Seattle Shakespeare Company

Seattle, Washington

Seattle Shakespeare Company pursues a mission of opening doors to classical theater for audiences of all ages. Founded in 1991, the company offers 215 performances and 125 educational programs annually through three arms of programming: an indoor season, an outdoor season, and an extensive educational program. Artistic Director Stephanie Shine has lead the company for 11 years, attracting the most sought-after artists of the region to appear on the company's stages. Managing Director John Bradshaw arrived in 2004 and has overseen five years of sound and strategic management with balanced budgets, a completed strategic plan, and a 330% increase in contributed support. The company annually reaches 43,000 people, including 20,000 students, and is the standard-bearer of Shakespeare in Washington State with its professional year-round productions and a complete catalogue of educational opportunities.

As part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, Seattle Shakespeare Company will bring a one-day performance-based residency of A Midsummer Night's Dream to schools in the far eastern edge of the state, especially concentrating on Spokane County. A 90-minute chamber production will distill the script to its essential elements, focusing on the living relationship between Shakespeare's text and the contemporary audience. Like the text, the chamber theater production elements are streamlined. Director of Outdoor and Touring Productions Georg Mount envisions the use of inventive staging, including puppetry, to launch the audience into the world of faerie; the seven-person touring team will be trained in puppetry by a guest artist drawn from Seattle's rich pool of puppet artists. Seattle Shakespeare Company will spend a day in residence at each school, featuring a performance, a post-performance talk-back, study guides, and six workshops.

Visit them at: www.seattleshakespeare.org