About Us

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival Mission Statement

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established for the cultural benefit and enjoyment of all residents of and visitors to our region. We strive to plan, produce and advocate the finest cultural events at Lake Tahoe while educating future generations on the importance of including theater, music and art in their everyday lives.

The History of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival began modestly in 1972 at Sugar Pine Point State Park on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. The New Shakespeare Company presented eight performances during its inaugural season. The organization continued there for four years, until it ran into scheduling conflicts over the use of Sugar Pine Point's Ehrman Mansion.

In 1976, the company and Nevada State Parks agreed to hold the performances at Sand Harbor State Park - even though it was considered to be a less accessible location. A bare-bones stage was hastily built for just over $1,000 in materials and labor. In 1976, our first year at Sand Harbor State Park, it is estimated over 500 people attended each of twelve performances.

At first, the newly-named Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival was managed by the staff of Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park. In 1982, the North Tahoe Fine Arts Council (NTFAC) began "Tunes in the Dunes" and took over the management of the Festival. The Festival prospered under the direction of NTFAC and became a cultural tradition at the park. Each year, more and more people made the trip to enjoy a picnic and a play under the stars at Sand Harbor. But in 1992, the North Tahoe Fine Arts Council folded and The Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau was selected to manage the Festival.

In 1995, the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival was incorporated as an independent non-profit organization dedicated to managing and improving the performances at Sand Harbor.  The Warren Edward Trepp Stage, a state of the art stage facility, built at a cost of nearly two million dollars, was dedicated at the start of the 2000 season.

In May of 1999, the Parasol Foundation, a non-profit community foundation, was awarded a generous grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation through the Community Services Center Program. The Program is designed to help privately supported, non-profit organizations with 501 C (3) status join together to house their operations in a shared facility. The Festival was fortunate to have been invited to share this one-of-a-kind facility. Designed from the ground up for the special needs of non-profits and volunteer organizations, it is the headquarters of the Parasol Foundation, 20 other full-time organizations and over 80 other groups who utilize the facility as needed. The Parasol Foundation, which provides an umbrella of benefits and value-added services to aid the non-profit organizations on the North Shore, together with the generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, has given the Festival a wonderful opportunity to be part of a model project for non-profit organizations in America.

Today

The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor remains a fun, casual evening on the beach, but under the stewardship of the Board of Directors and Festival management, it has also become one of the outstanding outdoor cultural events in the United States.  In addition to producing professional Shakespeare for over 22,000 patrons each summer, our Monday Night Showcase, featuring the best of the region's arts and culture organizations, reaches an additional 3,500 customers.  Our three educational outreach programs reach over 7,000 young people each year.  In addition to our Midsummer Theatre Camps, we offer two free programs, the D. G. Menchetti Young Shakespeare Program, an interactive adaptation for children of a Shakespeare play performed at Sand Harbor and around the region during the summer, and InterACT, an in-school residency in Shakespeare and the classics, provided to schools throughout our region during the academic year.