Cory McCants: Who's your favorite YouTuber?

Better yet, who's your favorite influencer?

Well, allow me to introduce you to a guy who was an influencer before influencing was a thing: the OG Sir William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare: Pleasure to meet thou, Cory.

All this talk about influencing is quite interesting.

Cory: You practically invented trending topics.

You weren't just a playwright, you were shaping culture and bringing people together across the globe.

William: I delighted in stirring up debates towards the nature of power, justice, and responsibility.

Civic engagement at its finest.

Cory: Will, my guy, lots of things have changed since you've been around, including the way we speak, but using artistic expression to stir civic engagement is still an integral part of our society today.

I'm about to roll out to Perry, New York where a theater group called Shake on the Lake is keeping your legacy alive.

I leave with you with the internet.

You can follow along my journey from here.

William: Go forth, good Cory.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Cory: All right, you know, this small town has big stories.

It's where two people, Josh and Pilar, decided to start a whole movement around Shakespeare with their theater company Shake on the Lake.

I mean, he could be anywhere in this whole town.

Where do I even start?

There he is right there.

I just need to find him in person.

This way.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Josh Rice: Hey, Cory.

Cory: Ha-ha, Josh, man, I've been looking for you.

You know, I got a few questions to ask you, ha-ha.

Josh: So this is Theater 37, home of Shake on the Lake and the New York State Puppet Festival.

Shake on the Lake is a nonprofit professional theater based in Perry, New York where there are more cows than human beings, and what we do is take professional theater and tour it to other rural communities in the Western New York area.

So we try to bring high-quality professional arts and educational opportunities to places that might not normally have a chance to get them or see them.

Josh: I was an intern at Shakespeare's Globe theater when I was in college.

So then, like, this whole world of possibility opened to me.

So when I saw people coming back to my hometown doing some things that are kind of my age, my peers, I was like, "Oh wow, what could I give back to my town?"

There was this sloping lawn down to the water at this underutilized public space.

So we were like, "What if we do this thing where we perform on the water and people can see this beautiful lake but also see some really cool professional theater?"

And Shake on the Lake was born.

Cory: Do you feel like art plays a role when it comes to community building?

Josh: One hundred percent I do.

I think engaging in the arts is a way of engaging in civics and democracy because people are getting to learn, choose, experience, and be a part of something together.

Shakespeare sometimes can be really obtuse and difficult for people to understand, so we try to make them really accessible.

Josh: We really embrace the comedic elements in it because I think that pulls people in and makes people really engage with them a little bit more; and we're not afraid to add modern language, modern references, which is what Shakespeare did in his time as well based on the politics of what was going on in the courts.

Cory: You know, Josh is so on point right here.

Shakespeare was a poet using what we like to call social commentary in his plays.

This is a clever way to highlight political and societal issues happening in your community through art to make it more accessible and digestible to people that might not get the message any other way.

Watching a piece from Shakespeare in today's time would be like going to the movies to watch something like Jordan Peele's "Get Out."

If you've seen the film, there's a whole lot going on; and because you watched it with other people, it's a communal experience.

Josh: It requires you all to be present in one place at one time and experience a thing that will only happen for you that one time and it will be different every single time, and the stories, the themes, the things that a show can bring to people can sometimes talk about things that are hard to talk about.

So in a way art, I think, can really open people up to differing perspectives, certainly different cultures, certainly different ideas.

Art's for everybody, and everyone can engage in it.

Josh: Welcome to First Fridays at 3.

[audience applauding] male: As an institution in this town and when people see me walking down the street on my own, I often get comments like, "Hey, where's your dog?"

or-- Josh: Those plays they're talking about 400 years ago still endure today, whether it's things that are happening within a community, things that are happening within a country, things that are happening between politicians or families.

These themes are still very rich.

They still have a lot to teach us and, I think, can still be open to a lot of interpretation, and I think it allows people to maybe approach some touchy subjects in ways that maybe feel less touchy because they've been presented as a fiction for 400 years.

Cory: Picture this: It's 1590.

Society's got strict ideas about men and women's roles.

Shakespeare sees this and writes "Taming of the Shrew," a play that pokes fun at the whole idea.

Fast-forward to 1999 and, boom, "10 Things I Hate About You" gives the same social critique with a fresh teen rom-com twist, proof that great storytelling never dies.

This artistic influence isn't just about theater.

It extends to dance, music, and visual arts.

Take Picasso's "Guernica," a painting that exposed the horrors of war and sparked global conversations; or hip hop where artists like Kendrick Lamar and Public Enemy use music to address injustice and political change.

Dance too has long been a powerful force for civic engagement.

Think of Alvin Ailey's "Revelations" which told the story of black resilience in America.

According to a study by the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans involved in the arts are more likely to partake in a wealth of civic and social activities.

That same study found that literary readers and classical or jazz music listeners engage in volunteering, attend public events, and participate in discussions at higher rates than non-art participants.

You see how art plays a crucial role in shaping civic life?

It's pretty awesome.

Josh: To be able to see things that are representative of so many different places, it can be so beautiful and important when brought to your tiny town.

The Perry Public Beach, it's a green space down on Silver Lake that was in disrepair for a long time.

And to know that then that space has gone under a $1 million renovation and to think that we played a part, that feels really beautiful and impactful.

We've gone into schools and senior centers.

We've also done some work in correctional facilities over the years being in residence, going into these facilities, doing, you know, 1, 2-week residencies and teaching classes and creating performances that then the population performs for the other members of the population or we bring our show into the facility and perform it.

So it's a cool thing to be able to continue to do here and feel like we're making a difference.

William: Cory, my dude, this whole Shake on the Lake thing, straight fire.

Cory: Uh, Will?

William: I see now the arts keep communities vibing for real, for real.

Cory: Okay, okay.

I love the effort, but maybe just be yourself.

William: A wise call, good Cory.

Some things should remain timeless.

Cory: Exactly, and that's what Shake on the Lake is doing.

Think about it this way.

Democracy and civics are so much more than voting or government.

It lives in the moments where we connect, tell stories, share experiences, and support one another.

Places like Shake on the Lake are making it accessible one small town at a time.

William: Now, fare thee well and remember all the world's a stage.

Cory: My instant things to go into--.

both: Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York.

Josh: And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths.

Yeah, like it's just there, man.

Like, it's in there.

Cory: It's a classic.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪