CINCINNATI — It was a truly sad day in March when the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company was asked to temporarily close its doors because of the pandemic. But even that disappointment didn’t stop the staff from pushing forward. They were on a mission to figure out what could be done.
“How can we help?” asked Abbi Howson production manager. “What can we do? You know, we feel so helpless in this moment, and we have the skills to make masks and that was in the moment when it became very clear that was the next step for everyone.”
Howson and her crew began making free masks for the community. Over a course of six weeks, they made over 1,800 masks and raised more than $25,000 in donations.
“From there, that was really a springboard for us to be to look at something that was not our normal line of business, but still a very real way that we can still contribute to the community,” she said.
And that’s when they came up with the Shakes Makes program.
Here’s how it works: Someone orders a handmade item like a hat or reusable towel. Then that item is created by someone on the Shakespeare production team.
Resident costume designer Rainy Edwards says she has really enjoyed working on these projects.
“It’s just actually being getting able to create again like for the longest time,” said Edwards. “Yes we’ve been making masks, but after 1,000, it’s nice to like get actually creative and design something.”
Hats, reusable towels and costumes are just some of the dozens of items they’ve created over the past couple of weeks.
“It’s important that we shifted and tried to get creative and try to find ways—donations or income—right now to really make sure that we exist on the other side of this.”
Howson says they have no plans of stopping anytime soon. At least until they’re able to open back up again. And their hard work is truly paying off.
“We’re also getting an overwhelmingly positive response from folks that just like we want to support you,” said Howson. “So how can we help you in what you’re doing? So it’s been really, really uplifting to get that response from the community.”
