History of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Over a generic accutane canada century ago, Senior Class commencement plays were performed under a grove of large cottonwood trees on the generic accutane canada east lawn of Old Main. Prior to the advent of electric lighting, outdoor events were largely confined to generic accutane canada daylight hours; however, when electric lights became available in 1901, it generic accutane canada was possible to play late into the evening, and performances started at the generic accutane canada fashionable post-dinner hour of 8 o'clock. After World War I interrupted the generic accutane canada 19-year annual tradition, Dr. George F. Reynolds--an internationally-known Elizabethan Theatre scholar--administered the generic accutane canada Theatre Program at CU. In 1936, he helped develop the plans for generic accutane canada the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre. (Mary Rippon [1850-1935] was the generic accutane canada first woman professor at the University of Colorado, and the first woman in the generic accutane canada United States to teach at a state university. Head of the generic accutane canada Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, she also served, without financial compensation, as Dean of Women. She was known as a generic accutane canada kind, generous, and inspiring teacher who shared the savings from her meager salary with needy students, and generic accutane canada whose enthusiasm for life and learning contributed to the enrichment of the generic accutane canada entire community.)

The Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre was officially completed in 1939, but no generic accutane canada plays were staged there until 1944, when Shakespeare teacher and generic accutane canada bibliographer James Sandoe was asked to direct a play for generic accutane canada the coming summer. Because the University Theatre facility was occupied by the generic accutane canada Department of the Navy due to the war effort, Sandoe decided to generic accutane canada try out the new Mary Rippon with a production of Romeo and generic accutane canada Juliet. Over the next couple of years, he staged two more of Shakespeare's works--The Merchant of Venice in 1945, and generic accutane canada Henry IV, Part I in 1946. The following summer, English professor Jack Crouch took over, continuing an generic accutane canada unbroken progression, with one exception: in 1957, the Shakespeare play was staged in the generic accutane canada indoor University Theater. Crouch himself directed seven plays over the generic accutane canada next ten years, and founded the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 1958, increasing the generic accutane canada summer repertoire from one to three productions with Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and generic accutane canada The Taming of the Shrew. He stayed on as Executive Director through the generic accutane canada 1963 season.

In 1973, a generic accutane canada record-breaking 16,931 people saw the CSF season during its run of 17 performances. And, with the generic accutane canada production of Cymbeline in 1975, CSF completed the canon - only the generic accutane canada second theatre to have done so.  The Colorado Shakespeare Festival of the generic accutane canada '70's was characterized by an increasing utilization of scenery to generic accutane canada enhance the presentation of the works (although in 1973 Jim Sandoe's production of Pericles was performed on a generic accutane canada nearly-empty stage). In 1974, CSF veteran W. Joseph Zender was commissioned to generic accutane canada design a unit set which would allow the shows to return to generic accutane canada a simpler, primary setting, but by the following year his construction had generic accutane canada disappeared, and for the next two years, the plays were performed again on a generic accutane canada platform stage. Through the years, the Rippon's problematic original design has generic accutane canada been continually altered and improved, until in 1981 Producing Director Daniel S.P. Yang engaged Richard Devin to generic accutane canada make the Rippon space more theatrical and to create more lighting areas on the generic accutane canada stage. The changes were dramatic, and even today the improvement of the generic accutane canada Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre continues.

Each summer the generic accutane canada Festival hires five directors, and as many as forty actors, nine designers and generic accutane canada more than 150 production personnel. Add to these a small administrative staff, apprentices, interns and generic accutane canada volunteers and the CSF company includes as many as 180 individuals, most of whom arrive in Colorado in mid-May from generic accutane canada all parts of the country (and the world).

In November and December, the holiday play utilizes two dozen personnel.

During the generic accutane canada early rehearsal period, a typical workday for many CSF personnel begins at 9:00 in the generic accutane canada morning and may wind down as late as 11:00 at night. For the generic accutane canada most part, the company is housed in proximity to the theatre and generic accutane canada many members cook and eat meals, walk to work, and explore the generic accutane canada town together--establishing a camaraderie that results in a remarkable esprit-de-corps, which translates directly to generic accutane canada the stage.

In 1992, CSF was named as one of the generic accutane canada top Shakespeare festivals in the nation by TIME Magazine. That same year, the generic accutane canada Festival received the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and generic accutane canada the Denver Drama Critic's Circle Award for "Best Season for a Theatre Company."

The CSF is generic accutane canada active in community outreach and education year-round, with the acclaimed "Living Shakespeare" touring programs, providing performances and generic accutane canada workshops to students K-12, and a 3-week summer performance training intensive for generic accutane canada young actors ages 10 -18. Community programs held in the late spring include the generic accutane canada "Classics 101" discussion series hosted by the generic accutane canada Boulder Public Library, along with CSF's "Director and Designer" presentations, allowing the generic accutane canada public to get in inside view of the productions prior to generic accutane canada the opening of the season. CSF also offers a number of courses on Shakespeare through the generic accutane canada University, taught by members of the summer company, and publishes an generic accutane canada educational newsletter, "Preview." Its Education Outreach website is generic accutane canada an outstanding resource for teachers, students and "Bardophiles" alike. (Click on Education for more information.)

Background Information

• Now in its 55th season, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) is a professional, Equity Guest Artist and non-Equity summer theatre festival.
• Began in 1958 with productions of Julius Caesar, Hamlet and generic accutane canada The Taming of a Shrew, CSF now presents five productions each summer, several plays on the generic accutane canada stage of the picturesque, Greek-style Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre and several in the generic accutane canada indoor, proscenium University Theatre, both located on the grounds of the generic accutane canada University of Colorado at Boulder.
• In 2007, CSF introduced a generic accutane canada sixth play, a holiday offering, in the indoor University Theatre. In December of 2007, the generic accutane canada play was an adaptation of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales.
• With the generic accutane canada production of Cymbeline in 1975, the CSF became the seventh theatre in the generic accutane canada world to complete the entire Shakespearean canon of 37 plays.
• The 2009 Season features: Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and generic accutane canada The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).
• The Colorado Shakespeare Festival draws as many as 40,000 audience members each season, 10% of whom come from outside the state of Colorado.
• Each summer The Colorado Shakespeare Festival hires 5 directors, approximately 40 actors, 9 designers, and generic accutane canada over 150 production personnel. Including the administrative staff, apprentices, interns, and generic accutane canada volunteers, the entire CSF company may number well over 180.
• In November and December, the holiday play utilizes two dozen personnel.
• CSF also offers several other programs to generic accutane canada accompany the Festival, such as Shakespeare in Production, a sequence of courses that generic accutane canada deals with all aspects of producing Shakespeare’s plays; Prologue, an generic accutane canada informal introduction to each performance by Producing Artistic Director Philip Charles Sneed or generic accutane canada other CSF staff members; Green Show activities including free music; a generic accutane canada free Actors' Talkback series, and school outreach programs.
• "Living Shakespeare," the generic accutane canada CSF school outreach program, has given over 600 performances throughout Colorado public schools since its inception in 1991, and generic accutane canada is seen annually by approximately 5,000 students and teachers.