Angelina Kovalchuk, Contributing Photographer

BRANFORD — The Elm Shakespeare Company celebrated its 30th anniversary Saturday evening with a masquerade ball open to the New Haven community.

The event, named the Moonlight Masquerade Ball, invited community members, high school students and local artists to celebrate the Elm’s history and recognize the community’s contributions to the company. The Ball was held in the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford.

“It’s always been about gathering people, about what happens when stories are shared and experienced together,” Lovelind Richards, a spokesperson for the Elm, wrote in a statement shared with the News.

The Elm Shakespeare Company is a theater company based in New Haven that stages theater productions and runs educational outreach programs for the New Haven community.

For the ball, the public library was fully transformed into a festive space, with live music, colored lighting and William Shakespeare-themed decorations.

Attendees were encouraged to arrive at the ball in costume, bringing “imagination and a sense of play,” Richards wrote. Masquerade masks were also offered at the door for any attendees who wished to dress up further.

The ball served as a fundraiser intended to financially support the company’s work in New Haven. The event featured a live auction with items such as exclusive props from productions and a guitar signed by Taylor Swift.

A silent auction was also hosted, featuring signatures and signed items from artists and celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Shelley Duvall and Ben Affleck.

George Wooden, the charity fundraiser and auctioneer for the event, applauded the attendees for their contributions. 

“Every donation goes right to the company,” Wooden said.

Among the programs offered by the Elm is the Teen Troupe, a coalition of local high school students who gather weekly to learn about and engage with the performance aspects of Shakespearean theater.

Greer Armstrong, a high school sophomore and member of the Teen Troupe, highlighted the camaraderie of the Elm’s programs. 

“It’s lovely that Elm Shakespeare reaches out to youth,” Armstrong said. “You meet a lot of people and build a big sense of community.”

The Ball featured performances by the Troupe, including a choreographed dance with recitations from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”

“I’m happy that this is an opportunity granted to kids who don’t have access to acting in their schools,” Alejandra Reyes, another member of the troupe, said.

The evening also held a toast to Jamie Burnett, the production designer for the Elm. Burnett has been designing and producing sets since the company’s founding in 1995.

Throughout the night, guests indulged in dancing, live music and karaoke. The Elm also hosted a raffle and a costume contest, which awarded various prizes to participants.

“The Ball is a reminder that the reason Elm thrives is because of the people who believe in it,” Richards wrote in his statement.

The Elm stages its productions in Edgerton Park, located at 75 Cliff St.