Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Launches Capital Expansion Campaign to Shape the Future of Theatre, Education, and Community in Cincinnati

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) announced today the launch of a Capital Expansion Campaign: For All, For All Time, an investment in the future of theatre, arts education, and community engagement in Cincinnati. The estimated $25M campaign will fund the construction of a 19,000-square-foot community arts and education center, including a new studio theater, due south of The Otto M. Budig Theater. The new theater will invite audiences to expand their experience with an entirely flexible performance space that can be reimagined with new seating layouts for every production.

The announcement marks the next chapter in a vision first introduced in 2015, when Cincinnati Shakespeare Company announced plans to complete the “Classical Arts Corridor” with its permanent home at the corner of 12th and Elm Streets in Over-the-Rhine which opened in 2017. Nearly a decade after opening the Otto M. Budig Theater, CSC has outgrown the capacity of its current space. The expansion will complete the original vision for a fully integrated performing arts campus designed to serve audiences, students, artists, and the community for generations to come.

“When we announced our new theater in 2015, we knew it was only the beginning,” said Brian Isaac Phillips, Producing Artistic Director and CEO. “The Otto M. Budig Theater transformed what Cincinnati Shakespeare Company could accomplish artistically. Today, we have the opportunity to complete that vision by building spaces where more artists can create, more students can learn, more community partners can gather, and more audiences can experience live theatre. This campaign is about ensuring that theatre belongs to everyone—not just today, but for all time.”

Since opening the Otto M. Budig Theater in 2017, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has experienced extraordinary growth. Between 2017 and 2026, the company expanded from six to ten productions annually, accelerating audience growth, and increasing opportunities for artists and audiences alike. Today, approximately 15% of CSC’s patrons travel from outside the Greater Cincinnati region, contributing to the city’s growing cultural tourism economy. Each year, CSC welcomes approximately 28,000 audience members annually, generating an estimated $1M in neighborhood spending at nearby restaurants, businesses, hotels, and attractions.

“Across the industry, institutions are being challenged to rely less on any single revenue source and to maximize performance,” said Sara Clark, Director of Development. “For organizations like Cincy Shakes with strong demand and stable operations, this moment rewards flexibility. Audiences are returning, demand for arts summer camps and student programs continues to rise, and we find ourselves at a rare convergence of readiness and opportunity.”

The expansion will add 19,000 square feet to CSC’s facility and will include:

• A 150+ seat Studio Theater designed as one of the most artistically flexible performance spaces in the region.
• Three multi-purpose education and community spaces supporting year-round classes, camps, rehearsals, community events, and public programming.
• Expanded operational and production facilities that allow both buildings to function as one integrated theatrical campus.

At the heart of the project is the studio theater—a performance venue unlike any other in Greater Cincinnati. Designed with a fully transformable seating system and state-of-the-art theatrical technology, the space can be configured in proscenium end-stage, thrust, theatre-in-the-round, traverse, cabaret, and other creative layouts, allowing each production to determine the relationship between artists and audiences.

“Cincy Shakes has always been about creating an intimate, engaging experience that invites audiences to come closer,” said Jeanna Vella, Director of Marketing. “This new theater builds on what we already do so well and gives us the opportunity to truly expand your experience.”

“Audiences may surround the production on all four sides. The next may seat patrons opposite one another across the playing space. Another may use a traditional proscenium configuration with cutting-edge technical design,” said Mr. Phillips. “Every production can have its own unique experience for the audience. No other theater in Cincinnati offers this level of artistic flexibility.”

The expansion will enable Cincinnati Shakespeare Company to realize the full potential of its mission to bring Shakespeare and the classics to life for all. Upon completion, CSC will be able to produce upwards of 15 productions annually across two venues, extending the runs of high-demand productions, improving the financial sustainability of its artistic portfolio, expanding year-round educational programming, and providing affordable gathering and performance space for community partners and emerging arts organizations.

CSC is thrilled to once again work with GBBN Architects and Messer Construction on the expansion, with GBBN leading the design and Messer leading the construction. Both firms were the lead partners in the creation of The Otto M. Budig Theater and bring their deep knowledge of CSC and its current home to this exciting next chapter.

Joining the project as theatrical planning consultant is internationally renowned theater, acoustic, and experience design consultancy Charcoalblue. The firm has worked with some of the world’s leading Shakespeare institutions, including the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, as well as major performance and entertainment projects including the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center in New York and Sphere in Las Vegas. Charcoalblue is working alongside CSC, GBBN, and Messer to help shape the theatrical, technical, and audience experience of the new venue.

Project groundbreaking is currently planned for the Spring of 2027. Construction will continue throughout the following season while mainstage performances continue as usual in The Otto M. Budig Theater during the 2027-2028 Season. The new studio theater is expected to open for the 2028-2029 Season, welcoming audiences for its first slate of productions in the new space.

The For All, For All Time campaign is a strategic investment that will ensure Cincinnati Shakespeare Company remains artistically ambitious and financially sustainable for decades to come. The campaign is built upon leadership gifts, foundation support, and broad community investment.

“Projects of this scale and consequence do not happen without leadership. They require partners who understand that the arts are not an accessory to civic life, but a driver of it,” said Ms. Clark. “It is about ensuring that great theatre, transformative arts education, and spaces for creativity and connection remain accessible for everyone. The future we’re building belongs to all of us—and it is being built for all, for all time.”

Longtime patrons and donors Debby and Jim Mason have signed on to chair the campaign. “We are honored to take on this responsibility because we believe deeply in CSC’s mission and have tremendous confidence in the theater’s leadership and staff,” said Debby, daughter of James Bridgeland, one of the leadership donors to CSC’s first capital campaign. “We hope you will join us in bringing this vision to life. My Dad’s generosity—as a father and through the legacy he left me—has given us the means and the inspiration to help make that vision a reality.”

Don and Linda Tecklenburg have committed a leadership gift to name the studio theater in honor of Don’s late parents, Harry and Mary Lou Tecklenburg. Additional early support for the project has been generously committed by Dick and Debbie Westheimer, Sean and Tracie Conway, Martin and Kim Chavez, and Rosemary and Mark Schlachter. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company was also awarded a state grant towards the project in the most recent Ohio Capital Budget.

Supporters interested in learning more about the For All, For All Time campaign, making a gift, or exploring naming opportunities are encouraged to visit cincyshakes.com or contact Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

“CSC has already transformed the city once. It is now constrained by the very success it created. For All, For All Time unlocks the next era,” said Mr. Phillips. “CSC’s financial stability and programmatic influence make it uniquely positioned to deliver a capital expansion that secures and expands these public benefits for decades to come. In choosing to support, you are not funding an experiment. You are finishing a proven trajectory.”