Bard in Motor City: Shakespeare In Detroit

Samantha White loved hip-hop growing up, her mother less so - she tried to turn her daughter onto a different kind of prose, that written by William Shakespeare.

Initially, Samantha says she "hated it" but came to love the bard as she grew older. Today, she is the founder of Shakespeare in Detroit - a theatre company dedicated to the playwright.

In its early days, the theatre group received funding from the local community via Detroit Soup - and Samantha admits that she would have had to pull the plug on only their second performance if it had not been for the funding she received at the monthly crowd-funding dinner.

Today, Shakespeare in Detroit is paying back the favour to the community by giving free outdoor performances every Summer.

Photo by Tanya Moutzalias.

Find out more at www.bbc.com/soup

Watch: Can Soup Change The World? on 14 March on BBC News Catch up via the iPlayer or listen on 21 March at 12:30 GMT on BBC World Service

For more on the BBC's A Richer World, go to www.bbc.com/richerworld - or join the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #BBCRicherWorld, external

  • Subsection
  • Published