About Us

Who We Are, and Our Mission

The Rude Mechanicals is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit performing arts organization with a mission to enhance, educate, elevate, and entertain.  We enhance our community through the performing arts, educate the public on the value and impact of live theatre, elevate the quality of live theatre locally, and entertain our community by delivering high-quality Shakespeare-inspired theatre produced by our ensemble cast and crew.

We endeavor to provide our community with access to professional-quality Shakespeare and Shakespeare-inspired productions, accompanied by ongoing educational opportunities, and unique experiences to enhance enjoyment and understanding of Shakespeare’s works and our mission.

Our Vision

To inspire a community where innovative, high-quality theatre is celebrated.

We believe that Shakespeare doesn’t have to be boring.  Shakespeare should be funny, exciting, sexy, crude, tragic, violent, and most of all entertaining.

Why “The Rude Mechanicals”?

“The Rude Mechanicals” name is a reference to the fictional theatre company within one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays, A Midsummer Nights Dream. The members of the company were all amateurs (Rude); laborers and craftsmen by day (Mechanicals) and actors by night. Our beginnings as a ragtag group of theatricals with day jobs and plenty of passion made the name an obvious choice for our community-driven company.

If the company is made up of community members, can I join in?

Absolutely! We hold company auditions once per year for our entire season. Please subscribe to our email list, and follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with news, offers, auditions, and more. If you’ve never performed Shakespeare before, don’t worry! As part of our mission to educate, we’re happy to work with you and help you learn.

Don’t like the limelight, but still want to join in?  We’re always looking for help behind-the-scenes, including areas like costumes, makeup, sets, publicity; all the stuff that goes into putting on a show.  Just let us know how you’d like to help! Feel free to email us at info@rmtheatre.org.

Are you someone who enjoys making community connections and giving back? Do you have professional skills in leadership, fundraising, business, finance, or theatre production? If you are interested in joining our board of directors, please contact Board President, Emily Richman at emily@rmtheatre.org.

Thank you for your support! We hope to see you at one of our events, productions, or auditions soon!