About Us

East London Shakespeare Festival was founded by Co-Artistic Directors Ursula Early and Rosie Ward.

They met while doing outdoor Shakespeare in 2011 and now 'the wheel is come full circle' - they reconnected while both living, working and bring up their families in Waltham Forest.... it is their shared enthusiasm for creating fun, accessible theatre and events in beautiful local spaces, for local with and for local communities, which sparked the idea behind the birth of the ELSF

ELSF became a registered charity in 2023 and continues to fulfil our charitable aims of advancing the arts in local communities, producing affordable and accessible Shakespeare productions and create creative opportunities for locals and young people.