shakespeare for all neighbors

Storytelling workshops for our neighbors experiencing homelessness

Shakespeare for All Neighbors (S4AN) is a pilot storytelling workshop series taking place in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Neighbors experiencing homelessness in the Tenderloin will engage with workshops in Shakespeare and Storytelling. Festival teaching artists will lead group exercises in creative thinking, acting, improv, and storytelling.

The program began in 2018 with storytelling workshops held with our neighbors experiencing homelessness. The workshops took place at various community spaces in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. This led to a multi year collaboration with community based organizations addressing inequities arising for those living in poverty and experiencing housing insecurity. Artistic residencies, rooted in equitable arts engagement, created opportunities for individual empowerment and centering disenfranchised voices.

S4AN fosters participation in the arts and strengthens the Festival’s capacity to engage with under served Californians via co-creation and partnerships by enhancing community inclusion and making our process responsive to the community’s self-identified needs. With support from California Arts Council we partner with The Healing WELL, a Tenderloin neighborhood based community organization for healing, renewal, and growth.

SF Shakes Resident Artist and Engagement Team member Maryssa Wanlass brings decades of experience working in underserved communities to this program which she has led since its inception. Returning team members include Alex Trono and Al Niotta.

The curriculum, developed by Festival teaching artists, draws on the extensive arts education experience within SF Shakes and outside sources such as Red Ladder Theatre, Cornerstone Theatre, Augusto Boal’s classic work Theatre of the Oppressed. Those participating in the S4AN program will be engaged through improvisation informed by fusing their own experience with Shakespeare’s structure and poetic perspective. The workshops also serve as community building exercises that foster individual self expression and mutual support. Participants will also have opportunities to share their work with community partners, receive structured feedback from Festival artists and present their stories to the wider community.

Shakespeare For All Neighbors is led by trained theater professionals and independent teaching artists.

KINA KANTOR
TEACHING ARTIST
Kina (she/her) is a Bay Area based actor, artist and classically trained cellist. Selected regional credits include: Uncle Vanya (co-production with The Shakespeare Theatre Company and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), the West Coast Premiere of Mrs. Christie (TheatreWorks), Naomi Iizuka’s world premiere of Garuda’s Wing in repertory with her PlayOn! translation of Richard II (The Magic Theatre/Campo Santo), originating the role of Gao-Ming in the world premiere of The Great Khan (San Francisco Playhouse), The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (San Francisco Playhouse), Tiny Beautiful Things (San Francisco Playhouse), The Great Wave (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), The Far Country (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), as well as credits with American Conservatory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Marin Theatre and touring with the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. Kina is a company member of the Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC) and PlayGround SF. She is a teaching artist for the SF Shakespeare Festival, StageWrite, and Academy of Art University. Film: Free (2024), You’ll Lose a Good Thing (2024) @kinakantor

AL NIOTTA
TEACHING ARTIST
Al (they/them) has been an actor since a nativity play at 10, and an atheist since 13. With a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from SF State University, they have had the privilege of training and gaining experience across mediums in both LA and the Bay Area. Al takes their passion and wit into every role and classroom. Equipped with an affinity for Shakespeare, the arts, and good timez, Al has made a home in several of SF Shakes’ education and community programs. Much of their professional journey prior to Shakes has been in youth education, theatrical arts, and outdoor recreation, with employers such as SF and Oakland USD, the GGNRA and MTC, as well as Americorps and the National Park Service. Al aims to cultivate a creative and welcoming space (cause that’s where the best stuff is made). They seek to make art, whether it be tender or laughable.

ALEX TRONO
TEACHING ARTIST
Headshot and Bio coming soon!

MARYSSA WANLASS
PROGRAM MANAGER, SHAKESPEARE FOR ALL NEIGHBORS
Maryssa is an actor, director, and educator, with an emphasis on social justice and classical theatre. A long-time Resident Artist at SF Shakes, Wanlass has appeared on the mainstage in multiple shows and taught in nearly every program. Notable roles with SF Shakes include Jaques in As You Like It, Horatio in Hamlet, and Hermione in Winter’s Tale. Other Bay Area stage appearances include CalShakes (As You Like It), San Jose Stage (Persuasion), Livermore Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It, Hamlet, Merry Wives of Windsor), Center REPertory Company (Enchanted April, Witness for the Prosecution), Woman’s Will (Much Ado About Nothing, Good Person of Szechuan). She has directed locally for Utopia Theatre Project, PlayGroundSF, Shotz, and regionally for Advice to the Players. Wanlass’ social justice work includes directing at-risk young adults in Shakespeare plays via SF Shakes’ Midnight Shakespeare program, and working with Red Ladder Theatre to deliver improv workshops in California’s correctional system. As Engagement Director for SF Shakes, they are spearheading a new curriculum that encourages participants to share their own creative storytelling with inspiration from William Shakespeare.

shakespeare for all neighbors

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