Shakespeare Theatre Association

Last updated

The Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA), Formally known as The Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, was established to provide a forum for the artistic and managerial leadership of theatres whose central activity is the production of Shakespeare's plays; to discuss issues and share methods of work, resources, and information; and to act as an advocate for Shakespearean productions throughout the world. The name was changed in January 2011 to reflect the increasingly international reach of Shakespeare and the Shakespeare Theatre Association. [1]

Contents

History

The Shakespeare Theatre Association of America was organized at a meeting held January 12 and 13, 1991 at the Folger Library and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Sidney Berger, Producing Director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and Douglas Cook, Producing Artistic Director of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, invited the producers, artistic directors and managing directors of over thirty-seven Shakespeare festivals and companies from the United States and Canada to this meeting. Berger was elected the first President, [2] and Cook the first Vice President. [3]

Past Conferences

The annual conference is the most important activity of the STA.

YearHost OrganizationCity
1991Folger Shakespeare Theatre Washington, D.C.
1992Houston Shakespeare Festival Houston, Texas
1993Utah Shakespearean Festival Cedar City, Utah
1994Alabama Shakespeare Festival Montgomery, Alabama
1995Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company Portland, Oregon
1996Stratford Festival Stratford, Ontario, Canada
1997San Francisco Shakespeare Festival San Francisco, California
1998Georgia Shakespeare Festival Atlanta, Georgia
1999Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival Orlando, Florida
2000Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe Stratford-upon-Avon and London, England
2001Idaho Shakespeare Festival Boise, Idaho
2002Shakespeare Theater Company Washington, D.C.
2003Oregon Shakespeare Festival Ashland, Oregon
2004American Shakespeare Center Staunton, Virginia
2005Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
2006Marin Shakespeare Company and Baja Shakespeare Festival San Rafael, California and Los Barriles, Mexico
2007Nashville Shakespeare Festival Nashville, Tennessee
2008Utah Shakespearean Festival Cedar City, Utah
2009Shakespeare & Company Lenox, Massachusetts
2010Shakespeare's GlobeLondon, England
2011Colorado Shakespeare Festival Boulder, Colorado
2012Orlando Shakespeare TheatreOrlando, Florida
2013Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2014Stratford Festival Stratford, Ontario, Canada
2015San Francisco Shakespeare Festival San Francisco, California
2016Shakespeare at Notre Dame South Bend, Indiana
2017Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Baltimore, Maryland
2018Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Cincinnati, Ohio
2019Prague Shakespeare Company Prague, Czech Republic
2021Chesapeake Shakespeare CompanyVirtual (due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
2022Gamut Theatre Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratford Festival</span> Theatre festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada

The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, the Shakespeare Festival and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The festival was one of the first arts festivals in Canada and continues to be one of its most prominent. It is recognized worldwide for its productions of Shakespearean plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Shakespeare Festival</span> Repertory theatre in Oregon, United States

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary plays not limited to Shakespeare. During the Festival, between five and eleven plays are offered in daily rotation six days a week in its three theatres. It welcomed its millionth visitor in 1971, its 10-millionth in 2001, and its 20-millionth visitor in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah Shakespeare Festival</span> Annual Theatrical Festival in Cedar City, Utah, United States

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a theatrical festival that performs works by Shakespeare as their cornerstone. The Festival is held during the summer and fall on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrone Guthrie</span> English actor and director (1900–1971)

Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss in County Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakespeare's Globe</span> Theatre in London, England

Shakespeare's Globe is a realistic true-to-history reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. It is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Southwark and hosts theatrical productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Shakespeare Theater</span> Non-profit professional theater company in Chicago

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare series, its World's Stage touring productions, and youth education and family oriented programming. The theater had garnered 77 Joseph Jefferson awards and three Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2008, it was the winner of the Regional Theatre Tony Award.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, Ibsen, Wilde, Shaw, Schiller, Coward and Tennessee Williams. The company manages and performs in two spaces: The Michael R. Klein Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall. In cooperation with George Washington University, they run the STC Academy.

John Juliani was a Canadian actor, writer, producer, director and educator. His career spanned four decades in a number of different media, including radio and film. In addition to his artistic contributions, Juliani was a strong advocate of Canadian theatre and the arts. He is the father of actor Alessandro Juliani.

Jack O'Brien is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007.

Henry Woronicz is an American actor, director, and producer who served as the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) from 1991 to 1995. He was an actor and resident director there starting in 1984. In addition to his work at OSF, he has acted and directed in many other theaters, and has extensive film and TV credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Shakespeare Theatre</span>

The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre was constructed and the program opened on July 12, 1955, with Julius Caesar. The theater building burned to the ground on January 13, 2019.

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival is a Shakespeare festival in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Shakespeare Theater</span>

California Shakespeare Theater is a regional theater located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Its performance space, the Lt. G. H. Bruns III Memorial Amphitheater, is located in Orinda, while the administrative offices, rehearsal hall, costume and prop shop are located in Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakespeare in the Park festivals</span> Outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeares plays

Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This concept has been adapted by many theatre companies, and over time, this name has expanded to encompass outdoor theatre productions of the playwright's works performed all over the world.

Shakespeare in Action is a Toronto-based, multi-racial Shakespearean theatre company for young audiences. The company aspires to enhance the arts and education by bringing Shakespeare's plays to children and students across Toronto. Founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Michael Kelly, Shakespeare in Action offers a wide variety of programming for students, teachers and the community, including in-class workshops, mainstage productions, summer programs and more. In 2009 the company became the Artist Company in Residence at Toronto's Central Commerce Collegiate Institute. The company also partners with TD Bank and the Toronto Public Library to produce the Shakespeare for Kids Library Club, a free program where children learn how to act out Shakespeare's plays themselves.

Oak Park Festival Theatre (OPFT) is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident and arts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively by William Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants, Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, and Metra and CTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Gallanar</span> American theatre director

Ian Gallanar is an American theatre director. He is the founder and current Artistic Director of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.

The Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Houston, Texas, United States. Each summer, the Houston Shakespeare Festival produces a season of two Shakespeare plays in repertory. Since its inception in 1975, HSF has entertained over a million theatergoers with free performances in Hermann Park's Miller Outdoor Theatre. The Houston Shakespeare Festival has since become one of the major events on Houston's summer entertainment calendar. HSF is a recognized Actors' Equity Association theatre.

Ralph Alan Cohen is an American educator, scholar theatre director, and academic entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Senior Advisor of the American Shakespeare Center, a theater company located in Staunton, Virginia. In 2001, as Executive Director of the ASC, he was also Project Director for the building of the Blackfriars Playhouse, a recreation of the Blackfriars Theatre, England’s first purpose-built indoor theatre, and home to Shakespeare’s company, the King’s Men until the closing of the theatres in 1642.

Ben Humphrey is an English actor, director, writer, lecturer and criminal court Magistrate. He graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2007 and is also an associate of LAMDA.

References

  1. Quartro Summer 2011, a Note from The President of STA, https://shakespeare-association.squarespace.com/quarto/?month=june-2011&view=calendar
  2. Sidney Berger
  3. STAA website; history page