about us

Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, Inc., also known as Indy Shakes, is in its 17th year of producing high quality, fully professional Shakespeare in the Park productions. Indy Shakes is proud to offer our mainstage 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, Neighborhood-Benefiting Affordable Housing for Organizational Sustainability, 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 theatre and community.

As an artist-led organization, we also have a focus to serve local theatre artists. One of our motivating factors is to prevent “creative brain drain”. We offer local theatre 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, and technical and production professionals. Our team effort that makes creating the productions so satisfying for team members—and ultimately for the audiences.

OUR VENUE

Indy Shakes mainstage productions are held each summer at our new resident home, at the Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre in Riverside Park.

The world class venue was renovated in partnership with Indy Parks and Recreation, Indianapolis Parks Foundation, and Indiana Landmarks, thanks to a $9.2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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.

our history

Our company was founded in 2006 by a group of Indianapolis actors—Michael Shelton, Ben Tebbe, Lauren Morris, Michael Downey, and Nick Carpenter—who created the Heartland Actors’ Repertory Theatre, a company which began by producing contemporary work and new plays. Over the years, free Shakespeare productions became the galvanizing focus.

During our Lilly Endowment-funded strategic planning process in 2016, we changed our name to reflect our focus to Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.

We have been rooted in the Indianapolis community for over a decade and will continue to serve the great city of Indianapolis for years to come.