Each year the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival works hand-in-hand with Grand Valley's School of Communications' theatre major to financially assist students who demonstrate outstanding commitment to dramatic art, particularly in connection with Shakespeare Festival operations. This support amounts to more than $15,000 annually and often enhances other forms of financial aid that students receive.

Recipients of these awards work in some capacity with the Shakespeare Festival as actors, stage managers, stage technicians, musicians, directors, designers, or arts managers. In some cases, the awards extend beyond the Festival season and into Grand Valley's winter theatre season of plays and dance concerts. Students are able to learn while doing as they apply theoretical skills learned in the classroom to practical production assignments.

Shakespeare Festival scholarships are funded both by Grand Valley and by the public through their private contributions to the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival. Awards are made by the Shakespeare Festival committee in the spring and fall.

Hamlet 2005

The Shakespeare Scholarship
($600-$1,250)

Shakespeare Production Assistantships
($300-$750)