American Shakespeare Center

Staunton, Virginia

The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, operates the world's only re-creation of Shakespeare's indoor theater, the Blackfriars Playhouse. The American Shakespeare Center strives to show Shakespeare in his natural habitat—off the page and on the stage—which has earned the company national and international prominence and critical praise. The American Shakespeare Center recovers the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare's theater, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education. Primarily, the company presents the works of Shakespeare under the performance conditions for which they were originally written, including the use of a thrust stage, universal lighting, emphasis on the language rather than on effects, actors playing multiple roles, and a commitment to “two hours” traffic on the stage—which creates high-energy, fast-paced shows. Secondly, their mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the accessibility of Shakespeare's language and the universality of his vision, offering performances, workshops, lectures, demonstrations, seminars, teacher training, and college coursework. Since opening the Blackfriars Playhouse in 2001, the company has entertained more than 200,000 playgoers, offered 360 performances per year, produced more than 32 Shakespeare plays and 17 works by other playwrights, and educated more than 50,000 children through their learning experiences. The American Shakespeare Center is open 51 weeks a year.

In 2007–2008, the American Shakespeare Center will offer three full-length shows: The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, and The Merchant of Venice. All three shows run for approximately two hours, and the company also offers a 90-minute version of The Taming of the Shrew. They will offer workshops, lectures, and talk-back sessions at all venues and, in addition to title-specific workshops, they will provide participatory workshops on subjects ranging from acting and auditioning to stage combat and leadership. Each workshop is designed by American Shakespeare Center's Co-Founder and Director of Mission, Dr. Ralph Cohen, a noted Shakespeare scholar and frequent guest lecturer at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Workshops are tailored to the education level of their participants, ranging from elementary to post-graduate, and teachers are able to choose what works for their students. The American Shakespeare Center on Tour will provide free performances and educational activities for underserved schools throughout the East Coast and Midwest. Over the past 19 years, American Shakespeare Center on Tour has visited 48 states and five countries, serving 50,000 people per year—“blowing the cobwebs out of Shakespeare,” as one critic put it. Performances at the Blackfriars Playhouse are performed by the American Shakespeare's Center's Equity resident troupe, which performs under conditions closely approximating those for which Shakespeare originally wrote.

http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/