School Visit Program

Our exciting School Visit Program includes a visit to your school’s theatre, auditorium, or gymnasium, featuring live performances, talkbacks, and workshops—all designed to entertain and educate students of all ages.

OSF founder Angus Bowmer started this program over 40 years ago with one simple goal: to bring Shakespeare into as many schools as possible. We are proud to continue this legacy that for many students will be their first and sometimes only exposure to theatre and Shakespeare’s plays in performance.

2026 Season School Visits

OSF offers two School Visit performance options for your students:

Our 2026 programs are:

• Shakespeare: Hamlet – One of Shakespeare’s most studied plays, our SVP version of Hamlet is a wonderful introduction to the play for all audiences. After he is charged by a ghost to revenge his father’s death, Hamlet struggles to find the right path forward. This fast-moving 40-minute version of the classic brings the main characters and central issues Hamlet encounters to life.
• Literature: Boo! Fall is the perfect time for all things frightful and delightful! Audiences will get swept up in this collection of stories, poems, and scenes from plays featuring classics by Shakespeare and Emily Dickenson, alongside modern voices like Khalisa Rae and Harlan Ellison. Sometimes silly and at others creepy, this 40-minute experience will celebrate spooky season from beginning to end.

Workshop:

• Tell Me a Story! Using pieces from both of our School Visit performance programs, Hamlet and Boo!, this workshop encourages students to engage with text kinesthetically as they experiment and discover what makes a good story. From telling one-word stories to investigating Shakespearean tragedy, students will engage in fast and fun activities that challenge them to explore plot, character, and conflict on their way to crafting compelling stories of their own.

Request scheduling for our 2026 Tour

A single day of School Visit Programming includes up to four events including a combination of:

• Performances and Talkbacks – Each performance is approximately 40 minutes in length and includes a 10-minute discussion with students following the show. Performances can be scheduled for student groups of 25–500.
  
  Schools may select from the team’s two performance program offerings:
  • Shakespeare program
  • Literature program
    
    
• Workshops – Following performances, the team will lead either one 2-hour workshop or up to three 1-hour workshops, limited to 40 students each.
  
  The workshop curriculum involves active explorations of Shakespeare and other authors’ text; ideal for language arts and drama classes. Additional workshop time can be scheduled with the purchase of additional SVP days.

Each day of the School Visit Program includes up to four events led by OSF teaching artists. Schools are invited to book multiple, consecutive days if more than four events are desired. 

2026 cost per day: $1,500.
Partial scholarships available.

To receive information about our School Visit Program, please complete this form.

For information about the School Visit Program, or about OSF’s other Education and Engagement programming, please email us.

Request scheduling for our 2026 Tour