Shakespeare Theatre Company

History

The Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill includes a replica of an Elizabethan theatre, originally used for lectures and tours. In 1970 this space was transformed into a functioning playhouse, and soon Folger Theatre Group (later The Folger Theatre) was organized to perform in the space.

After years of discussion, Amherst College, administering body of the Folger Shakespeare Library, in 1986 withdrew financial support for the company. To save the company, concerned citizens led by R. Robert Linowes reincorporated it as the non-profit Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger, later hiring Michael Kahn as artistic director. The company continued to perform at the Folger for the next six years.

Changing its name to The Shakespeare Theatre, the troupe moved in 1992 to the Lansburgh Theatre, a newly built space in the original Lansburgh's Department Store building in the Penn Quarter. At the start of the 2005-6 season, it adopted the current name, Shakespeare Theatre Company. The company constructed another theatre, Sidney Harman Hall, which opened in 2007 in the lower part of an office building in the quarter, and the two theatres were joined to become the Harman Center for the Arts.

Meanwhile, after initially importing traveling shows from the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express the Folger Shakespeare Library developed a new Folger Theatre company to present plays in its Elizabethan replica.

Facilities

The Shakespeare Theatre Company has two current performance venues. The newer and larger Sidney Harman Hall occupies the lower half of an 11-story office tower. The exterior is distinguished by a glass façade curtain wall on a projected bay window. The 774-seat performance space can be configured as a proscenium, thrust, semi-arena, corridor or bare stage. The smaller Lansburgh Theatre is in the restored former Lansburgh's Department Store flagship store, originally built in 1882. The performance space is 451-seat classic proscenium stage. The seating arrangement is reminiscent of a Greek Amphitheater. It has been described as "an intimate space for dramatic theatre, ensemble music and dance"

In the past the company has performed shows at the Terrace Theater in the Kennedy Center, the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, and their rehearsal space on 8th St SE.

In addition to its performance spaces, the company maintains administrative offices, rehearsal studios, and a costume shop in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. A set construction and painting shop is near Catholic University in Northeast D.C. Finally a stage properties shop for the construction and storage of furniture, decorative items, hand props and a variety of set dressing items is located just outside D.C. on the northeast side of the city.

Theatrical Focus

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's self professed mission is "...to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their work through a 21st-century lens". Their vision is to "... endeavor to be an important resource to an expanded national and international community—as the nation’s premier destination for classic theatre, as a training ground for the next generation of theatre artists and as a model provider of high-quality educational content for students and scholars.

Artistic Directors

Richmond Crinkley (1970-1973) (While Folger Theatre Group)

Louis W. Scheeder (1973-1980) (While Folger Theatre Group)

John Neville-Andrews (1980-1986) (Name changed to Folger Theatre then Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger)

Michael Kahn (1986–2019) (While Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger, then Shakespeare Theatre Company)

Current and recent productions

Resident theatre company pioneer Zelda Fichandler has stated that for resident theatre companies "repertory is destiny" - a theatre company acquires its audience by the productions it presents. Most of The Shakespeare Theatre Company's productions are from The Bard's canon. However each year up to half of the productions are classical works by other authors. The oldest has been Aeschylus's The Persians, the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre. The youngest plays include works by Tennessee Williams (Camino Real, Sweet Bird of Youth) and Harold Pinter (Old Times). The company has also produced modern interpretations of classical texts such as Mary Zimmerman's Argonautika (adapted from The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts) Finally they have started producing classics inspired musicals such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Man of La Mancha.

2015-2016 Season Fully staged productions

Salomé, Adapted and directed by Yaël Farber, part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival

Kiss Me, Kate, Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter, Book by Samuel and Bella Spewack

The Critic, By Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher / The Real Inspector Hound, By Tom Stoppard

Othello, By William Shakespeare

1984 by George Orwell, A new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

The Taming of the Shrew, By William Shakespeare

2014-2015 Season Fully staged productions

As You Like It, directed by Michael Attenborough

The Tempest, directed by Ethan McSweeny

The Metromaniacs by Alexis Piron, translated by David Ives, directed by Michael Kahn

Man of La Mancha book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh, directed by Alan Paul

Tartuffe by Molière, directed by Dominique Serrand

Shakespeare Theatre Company Presentations

The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo - adapted from Mozart's The Magic Flute by the Isango Ensemble Repertory

Venus and Adonis - adapted from the Shakespeare poem by the Isango Ensemble Repertory

^*Dunsinane by David Greig by the National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Shakespeare Company

^Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner

^* Part of the 2014-15 subscription series ^ remount 2013-2014 Season Fully staged productions

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 by William Shakespeare staged in revolving repertory

Private Lives by Noël Coward

Shakespeare Theatre Company Presentations

Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner

Mies Julie by Yael Farber based on Miss Julie by August Strindberg produced by the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town in association with South African Theatre Association.

Man in a Case Adapted from The Man in a Case & About Love by Anton Chekhov Featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov Produced by Baryshnikov Productions in association with ArKtype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann

Brief Encounter, by Emma Rice, based on the 1945 movie Brief Encounter and Still Life by Noël Coward produced by the Kneehigh Theatre

Notable Guest Artists

In addition to its troupe of regular and frequently appearing actors, The Shakespeare Theatre Company invites guest performers and directors each season.

Jane Alexander - Ghosts (Mrs. Alving)

Elizabeth Ashley - Mrs. Warren's Profession (Mrs Warren), The Little Foxes (Regina)

Michael Attenborough - Director (As You Like It)

Rene Auberjonois - The Imaginary Invalid (Argan)

Keith Baxter - Actor Measure For Measure (Duke Vincentio), Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 (Henry IV), Merchant of Venice (Antonio); Director (Lady Windermere's Fan, The Imaginary Invalid, The Rivals, The Country Wife, Henry IV, Part 1, Mrs. Warren's Profession, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest)

André Braugher - Othello (Iago)

Avery Brooks - Othello (Othello), The Oedipus Plays (Oedipus), Tamburlaine (Tamburlaine)

Ron Canada - Othello (Iago)

Dixie Carter - Lady Windermere's Fan (Mrs. Erlynne)

Jeffrey Carlson - Hamlet (Hamlet)

Pat Carroll - Romeo and Juliet (Nurse), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Falstaff), Mother Courage and Her Children (Mother Courage), Volpone (Volpone)

Gale Edwards - Director (Edward II, Titus Andronicus, Richard III, Hamlet)

Harry Hamlin - Henry V (Henry V)

Hal Holbrook - Merchant of Venice (Shylock)

Tom Hulce - Hamlet (Hamlet)

Stacy Keach - Richard III (Richard), King Lear (Lear), Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 (Falstaff )

Sabrina LeBeauf- Love's Labour's Lost (Rosaline), The Taming of the Shrew (Kathrine)

Marsha Mason - All's Well That Ends Well (Countess of Rousillon)

Kelly McGillis - Merchant of Venice (Portia), Twelfth Night (Viola), Mourning Becomes Electra (Lavinia), MacBeth (Lady MacBeth), The Duchess of Malfi (Duchess), As You Like It (Rosalind), Measure for Measure (Isabella), All's Well That Ends Well (Helena), Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice)

Ethan McSweeny - Director (Major Barbara, The Persians, Ion, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest)

Geoffrey Owens

Patrick Page - Othello (Iago), MacBeth (MacBeth), Coriolanus (Coriolanus)

Siân Phillips - The Importance of Being Earnest (Lady Bracknell)

Richard Schiff - Hughie (Erie Smith)

Jean Stapleton - Romeo and Juliet (Nurse)

Patrick Stewart - Othello (Othello)

Rebecca Bayla Taichman - Director (The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale)

Richard Thomas - Richard II (Richard)

Paul Winfield - Merry Wives of Windsor (Falstaff)

Hannah Yelland - The Winter's Tale (Hermione)

Mary Zimmerman - Director (Pericles, Argonautika, Candide)

Commissioned Works

The Shakespeare Theatre Company commissioned playwright David Ives to translate and adapt a series of three rediscovered French comedy masterpieces as follows:

The Liar - by Pierre Corneille

The Heir Apparent by Jean-François Regnard

The Metromaniacs by Alexis Piron

All three plays featured Ives's rhyming word play and were directed by Michael Kahn

The Liar subsequently opened off-Broadway, again directed by Michael Kahn

Black Iago in Othello

In 1990 artistic director Michael Kahn and black director Harold Scott cast black actors as Iago and Emilia, the trusted ensign who incites the Moor's fatal jealousy and his wife. With Avery Brooks as Othello, Andre Braugher as Iago and Franchelle Stewart Dorn as Emilia, the resulting production was critically acclaimed.

Race Reversed Othello

In 1997 The Shakespeare Theatre Company produced an Othello in which Othello was white with an all black cast. Actor Patrick Stewart approached Artistic Director Michael Kahn with the concept: "I've been imagining myself playing Othello and, in a sense, preparing for it, since I was about 14. When the time came that I was old enough and experienced enough to do it, it was the same time that it no longer became acceptable for a white actor to put on blackface and pretend to be African. One of my hopes for this production is that it will continue to say what a conventional production of Othello would say about racism and prejudice... To replace the black outsider with a white man in a black society will, I hope, encourage a much broader view of the fundamentals of racism." Ron Canada performed the part of Iago. During the Meet the Cast event before the production Stewart remarked that he realized that while he had never performed this role, all of the principal male actors in the cast had, and he would learn from them.

The Oedipus Plays at the Athens Festival

After seeing The Shakespeare Theater Company's production of The Oedipus Plays in September 2001, officials from the Greek Embassy in Washington arranged for an invitation to the company to perform it as part of the 2003 Athens Festival. The show was a single-evening adaption by Michael Kahn of Sophocles' three plays Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. He changed the setting from Greece to central Africa, and used an all-black cast headed by Avery Brooks. The performance was on 10–11 September 2003 in the semicircular 5,000-seat Odeon theater on the south slope of the Acropolis. As an historical footnote, the original production had just opened the week before the September 11 attacks. After a single performance cancellation that night, the show went on the next night (9/12) with a new meaning for cast and audience. The second Athens' performance was two years to the day after the attack.

Love's Labor's Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival

The Shakespeare Theatre Company took its production of Love’s Labor’s Lost to England to participate in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works Festival. Performances were from 17 to 26 August 2006 in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Shakespeare in Washington Festival

From January through June 2007 The Shakespeare Theatre co-hosted the International Shakespeare in Washington Festival. This celebration was conceived by Michael Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center, and was curated by Michael Kahn. Over 60 arts organizations produced over 100 presentations.

Opening of Sidney Harman Hall

On October 1, 2007, Sidney Harman Hall opened with a gala performance emceed by Sam Waterston and featuring ballet dancers Nina Ananiashvili and Julio Bocca, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, actress Patti LuPone, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, The Washington Ballet, Washington Performing Arts Society’s (WPAS) Men and Women of the Gospel Mass Choir and actors from the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Special Performances of The Great Game: Afghanistan

At the request of US Department of Defense officials and with support funding from private sources, the Shakespeare Theatre Company donated Harman Hall and provided logistical support for two all-day special performances of the full cycle of The Great Game: Afghanistan. The 10–11 February 2011 performances were offered free to soldiers, wounded veterans and government officials in the Washington DC area.

Awards

The Shakespeare Theatre Company both presents and receives awards. Annually it presents The Will Award and The Emery Battis award. Additionally it regularly receives awards for its productions

The Will Award

The William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (The Will Award) has been presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company since 1988. The Will Award is an annual honor to recognize an artist who has made a significant contribution to classical theatre in America. Since at least 2008 the award ceremony has been held under the patronage of the British Ambassador and his wife.

Recipients:

The Emery Battis Awards

The Emery Battis Award for Acting Excellence is presented annually at the first opening night of the new season to recognize two actors whose work in a mainstage production demonstrates outstanding classical technique. The award is funded by an anonymous donor and includes a cash prize. It is named for the long time and beloved Shakespeare Theatre Company actor Emery Battis.

Award recipients include:

Received Awards

Over the past 29 years, the Shakespeare Theatre Company has won over 80 Helen Hayes Awards for producing, acting, directing, and design achievements.

2012: The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, received the Tony Award for Regional Theatre.

Accolades

2017: The Washington Post said, "The quality of its seasons has taken a hit over the past several years" and "Where once it regularly ventured into daring terrain...it is making a conscious choice to lead from behind."

2007: The New York Times said, the Shakespeare Theatre has "a repertory of classics that no New York theater of similar size and scale can match."

2001: The Christian Science Monitor printed, "The Shakespeare Theatre: The best classical theater in the country, bar none."

1999: The Economist named the Shakespeare Theatre Company as one of the "world's three great Shakespearean theatres"

The Wall Street Journal has heralded the company as "the nation's foremost Shakespeare company"

Free for All

In 1991, the Shakespeare Theatre Company began its annual Free For All productions at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in D.C.'s Rock Creek Park. Each summer the company remounts a production from the previous season. Until 2009, these productions were held at the outdoor Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park. However, in 2009 the company moved the free performances downtown and indoors For a complete list of the productions see Shakespeare Theatre Company Free For All

Rediscovery Series

Works for the ReDiscovery Series are chosen by Artistic Director Michael Kahn and presented under the direction of Shakespeare Theatre artistic staff. Guest artists join members of the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Washington theatrical community to investigate these great but lesser known plays of world literature. The readings occur at the Lansburgh on at least three Mondays throughout the year and are hosted by company member Ted van Griethuysen. Guest scholars, translators and adaptors involved with the evening's reading also frequently participate in the rehearsal, performance and occasional post-performance discussion when time permits.

Academy for Classical Acting

The Shakespeare Theatre Company and George Washington University offer a one-year intensive graduate program leading to a Master of Fine Arts degree. The curriculum focuses on the specific craft of acting Shakespeare and other classical texts. The Shakespeare Theatre Company provides world-class artists/teachers, a comprehensive training program and its reputation as a leader in classical repertory. George Washington University provides accreditation for an MFA degree, resources and strong links to the Folger Shakespeare Library & the Library of Congress. The program has graduated over 100 actors who are now performing on stages in New York, Washington D.C. and across the country.

National Theatre Live

The National Theatre (Great Britain) broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions to movie theaters, cinemas and arts centres around the world. Each showing is performed live in London, filmed in high definition and presented on a large screen in Sidney Harman Hall

Text Alive!

Text Alive is an in-school program designed to help students and their teachers develop a greater knowledge, understanding and even love of Shakespeare. It is the Shakespeare Theatre Company's oldest running program. Each semester teaching artists visit classrooms throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area to run weekly theatre workshops and an in-depth rehearsal and performance process.