the theater community, but now the Piedmont Shakespeare Company will work to fix this.
“A number of artists have been forced to leave the area, and so one thing that the summer theater will provide is opportunities for students, but it will also provide opportunities for faculty and staff to be able to stay in the area,” McGraw said. “I’ve had to take my family up to Massachusetts in order to do summer work, and I really want to stay home and make theater for my neighbors.”
After the pandemic, Forsman said he met Shively when they collaborated on a play for UNC School of the Arts. The three partners came together and began the process to create the Piedmont Shakespeare Company.
The company registered its non-profit status in June 2024. The team began quietly fundraising and went public in December. Earlier in February, the company announced “Hamlet” as the show for its inaugural season.
Shively, McGraw and Forsman said they all were in agreement — “Hamlet” needed to be Piedmont Shakespeare Company’s first production. Forsman said he found it very meaningful if the company could deliver audiences a high quality production of the show.
“It’s the kind of play that everybody thinks they know, but very few people have actually seen a good production of,” Forsman said. “It just feels like it would be so tragic to go through life and never see a good production of Hamlet, what a disaster that would be.”
The company has an agreement with the Actors Equity Association, which McGraw said is the professional union for actors and stage managers. Having the agreement means that “Hamlet” will be cast and staffed exclusively from students, faculty, staff and alumni from the past three years of Elon and UNC School of the Arts.
Senior acting major Sean Mikesh said he intends to audition for the company.
“This is a nice opportunity to really put my skills to the test and hopefully continue to grow throughout that Shakespeare process,” Mikesh said.
Junior arts administration and drama theatre studies double major Abi Colburn will be doing research for the company as part of Elon’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience program. Colburn said she will be looking at how to make Shakespeare more accessible and relevant to audiences.
“It really piqued my interest to be able to study how to try to help people fall in love with Shakespeare the same way I have,” Colburn said.
For the inaugural season, Shively said she hopes the show really impacts audiences.
“I hope that it brings people together, and that it helps people feel less lonely, that it inspires people and gives them something to think about and realize that the theater is for everyone, and that they might start seeking out more opportunities to engage in the arts in their community,” Shively said.
Forsman said he can’t wait to see where the season goes.
“I keep thinking about what it’ll be like to have a couple hundred people in the dark listening to Shakespeare together for the first time this summer,” Forsman said. “I can’t wait.”
More information about Piedmont Shakespeare Company on its website and by following its social media on Instagram at pshakesnc and on Facebook at P-Shakes.