After 30 years of teaching young actors how to perform the works of Shakespeare, Deborah Thurber says she is still learning things from her students, and from The Bard. 

This year, for the 30th anniversary of Project Shakespeare, Thurber chose two plays with themes that she felt were appropriate for the times – “Macbeth,” a story of power, bitter rivalry and betrayal; and “Much Ado About Nothing,” a cautionary tale that not everything is as it seems. 

“These themes are especially timely right now. I did think they are particularly relevant this summer,” Thurber said. “I want the kids to think about, ‘Why we are doing this story now? Why this summer? What can we learn from it?’ Macbeth was not born a villain; why did he take those first few steps down the path of doing terrible things? ‘Macbeth’ is a cautionary tale of war, and ‘Much Ado’ is a warning to not believe everything you see and hear; you don’t always know what the truth is.” 

Ben Michaud, who has been part of Project Shakespeare since he was 5, plays Macbeth in this summer’s performance. 

“Macbeth hears the prophecy, and he wants to know, ‘Why can’t I be king?’ It’s like dipping your toe in the water before you start swimming; once he starts down the path, it’s hard to go back,” Michaud said. 

Thurber’s goal is to get her young actors to understand the characters they play, and to connect their characters to the audience. 

“The plays are different every time they are performed. I want the students to think about, ‘Why do we want to tell this story?’ ” Thurber said. 

Thurber started Project Shakespeare as a masters thesis at Emerson College in 1994, and has been running the project ever since. 

“When I was at Emerson, performance and drama were taught as if they were two separate things. That was the traditional way. Drama used to just be about teaching morals to the children; it wasn’t about teaching them about the plays and how to perform, and I wanted to bring those two things together,” Thurber said. “I want the children to think about, how do they bridge their own lives with the text? And how do they make a bridge from the text to the audience?”

This summer is Project Shakespeare’s 18th in Jaffrey. Thurber said the group has performed in “just about every venue in Jaffrey,” including, recently, a production of “A Christmas Carol” at The Park Theatre. Thurber said she was initially worried about being able to fill the theater,  but every show had a full house.  

“Bringing the program to the Monadnock region, I knew I could expand,” Thurber said. “I moved out here not knowing anyone, and it turned out to be the best thing.” 

Part of Thurber’s goal is “to bring theater to different audiences in different places,” which is why the company performs in a variety of spaces  across the Monadnock region, including outside. Thurber is proud that in 30 years, she had only had to cancel one show. 

“Project Shakespeare goes on. We even went on during COVID, and I think we were the only theater in the region that put on a play in the summer of 2020,” Thurber said. “We did ‘Macbeth’ that summer, and it was all distanced, and everyone wore masks. We had brothers doing the fight scene, and everyone was shocked when they tore off their masks and got close to one another, but they could do that, because they lived in the same house.” 

The only time Project Shakespeare ever had to cancel a show was 2019’s “As You Like It,” when a large number of the actors in the second company (the younger children) came down with chicken pox. 

“We just had no choice there,” said longtime Project Shakespeare mother and now director Anna Petrova. 

During the school year, Project Shakespeare performs other works, including recent productions of “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time,” “Little Women” and “The Secret Garden.” The company also does an annual production of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” in which Michaud has played every role from Tiny Tim through Scrooge.

In 2014, 2018 and 2023, Thurber brought Project Shakespeare students to England after the companies were selected to perform on the Royal Shakespeare Company Stage in Stratford-upon-Avon. Thurber, Petrova and other parents also brought the students to London’s Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare himself directed and performed. 

“That is probably my proudest accomplishment. Seeing the children perform in Stratford-upon-Avon, the fact that they got selected,” Thurber said. 

Thurber has also brought young actors to Stratford, Ontario, Canada, home of the Stratford Festival. 

After doing as many as 12 productions a year across the state for the past 30 years, Thurber admits she is slowing down a tiny bit. This summer, Petrova is directing “Much Ado About Nothing,” while Thurber directs “Macbeth.” 

“Anna is totally directing ‘Much Ado.’ This is the first time I have not been involved at all. I don’t even know what the costumes are going to be. It’s been nice to step away. I have had other directors before, but Anna is really doing everything. Her being here has been huge,” Thurber said.

Looking ahead to 2025, Thurber says she may cut back to “just one big show” next summer. 

“We’ll give the students more responsibility going forward. The more engaged they are, the more they learn,” Thurber said. “What I am thinking about it is how can I keep going and still do it well?”

“Much Ado About Nothing” opens on Thursday evening, July 25, at 6 p.m. at Gathering Waters School in Keene. The play will be performed outside on Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m. on the Dublin Community Church lawn at 1125 Main St. in Dublin. In the event of rain, the performance will move indoors to the Dublin Community Center next door. “Macbeth” opens Aug. 1 at 6 p.. at Gathering Waters, followed by a performance Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. on the Dublin Community Church lawn.

For a complete list of performance times and locations for both shows, go to projectshakespeare.org.