The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is using Shakespeare to break down barriers. Working with the Department of Parks and Recreation, social service agencies and civic agencies, the Festival's Midnight Shakespeare program engages young people by making theater and Shakespeare accessible. Working with Festival artists at various community sites, including YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, community centers and prisons, participants meet twice weekly for 6 weeks to learn scenes from ShakespeareÌs plays, work on sets and costumes and prepare for a final public performance. The success of the program has led to its expansion into 16 California cities. "There has been an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from the social service agencies," reports Executive Director Bobby Winston. "The Mexican-American Community Services Agency told us it had a 90 percent retention rate for the Midnight Shakespeare program, while its other programs usually only have a 60 percent rate."