Keeping Tradition Alive: How Shakespeare by the Sea Connects Community

Since 1994, Shakespeare by the Sea has brought Atlantic Canada’s largest outdoor theatre festival to life in the open-air setting of Point Pleasant Park. Audiences gather at the Cambridge Battery to experience the timeless tales of Shakespeare, along with family-friendly musicals that bring all ages together at its studio.

“We pride ourselves in being the most accessible theatre in the region,” says Associate Artistic Director Drew Douris-O’Hara, who shares that the theatre’s ‘pay what you can’ pricing model allows everyone to experience the magic of theatre.

For Drew, who joined the company at the age of twelve, the theatre is a tradition that both entertains and connects.

“There’s nothing else like it,” Drew says. “When you sit here and hear that poetry fly up into the sky, it’s a beautiful connection of texts from hundreds of years ago to our lives today.”

Each summer, Managing Artistic Director Jesse MacLean works to bring these centuries-old stories to life in ways that resonate with today’s audiences.

“Shakespeare is some of the best stuff that’s ever been written,” Jesse explains. “Our job is to keep these stories modern and relevant…to dig into these old tales about the human condition and to try to bring them forward and into the future.”

But creating accessible, high-quality theatre in a growing city like Halifax requires ongoing support. Programs like Support4Culture have been a lifeline to their efforts.

“It’s crucial for cultural institutions to have support like Support4Culture,” says Jesse. “Without funding, arts experiences become something only a few can afford, and we’d lose the shared cultural fabric that makes a community strong.”

Drew echoes this sentiment, describing funding like Support4Culture as “angels that come down and say, ‘we can give you a hand with this.’”

With support like this, Shakespeare by the Sea has been able to expand its reach, increasing its audience by over a thousand people every year since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Both Jesse and Drew see theatre as a shared cultural experience, essential to a thriving community. “It’s the lifeblood of the experience of living in a region,” Drew reflects.

Thanks to funding like Support4Culture, Shakespeare by the Sea can relive the classics while fostering a community that values connection, tradition, and the shared experience of live performance.

As Jesse says, “That’s the magic of it all. It can be anything you want to make it.”