The American Shakespeare Festival

Abstract

HE inaugural season of the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy at Stratford, Connecticut, offering Julius Caesar and The Tempest, was disappointing. It was all v*N.; X the more disappointing in the light of developments in Shake~. >>tspearian production in England in the last twenty years along A_ C7$j the lines of ensemble playing, emphasis on clarity and beauty of the text, and an insistence that every element of the production-acting, decor, spectacle, sound-be integrated as part of an artistic whole, the play in all of its drama, poetry, and theatricality. In other words, the play is the thing, not the stars, or the scenery, or the desire to experiment. This new approach to the staging of Shakespeare was demonstrated in 1935 at the New Theatre in London with the now-famous production of Romeo and Juliet in which Peggy Ashcroft played Juliet and Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud alternated as Romeo, with Gielgud directing, and decor by Motley. It is considered in England the beginning of the modern renaissance in Shakespearian production, with the characteristics described above apparent in many outstanding offerings in England since that time. When one considers that signs of the movement in England have not been discernible in the past two decades in professional productions of Shakespeare in the United States, the uninspired, old-fashioned and plodding presentations at Stratford, Connecticut, were not surprising, but they were still a disappointment. That these productions were so poor should be of vital concern to everyone interested in Shakespeare in America. For one thing, an organization named the American Shakespeare Festival automatically represents itself to theatergoers here, including critics and ministers of culture from foreign countries, as the best of American professional achievement in staging Shakespeare. Secondly, its obligation, like that of the Stratfords in Ontario and England, is to set the standard for other Shakespearian productions in this country. In both instances, if the productions at the festival are dull, elocutionary exhibits, harm is done both to the appreciation of Shakespeare in America and to the reputation of the United States for achievement in the arts as it is judged internationally. Besides, if these productions are bad, they betray the trust of those who read, study, and admire the poet's works, for they deprive us of the vital, exciting beauty of a Shakespeare play in its own medium, the stage. The stated aims and objectives of the festival are certainly admirable. They include the plays and the building, 'to give Shakespeare a home in America to keep his plays alive, the establishment of a Shakespearian acting company which, after performing at Stratford in the summer, will tour the