Five-year-olds double, double, toil, and trouble. People too young to read Elizabethan English belt out the poetic lines of The Comedy of Errors. And generations of Bay Area kids get exposed to Shakespeare, literature, and performance in a way that makes even the most shy and inexperienced player feel comfortable. These are the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's summer camps. Their teachers are professional actors with extensive instructing experience, unafraid to split up lead roles so that more kids can get a shot at stardom — ages 4 to 18, all are encouraged to discover the Bard in their own unique, 2011 San Francisco way.

Various Bay Area locations. (415) 558-0888, www.sfshakes.org/camp