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Established in 1988, The Nashville Shakespeare Festival enriches the lives of Middle Tennesseans with bold, innovative and relevant productions, setting the community standard of excellence in productions and educational outreach of the works of Shakespeare. The Festival employs Nashville's finest theater artists to create innovative programs accessible to audiences of all ages, cultural backgrounds and socio-economic circumstances.
In 1988, following a dream of creating a Shakespearean theatre company in Nashville, a group of local actors produced the first free-of-charge Shakespeare in the Park production of As You Like It, and the Nashville Shakespeare Festival was born. During its twenty-four year history, the Festival has grown into one the region’s leading professional theatres. Each summer, 10,000 to 15,000 people attend the annual Shakespeare in the Centennial Park production which is designed to be accessible to people from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 1988, over 240,000 Middle Tennesseans have attended. The Festival offered its first Actor’s Equity Association union contracts for the 1995 Shakespeare in the Park production of Macbeth. Each year the festival provides up to 10 union contracts to local actors and stage managers, paying into the Equity Health and Pension funds. Stabilizing and sustaining the local professional casting pool is a high priority for the Festival.
In 1992, in response to the need for an arts-in-education program in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the Nashville Shakespeare Festival developed its educational outreach program, beginning with a series of fifty-minute versions of Shakespeare’s best known works as “Shakespeare Samplers.” These abridged productions toured to middle and high schools throughout the state as well as regional colleges and universities. Through the years, The Festival has become a trusted resource for schools by offering enriching in-classroom workshops and creative opportunities for students. Over 175,000 students– many of whom had never experienced live theatre before – have been introduced to Shakespeare through the Festival’s interactive workshops and energetic performances.
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival was honored to host the 2007 Conference of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, which brought over one hundred professional Shakespeare producers from around the world to Nashville, and is proud to be a continuing member of that organization.
In 2008, The Nashville Shakespeare Festival established its annual Winter Shakespeare production in residence at Belmont University’s Troutt Theater. The winter production allows The Festival to expand its repertoire to include plays that benefit from a more intimate indoor venue and to provide both public performances and daytime performances for schools. The first four winter productions, Hamlet, Richard III, The Tempest, and Shakespeare’s Case have served over 13,000 students and adults.
In recent years, educational outreach programming has grown steadily, and the Festival is currently doing close to 100 workshops per year. In addition to workshops in classroom, the Festival is putting professional directors in-residence in the schools and universities and offering Shakespeare-based leadership and team building workshops to businesses. Partnering with lawyers, the Festival has developed a thriving CLE program, an accredited mock trial on the authorship question, and an original play entitled Shakespeare’s Case, written by Nan Gurley, Denice Hicks and Claire Syler. Shakespeare’s Case premiered in 2009 and enjoyed a successful run at the Troutt Theater in 2010 followed by a state-wide tour. As a touring show, Shakespeare’s Case can be presented affordably in a variety of venues.
As the Nashville Shakespeare Festival approaches its 25th Anniversary Season in 2013, its revered place on the cultural landscape of Nashville is well established and community support is stronger than ever. |
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