Shakespeare & Company (theatre company)
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Shakespeare & Company is Minnesota's longest-running and only permanent outdoor classical repertory theatre. Their goal is to provide an environment where families can come and enjoy an informal picnic atmosphere and see performances of plays by William Shakespeare and other classical playwrights. The presentation is informal, an attempt to recreate the vitality and excitement of the Elizabethan theatre. Each summer the company presents three shows in repertory at the Outdoor Theatre Complex on the West Campus of Century College, located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, just north of the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
A typical Shakespearean production runs 2 ½ to 3 hours. Shakespeare & Company productions are carefully edited to run 70-120 minutes to accommodate audiences in an outdoor setting. While the Guthrie Theater is known for its classical Shakespeare, this company is known for its approachable Shakespeare. Families in the St. Croix Valley and suburban Ramsey County find a delightful setting for a picnic, and the opportunity to bring children and not worry about "shushing" them. Often Shakespeare is thought of as set apart or inaccessible to modern day viewers. Instead, the audience's understanding is greatly enhanced by judicious editing, the use of physicality, and program notes that describe both plot and interpretation. The repertory format itself provides another type of access. Minnesota summers are short, and so is the season for outdoor theatre. The scheduling of performances in a repertory configuration provides the opportunity to see more than one production in a given weekend.
[edit] History
George Franklin Wade, the principal Artistic Director for 23 years, founded Shakespeare & Company in 1976. George held BA and MA degrees from the University of Wyoming and the Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law. Prior to his directing career, his theatre experiences included leading roles at the nationally acclaimed Colorado Shakespeare Festival and several off-Broadway productions.
The first production of Shakespeare & Company was The Taming of the Shrew and was a traveling production, visiting several park settings throughout the metropolitan area. After the first season George determined that higher artistic levels were possible if a permanent outdoor setting could be located. That setting was found at Lakewood Community College (later to be named Century College following the merger of Lakewood and Northeast Metro Technical College). Century College with its wooded grounds and nature trails has remained the home of the company to this day.
Since 1976, Shakespeare & Company has produced over 85 productions of Shakespeare's classics, as well as many other well-known plays from the likes of Sheridan, Aristophanes, Molière, Fletcher and many more.
The goal of the organization is to make the classics accessible to ever-increasing numbers of people, and to continuously improve the artistic caliber of the productions. The back of each printed program carries this mission statement, adopted by founding director George Franklin Wade in 1976:
Shakespeare & Company is a classical repertory theatre performing at the Outdoor Theatre complex of Century College, West Campus. Members of the community staff the company. Our goal is to provide an environment where families can come and enjoy an informal picnic atmosphere and see performances of Shakespeare and other classical plays. We invite you to stroll around the campus and enjoy the pond and nature preserve. Our presentation is informal; it is an attempt to recreate the feeling of the Elizabethan theatre-its excitement, and vitality! Don't worry about the children; let them run and play on the grass. After all, from their imaginations and exuberance will come tomorrow's actors and poets.
