American Shakespeare Center

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation located in Staunton, Virginia in the United States. The company was founded in 1988 by Shakespeare scholar, Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen, and his former student Jim Warren. It was originally a professional traveling troupe named Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, renamed Shenandoah Shakespeare in 1999 when it settled in Staunton, and renamed American Shakespeare Center in 2005 to better reflect its mission.

As of 2008, the Center maintains a rotating repertory of plays 51 weeks a year, a resident Equity troupe, a touring troupe, a year-round laboratory for students and scholars, a one-of-a-kind MLitt/MFA Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance graduate program in partnership with Mary Baldwin College for actors, directors, teachers, and dramaturgs, a summer camp for high-school students, a summer program for middle school students, and the Blackfriars Playhouse.

History

In 1988 Shenandoah Shakespeare Express (SSE) toured the State of Virginia with "Richard III". The next year it took "The Taming of the Shrew" on the road to Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. The company received its first grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy to run a seminar for teachers in 1991. In the following year, the troupe performed at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and toured overseas in London and Edinburgh. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded the company general operating support the same year.

In the years following, SSE traveled to Canada, France, and Germany. The company continues to receive grants from national and Virginia state agencies, and by 1995 had created a second troupe due to increased demand. SSE's first Young Company Theatre Camp (YCTC) was held in 1997 and has been an annual summer camp since.

Shenandoah Shakespeare Express moved to Staunton, Virginia in 1999, changing its name to Shenandoah Shakespeare (S2). The move was prompted by plans to begin a three-phase building project, including the Blackfriars Playhouse, a Center for Education and Research, and a Globe Theatre. Within a year and after a successful capital campaign, construction began on the Blackfriars Playhouse, the world's only recreation of Shakespeare's indoor theatre. The playhouse opened in September 2001. In the same year, S2 hosted the first Blackfriars Conference for Shakespearean scholars and partnered with Mary Baldwin College (MBC) to establish the world's only masters program for the teaching, acting, and directing (and now dramaturgy) of Shakespearean and renaissance literature. MBC offers a Master of Letters (M.Litt.) in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance which leads to the terminal, professional degree of Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.).

Since 2001, the American Shakespeare Center has continued to receive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and their Virginia equivalents. The ASC's resident troupe performs a repertory season and a Renaissance season (which has no directors or designers, just actors). A traveling troupe performs Shakespeare throughout the country in schools and colleges. The ASC continues to host the biennial Blackfriars Conference and regular teacher seminars.

In 2007, the ASC Board of Trustees approved a five-year strategic plan including plans for the construction of the Globe II, a recreation of Shakespeare's second Globe Theatre. Furthermore, the State of Virginia acknowledges and supports ASC's mission to create a national Shakespeare campus in Staunton and awards a seed grant to support planning for the Globe.

Blackfriars Playhouse

Blackfriars Playhouse is the world's only re-creation of the Blackfriars Theatre. Construction began on the indoor Playhouse in early 2000, as part of a three-building construction plan that would also include a re-creation of the 1614 Globe Theatre and a Center for Research and Education. In 2001, construction on the Playhouse was completed and Shenandoah Shakespeare began to perform there. Shenandoah Shakespeare changed its name to the American Shakespeare Center in 2005 to better reflect the scope of the organization's mission and programs.

Blackfriars Playhouse currently maintains a schedule of six performances per week. Its offerings include not only plays by William Shakespeare, but other shows contemporary to his time period such as Cyrano de Bergerac or related in other ways, such as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).

Original practices

ASC uses "original practices" in its productions of Shakespeare's work. Most notably this includes universal lighting. Unlike most theatres, the lights never go out in the Blackfriars Playhouse. The audience can see the actors; the actors can see the audience; and the audience members can see and hear each other.

The audience is seated on all four sides of the stage. The majority of the seating is in front of the stage and in a second floor balcony; however, there is seating on either side of the stage, including stools on the stage proper, and seating is available in the balcony above and behind the stage. Because of this arrangement, the actors are always prepared to play in thrust or in the round.

Casting practices include doubling in which most actors perform several roles. The ASC does cast women, unlike Renaissance English playhouses, but is committed to exploring the role of gender in Renaissance plays.

Music is an integral part of ASC productions. All performances are prefaced by music and most include musical interludes or intervals.

Notable people

Board of Trustees
*Thomas Berger, Shakespeare scholar
*Hon. Rudolph Bumgardner, III, Court of Appeals of Virginia
*Ralph Alan Cohen, ASC Founding Executive Director and Director of Mission, Shakespeare scholar
*Donna Denize, American poet
*Pamela Fox, President of Mary Baldwin College
*Paul Menzer, Director of the M.Litt./M.F.A. Program in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance at Mary Baldwin College, Shakespeare scholar
*Jim Warren, ASC Founding Artistic Director

Advisory Board
*Miles Anderson, an English actor
*David Bevington, Shakespeare scholar
*Ronald E. Carrier, fourth President and current Chancellor of James Madison University
*Dame Judi Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, Tony-, BAFTA-, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress, and Honorary M.Litt. recipient
*Phoef Sutton, Emmy-Award-winning American television writer and producer of feature films
*Zoë Wanamaker, CBE, an American-born, English actress
*Jerry Zaks, Tony Award-winning American Broadway theatre and television actor and director

References

*American Shakespeare Center's Summer/Fall 2007 Season Brochure

External links

* [http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/ American Shakespeare Center] , operators of Blackfriars Playhouse
* [http://www.dreamingcreek.com/commercial2.htm Dreaming Creek] , photo gallery of the playhouse from the builder