Think of children in Harlem, and Shakespeare probably doesn't come to mind.

But for Giovanni Pucci '93, the connection became obvious when he introduced "Romeo and Juliet" into an after-school reading program.

What began scarcely a year ago as the simple idea of using Shakespeare to teach reading has become a full-fledged and nationally recognized performance group. The actors are middle school-age, African-American, underprivileged Harlem youth.

The performances have garnered wide media attention, particularly on Jan. 28, when Pucci and his theater troupe rubbed elbows with royalty. They performed a scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, during a daylong New York City visit by the royal couple.

Pucci's Shakespeare program, called Theatre in the Zone, is part of the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), a nonprofit organization founded in 1979 that seeks to revitalize a 60-block area of Harlem, and offers educational, health and social services for families.

The former Cornell English major and regional-theater-trained actor started working for the HCZ after-school program's Community Center in 2005, helping to prepare academically struggling students for state exams. Pucci began introducing excerpts from "Romeo and Juliet" to supplement reading lessons. As he watched the students connect with the story, he and colleague Kate McGovern, also a theater enthusiast, got the idea of putting together a performance.

The kids caught on, he said, as well as several other colleagues, teachers and parents in the neighborhood. The National Black Theatre, located close to HCZ, invited the actors to use its stage. Pucci said the venue was generous, offering them the space at a reasonable price, but more importantly, giving the students the experience of performing on a real stage.

They performed "Romeo and Juliet" in August 2006. Shortly thereafter, they started rehearsing "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which they first performed in December.

"I definitely knew they could connect with it," Pucci said. "I didn't know they'd have so much fun with it."

From seeing overjoyed parents watch their kids perform Shakespeare to helping his young actors shake off nerves before taking the stage, Pucci called the experience so far "amazing."

"The challenges have been enormous, as you can imagine, but the response to the performances have been even bigger," Pucci said.

As a Cornell student, Pucci enrolled in an acting course to avoid a math requirement. He discovered a love for theater arts and, following graduation, worked as an actor in playhouses from San Diego to New York City.

American studies professor Glenn Altschuler, who was Pucci's academic adviser, recalled his former student's discovery of theater, which has now become "an animating purpose in his life."

"This young man has got passion the likes of which is pretty rare in any human being," Altschuler said. "It's so infectious that I'm not surprised he helped create something that would attract Prince Charles, but more importantly, get the excited attention of young kids in Harlem."

Pucci and McGovern are wasting no time starting rehearsals for Theatre in the Zone's next Shakespeare play, "As You Like It." Interest in the program has grown such that Pucci and his colleagues have decided to make the children audition for this next performance.