Discover Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival’s 2026 touring programs for youth and seniors

By Matthew Windham, with Dawn Tucker

Matthew Windham is a FlagShakes Company Member, Director, Actor, Writer & Coordinator of Education and Outreach Programming. Dawn Tucker is the Executive Director and Founder of Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival

Everyone who devotes a large portion of their lives to putting Shakespeare’s work on stage had a moment when Shakespeare really clicked for them; when something sparked, and they suddenly felt that maybe they, too, were part of this special club. 

Can you remember what that was like? To discover that you were good at something difficult. The sense of pride that it gave you. The hunger you felt to seek out more of that special thing that suddenly belonged to you. To know that you were smart. To know that you were capable. You’d hear grown-ups talk about how Shakespeare was too hard to understand, didn’t make any sense, and you’d think: ‘not for me.’ And that feeling of confidence in your own abilities followed you throughout your life.

This is the spark I have dedicated much of my career to igniting in others through Theatre-for-Young-Audiences programming.

I have been creating and producing Shakespeare-centric TYA performances for well over a decade now with different theatre groups across the U.S. Some of the shows I’ve collaborated on have been edited versions of the full plays. Many of the shows I’ve spearheaded have been new, comical, devised works designed to introduce audiences to the titles, characters, and ideas in Shakespeare. As much as possible, I’ve looked for opportunities to bring young audience members onto the stage to speak a line or two from Shakespeare, or to include their contributions in Mad-Libs style scenes, rewritten and performed on the spot. In each instance, the goal is to allow these young people to feel that Shakespeare belongs to them.

I tend to think that children make some of the best listeners, and some of the most engaged audience. Yes, even for Shakespeare. Children walk through the world deciphering and extracting meaning from everything they see and hear and experience—whether they’ve perfectly understood the language or context, or not. They don’t tend to get hung-up as much on unfamiliar words or usages, or tangled subplots without a perfect resolution. They figure out who the characters are and how they relate to each other, and they just follow the story from there. (At least if the producers have done their job right.)

It’s for all these reasons that I am so invested in TYA Shakespeare personally, and beyond thrilled to be taking a lead role in continuing to expand Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival’s educational, touring and outreach programming into schools, libraries, fairs and community events across our region.

We all know that access to the arts is severely lacking in most communities for school-aged children. The reality is that it’s little better for senior populations, especially those with cost and mobility constraints. Both groups represent underserved populations who are frequently marginalized by traditional theatre offerings.

FlagShakes has been building its senior outreach programming little-by-little, with help from local government and cultural grants. We started with bussed-in free senior matinee performances of our mainstage shows. This year, for the first time, we toured a small-cast trunk-show production to different senior centers and senior living facilities in our community. All of this allowed us to observe and note the needs and responses of this particular segment of the audience. We’re excited to be putting that knowledge into practice in the development of an original touring production for aging audiences to be premiered in mid-2026.

Our TYA and Senior Center programs are central to FlagShakes’ mission of elevating empathy through live performance. Research consistently shows that exposure to the arts improves student engagement, literacy, and critical thinking, while for seniors, arts participation reduces loneliness, improves memory and mental health, and enhances overall well-being. Our original plays specially tailored to both of these populations are designed to meet audiences where they are—whether that’s a school cafeteria buzzing with young energy or a senior center where theatre becomes a bridge to memory, laughter, and connection.

For FlagShakes, this work is not an “add-on” but a vital expression of why we make theatre in the first place: to ensure that the power of story belongs to everyone, across generations. As we continue to take to the road with such productions as Simply Silly Shakespeare, Shakespeare on Pluto, and the upcoming Much Ado About Dinosaurs (a play that combines STEM elements and Shakespeare in an interactive adventure), along with our vibrant new Senior Show, we are excited to serve the people of our city, state, and region, and hopefully to brighten their lives and help them to feel part of something bigger.

Beyond our local community impact, we are developing these programs as a replicable model. These shows are a proven format, and wonderful for audiences of many ages beyond the target demographics. They are easy to produce and tour, and available for partnership and licensing arrangements with any organization similarly looking to expand its outreach offerings in order to better serve your own community.