Playmakers! Theatre School began in the summer of 1993 with a handful of children, a front porch, and a shared love of storytelling.

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Inspired by Stratford’s world-famous Shakespeare Festival, a small group of young aspiring actors gathered at Susan Kennedy’s home to create their own version of Hamlet. Susan shared the story in a way that would appeal to children ages six to ten, and the group immediately got to work. They improvised scenes, borrowed costumes and props, choreographed sword fights, painted posters, and debated the perfect name for their acting company. Before long, Hamlet: The 8-Minute Version was ready for an audience.

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After two floodlit performances on the Kennedy-McKenna lawn, the young actors decided to bring their production to the park outside Stratford’s Festival Theatre, performing for delighted audiences before Festival matinees and accompanied, memorably, by a number of very enthusiastic bees.

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The experience sparked something important. The children wanted more stories, more performances, and more opportunities to create theatre together. What began as a small summer adventure quickly grew into an ongoing company of young performers rehearsing on weekends, presenting plays in schools and community spaces, and travelling to perform at festivals and special events.

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As interest in the program continued to grow, Susan officially established Playmakers! Theatre School in 1994 to provide young people with a meaningful theatrical training and a joyful, collaborative, “start-to-finish” experience of creating live performance.

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At Playmakers! process and performance have always been equally important. Alongside acting skills, students are encouraged to develop creativity, resilience, communication skills, teamwork, and confidence through the shared discipline of theatre-making.

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In 2001, Playmakers! became a charitable arts organization, helping to support the long-term growth and accessibility of its programs.

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Today, Playmakers! offers year-round theatre experiences for children, teens, and adults through classes, camps, productions, festivals, and community events. Thousands of young people have participated in Playmakers! programs over the past three decades, discovering not only a love of theatre, but also lasting friendships and skills that extend far beyond the stage.

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Many Playmakers! productions continue to feature classical stories, stage combat, music, movement, and ensemble storytelling. Some productions are original creations; others reimagine myths, legends, and classic plays in versions adapted by Susan especially for young performers.

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Playmakers! alumni have gone on to careers in the arts, education, community leadership, engineering, technology, and many other fields. They often describe their years at Playmakers! as an important foundation for developing confidence, collaboration skills, and the ability to communicate clearly and creatively.

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What has remained unchanged since 1993 is the spirit at the heart of Playmakers!: the belief that young people are capable of extraordinary creativity when given the opportunity to imagine boldly, collaborate generously, and share stories with an audience.

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More than three decades later, Playmakers! continues to evolve with every new season — still creating theatre with imagination, courage, laughter, and the occasional sword fight.