Shakespeare Theatre Company

Washington, DC

Since its founding in 1985, the Shakespeare Theatre Company has endeavored to be the nation's leading force in the presentation and preservation of classic theater. Its core mission is to present classic theater in an accessible, skillful, imaginative, American style that honors the language and intentions of playwrights while viewing their plays through a 21 st century lens. Through a specific focus on the classics, training a corps of actors in the classic tradition, and comprehensive education and enrichment programs, the company strengthens and sustains the vitality of classic theater in America. Nationally and internationally known for presenting a challenging repertory, taking artistic risks, and maintaining technical excellence, the company serves 200,000 people each year through its productions and education programs. The Company's artistic and technical excellence has been corroborated through the receipt of 58 Helen Hayes Awards, including seven Outstanding Director awards to Artistic Director Michael Kahn . In October 2007, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will open the Harman Center for the Arts, which will include the new Sidney Harman Hall and the existing Lansburgh Theatre. The Harman Center will provide state-of-the-art, affordable, mid-sized venues for Washington, D.C., performing arts organizations and national and international touring companies, as well as encouraging synergy among arts organizations and stimulating a collaborative artistic dialogue. With the opening of the Harman Center, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will become a national destination theatre offering a broad range of classically based works to audiences in the greater Washington area and across the nation.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Shakespearience student matinee program is designed to increase social and cultural access to classic theater and the theatrical process for public school teachers and students. Over the past five years, Shakespearience has provided more than 10,000 high-school, junior-high-school, and middle-school students from the District of Columbia and adjacent Maryland and Virginia counties with increased access to the work on the mainstage through subsidized tickets, preparatory curriculum guides, in-school workshops, focus groups, and post-performance discussions. Participating teachers receive complimentary copies of the First Folio: Teacher Curriculum Guides to assist in preparing students for the production, and the subsidized ticket price includes all components of the program. In 2007-2008, as part of the Shakespearience program, Shakespeare Theatre Company will serve schools in Washington, D.C., and adjacent Maryland and Virginia counties, with productions of The Taming of the Shrew and Julius Caesar. The increased capacity of the Harman Center for the Arts makes it possible to expand Shakespearience and add a family program component that offers young people and their families the opportunity to attend performances and pre- and post-performance workshops.

http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/