The Acting Company

New York, New York

Honored by the Tony Awards for sustained excellence in theater, The Acting Company has developed the careers of hundreds of extraordinary actors, including Kevin Kline, Frances Conroy, Jesse L. Martin, Patti LuPone, David Ogden Stiers, Harriet Harris, David Schramm, Jeffrey Wright, Keith David, and Rainn Wilson—who began on tour with the Company. Founded by Oscar-winning actor/director/producer John Houseman and current Producing Artistic Director Margot Harley, The Acting Company has brought 127 productions to millions of people in 48 states and 10 countries. In 2006, the company toured to 47 cities in 22 states across 14,000 miles and provided education programs to 27,000 students in disadvantaged schools. In collaboration with leading directors and designers, The Acting Company revitalizes the classics and introduces exciting, original theater, as it develops the best young American actors by giving them an opportunity to practice their craft in a repertory of classic plays and new works. In addition, the company builds a discerning national audience for the theater by playing exceptional productions on tour nationwide for underserved audiences, and educates students through masterclasses, student matinees, and week-long Literacy Through Theater artistic residencies. In addition to its Tony Awards, The Acting Company has won several Obies, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle honors, Citibank's Excellence in Education, and two Audelco Awards.

In conjunction with its production of The Tempest, The Acting Company will present student matinees and a full range of educational programs in more than 20 communities across the breadth of America. In addition to performing at least 15 student matinees and teaching masterclasses and workshops that interpret The Tempest's text, The Acting Company will present week-long Literacy Through Theater artistic residencies—a cross-curricular exploration of language, visual art, music, design, and acting—in 15 to 30 classrooms. All programs will be supported by teacher resource guides (providing lesson plans for classroom teachers) and post-performance Q&A sessions. The Tempest is a perfect introduction to Shakespeare because it has something for everyone: comedy, revenge, attempted murder, and a love story. By “hooking” students with the story, the company shows them how language is the necessary vessel to transport them there. The Literacy Through Theater residencies introduce a lifetime of Shakespeare's magic, text, and language to students with little or no other chance to experience the greatest playwright and teacher of all. The Shakespeare for a New Generation initiative will enable The Acting Company to expand its outreach to schools that do not have the financial resources for theater arts education, bringing the enriching beauty of Shakespeare in performance supported by the excitement and rigor of Shakespeare's text into the classroom. 

http://www.theactingcompany.org/