ABOUT US

Shakespeare in the Dark is a student run campus organization devoted to promoting interest in classical theatre, specifically the works of William Shakespeare. We accomplish this primarily through performances, averaging three productions every academic year. Productions are voted on by the club membership, and are not limited to Shakespeare plays: we range from other classical works (Aristophanes' Lysistrata), to parodies such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - the popular play by Tom Stoppard. All productions are completely student-run. The club also hosts other events such as monologue festivals, staged readings, and movie screenings.

The William and Mary Shakespeare Players were founded in January 1997 by James Bennett. The group began by performing six Shakespearian scenes in the Wren Building in the spring of that year. The name of the club was changed to Shakespeare in the Dark in September 1997. "Shakespeare in the Dark" is a pun on the famous New York City outdoor theater Shakespeare in the Park. There are numerous other Shakespeare in the Park groups in cities across the country. In 2006, the club decided to add a third show to the average yearly season, and on rare occasion, the club will specially produce a smaller fourth production.

EXECUTIVE BOARD 2024-2025

Emma Rossettini ‘25, President

Emma is a senior majoring in anthropology. In her free time she enjoys thinking about Shakespearean women and taking care of her dinosaur son (his name is Rawry). Unfortunately, she is not secretly Reese Witherspoon.

OUR CONSTITUTION

Shakespeare in the Dark’s Organizational Constitution

As of March 3rd, 2025

I. PURPOSE of the ORGANIZATION

1. To promote interest in Classical Theatre through performance of classical and related works and activities related to those works.

2. This is a student-run organization; as such it is up to the student members to effectively run the workings thereof.

II. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS and their assigned DUTIES

1. The PRESIDENT shall act as the liaison between the club and the administration, and shall schedule and preside over all meetings of the executive board and the club.They shall be in charge of delegating duties to executive board members and making sure the club runs in accordance with the Constitution. They will, along with the Treasurer, act as one of the key executors of the club’s financial accounts.

2. The VICE PRESIDENT shall act in the President’s place should the President be unavailable, incapacitated, or absent, and shall preside over the annual elections of the executive offices.  They shall also be charged with maintaining an accurate inventory of items owned by SITD in the storage closet. They are responsible for setting up and keeping up with an approval process for other student groups to check out SITD owned items. They are responsible for the appropriate checking out and returning of items in the storage closet by SITD production teams. 

3. The SECRETARY shall maintain minutes of all meetings. They shall update club members with important reminders via the listserv. They shall manage and update the TribeLink with current show dates, club events, and after action items. The Secretary shall manage the acquisition and distribution of proposals before proposal meetings. They shall create and maintain, on their personal email account, the club’s feedback form. Additionally, they shall be the sole and confidential monitor of the club’s feedback form and shall only share its contents with the rest of the executive board when explicit permission is given by respondents.In the event that a Secretary can no longer fulfill this duty during an academic year, for whatever reason, the Secretary will transfer sole ownership to the next Secretary. The Secretary will maintain an updated list of shows that are out of rotation for the current academic year. They are encouraged to consult the website or Publicity Manager with questions.

4. The TREASURER shall be charged with the collection of club dues and maintaining accurate records of paid members. They shall also maintain the club financial records, pay club bills, and handle reimbursement of production expenses if necessary. They, along with the president, shall act as one of the key executors of the club’s financial accounts. Other duties include ticket sales for productions, organizing fundraising actions with the Publicity Manager, and making a petition of funds from the Student Assembly.  The Treasurer shall also confer with directors about reasonable budgets for shows, as well as keeping updated on show budget progress and making advisements about when and if it is necessary/reasonable to alter the budget of any show. When it is so desirable, the Treasurer shall be responsible for the acquisition of food and/or beverages for consumption at club meetings.

5. The PUBLICITY MANAGER shall act as a liaison between the club and the William & Mary community. They shall maintain the club’s social media pages (including, but not limited to, the Facebook and Instagram pages) for the purpose of promoting performances and other club events, as well as communicating with community members who message the club social media accounts. They shall also maintain the club website as a digital archive of club activities. They shall work with the Treasurer to organize fundraising actions. They are also responsible for coordinating with directors to create and/or approve publicity materials for productions and to ensure that each production is filmed and uploaded to the club YouTube channel (this also includes any editing required). Any publicity materials that are not created by the Publicity Manager must be approved by the Publicity Manager before going public.

6. The SOCIAL CHAIR shall organize social events. They shall make recommendations to the Executive Board for special events or club activities. This shall include obtaining approval from the President, arranging for funding with the Treasurer, and coordinating with the Secretary and Publicity Manager regarding spreading the word. They shall serve as a liaison between all productions and the Executive Board, and shall receive complaints from people involved in productions through personal email. They shall negotiate the concern with the Executive Board and the director in order to reach a timely and proper resolution. 

7. If, upon evaluation, any executive officer has been found to be negligent in the fulfillment of their office, a vote of no confidence may be issued and voted upon by the members of the club. Any club member may propose a vote of no confidence upon explanation of sufficient grievances. A majority vote from all other exec members stating that the issue should be brought to vote must be issued in order to instigate the voting procedure. In order to reach quorum, at least 50% of dues paying members must submit a vote. A 2/3 majority is required to discharge said officer. In case of discharge, timely special elections will be held according to outlined procedures.

8. A member of the Direction or Stage Management Team of a current production who is not currently on the Executive Board will serve as an ex officio member of the Executive Board for the duration of the production. They must attend all Executive Board meetings until the final performance. They will not be a voting member. They will not be privy to grievances issued to be seen by the Executive Board. They do not hold any express powers. They will update the board on the state and progress of the production, petition the board for assistance where necessary, and assist with club goals at the board’s request. They will leave every meeting early to allow the board to discuss without them present. In an event where this member is unable to attend a board meeting, they will send an email to the Secretary prior to the meeting informing them about the state of the production. 

III. ELECTIONS

1. Shall be held every April in order to select officers for the following academic year.

2. In order to be eligible to run for an executive position, a member of the club must have paid dues prior to the voting meeting.

3. In order to be eligible to vote for officers, a member of the club must have paid dues

4. A majority vote is required for a candidate to be selected. In the event that no person gains a majority in the first round of voting, a secondary run-off vote shall be held between the two candidates with the greatest pluralities.

5. The sitting Vice President shall preside over all elections, as outlined in the Executive Duties, except in the event that the Vice President is running for any office. In that event, a member of the Executive Board who is not running for office shall be appointed by the sitting President to officiate the proceedings.

6. In the case that a member of the Executive Board is no longer able to fulfill the requirements of their role, be it early graduation, removal from office, or other circumstances, a special election must be initiated by the remaining Executive Board to fill the vacant position. 

IV. MEMBERSHIP

1. Must be a current student enrolled at the College of William & Mary.

2. Must be a participant in SITD productions and/or events including but not limited to show proposals, Sunken Barden, Scene Festival, Shake-in-a-Day and social events.

3. In order to vote on productions and elections, must pay dues for the current semester, with the amount being determined by the Executive Board at the beginning of each semester. Dues for the full year may be paid at the beginning of the Fall semester.

4. In the case that a member behaves inappropriately (i.e. harassment, assault, etc.) during SITD events or the production of a SITD show, a unanimous vote of executive members can immediately remove the member from their position on a show. In extreme cases, a unanimous vote from the executive board can bar the member from all future SITD events and productions. Exec members are free to deal with offenses on a case-by-case basis. If the offender is on the exec board, a unanimous vote of the rest of exec suffices to remove them from office. Anyone can report offenses to exec at any time; exec has the right to report any inexcusable behavior to the university if they see fit.

5. In the case that a member does not abide by the William and Mary Honor Code during elections and/or proposal voting meetings, a unanimous vote of executive members can either suspend the perpetrator’s membership for a semester or revoke their membership entirely. Examples of such inexcusable conduct include but are not limited to: soliciting votes with bribery, intimidation, or intentionally rigging the vote. In extreme cases, the exec board has the right to report the offending member’s conduct to the William and Mary Honor Council.

6. Shakespeare in the Dark affirms its commitment to conducting its activities in accordance with W&M’s Policy on Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation.  Membership in this organization shall be open to all without regard to race, creed, national origin, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability (or perceived disability), personal appearance, political affiliation, source of income, citizenship status, marital status, family responsibilities, Veteran or military status (including disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran, and Armed Forces Service Medal veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, height or weight.

V. PRODUCTIONS

1. All potential directors shall submit a proposal of their production to the club to be voted upon prior to the production's projected performance. This proposal shall include a preliminary or estimated budget, a detailed and organized concept, and any consenting production staff.

2. Proposals may be submitted by members who do not wish to direct, as long as they have a consenting director attached to the proposed production.

3. Majority vote is required for a production proposal to be selected. In the event that no production attains a majority in the first round of voting, a secondary run-off vote shall be held between the two with the greatest pluralities. Members must have paid dues in order to vote.

4. The production remains accountable to the club throughout the production period. The production team is responsible for all aspects of production with the exception of previously noted Executive Board duties.

5. In the event that a production team grossly abuses the club's name or reputation, or seriously endangers the club's position at the College, the club may hold an emergency vote, requiring a 2/3rds majority of a quorum of no less than 50% of dues-paying members, to withdraw all support and recognition of that production. All exec members not directly involved in the production in question must unanimously vote to bring the production before the club in order to instigate voting procedure.

6. Following the selection of a show, the director and stage manager must have a formal meeting with the members of the Executive Board in order to more clearly outline the procedure that is to be followed throughout the production, regardless of whether the director or stage manager is themself on the Executive Board. Within the first half of production following auditions, the budget shall be re-evaluated and submitted to the Treasurer for approval.In the event that a member of the production team needs more money than allocated in order to complete their job, they must petition the Treasurer. Following every purchase, members of the production team are required to log their spending as the Treasurer sees fit. 

7. The director of a SITD production must be a member of the club. Following the direction of a production, a director must wait until the next academic year in order to attach their name as a potential director for a SITD production. In exceptional cases, such as there being no other proposals for a production cycle, a director is permitted to petition the Executive Board to waive the aforementioned limit. A successful petition will result in a unanimous vote of the Executive Board. If the petitioning director is a member of the Executive Board, a unanimous vote of the remaining members will suffice.

8. At the beginning of a production cycle, SITD requires that a presentation regarding intimacy in theater spaces be given by a member of the Executive Board who is not affiliated with the production in question. If there is no unaffiliated member of the Executive Board, then the responsibility falls to the sitting Social Chair.

9. Following the completion of a show cycle, that show will be removed from rotation for the following three academic years. In the case of a show cancellation, it will be up to the discretion of the Executive Board to add the show back into rotation.

10. At the conclusion of a show cycle, the Executive Board will conduct a post mortem in any manner they see fit.

VI. INTER-ORGANIZATION COLLABORATION

1. Members of the executive boards of the Student Theatre Groups (Shakespeare in the Dark, TBD Theatre Troupe, Mint Theatre Company, Satanic Mechanics, and any further Theatre RSOs that will be founded which include this clause in their constitution) will meet at the end of each semester before the opening of Priority Space Reservation for the next semester. At least one member of each executive board must be present. 

2. Members of the executive boards of the Student Theatre Groups (Shakespeare in the Dark, TBD Theatre Troupe, Mint Theatre Company, Satanic Mechanics, and any further Theatre RSOs that will be founded which include this clause in their constitution) will discuss the awards, logistics, venue, etc. Student Theatre End of Year Celebration at the Spring Semester meeting.  

3. If a conflict of scheduling, casting, crew, or other production matters should occur, at least one member of a non-involved Theatre RSO must be present to mediate. 

VII. POLICY COMPLIANCE

1. Shakespeare in the Dark will abide by all university policies including the Student Code of Conduct, the Campus Alcohol Policy, and requirements set by the Office of Student Leadership Development.

2. Shakespeare in the Dark agrees that it will not initiate, support, or encourage any events or situations that endanger the mental or physical health or safety of a student for any purpose including but not limited to initiation or admission into or affiliation with this group or organization.

VIII. RATIFICATION and AMENDMENT

1. The constitution can be ratified each year by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board.  Any dues-paying member may bring any constitutional grievance before the Executive Board. Should a constitutional review be necessary, the Executive Board must unanimously vote to bring the constitution before the club. Significant and meaningful changes made to the constitution must be approved by a 2/3 majority made up of a quorum of no less than 50% of dues-paying members.