A Shakespeare festival is a theatre organization that stages the works of William Shakespeare continually.
Origins In 1830, the Mulberry Club (a scholarly group formed in Stratford-upon-Avon, named after the destroyed New Place mulberry tree) began organising annual festivities on Shakespeare's birthday, which they referred to as the "Shakespeare Festival". These continued until at least 1836. From 1886 to 1919, Frank Benson directed 28 spring and six summer "Shakespeare festivals" at the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford."Shakespeare For All Time", by Stanley Wells, 2002; pg. 321
In 1935 the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, or OSF, was founded in Ashland, Oregon, USA. Originally named the "Oregon Shakespearean Festival"; the name was changed in 1988. Angus L. Bowmer, founder of OSF, wrote in 1954 that Shakespeare Festivals have in common the following attributes: 1) established firmly in one place; 2) repertoire (staging a variety of Shakespeare plays) and 3) a physical stage similar to that used in Shakespeare's lifetime.Oregon Shakespearean Association Fourteenth Season program, 1954, pg 3-4 According to Bowmer, the inspiration for Elizabethan staging of contemporary Shakespeare productions came from William Poel, an English director who organized the Elizabethan Stage Society in London in the early 20th century. His concepts of Elizabethan staging were brought to North America by Ben Iden Payne.
Other early Shakespeare festivals in North America staged on replicas of the Globe Theatre include the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego (1937) and the Hofstra Shakespeare Festival, launched at Hofstra University in 1950. The American Shakespeare Theatre operated on a festival stage in Stratford, Connecticut, United States from 1955 to the 1980s.
Arthur Lithgow, father of actor John Lithgow, founded the "Antioch Shakespeare Festival" (also known as Shakespeare Under the Stars") at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1952. In its five years of existence, the Festival performed the entire Shakespeare canon. In 1953, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival was founded in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario, with Tyrone Guthrie as the festival's first Artistic Director. The New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City (now known as The Public Theater) has produced Free Shakespeare shows since 1955.
Festivals Canada Bard on the Beach — Vancouver, British Columbia Freewill Shakespeare Festival — Edmonton, Alberta Repercussion Theatre — Montreal, Quebec Shakespeare by the Sea — Halifax, Nova Scotia Shakespeare by the Sea — St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Shakespeare in the Ruff — Toronto, Ontario Shakespeare in the Ruins — Winnipeg, Manitoba Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Stratford Shakespeare Festival — Stratford, Ontario
Europe Bremer Shakespeare Company — Bremen, Germany Craiova International Shakespeare Festival — Craiova, Romania Dublin Shakespeare Society — Dublin, Ireland Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival — Gdańsk, Poland Prague Shakespeare Festival — Prague, Czech Republic
United Kingdom Bard in the Botanics — Glasgow, Scotland Cheek by Jowl — London, England Creation Theatre Company — Oxford, England Dolphin's Back — London, England Druid Shakespeare — Galway, Ireland Edward's Boys — Stratford-upon-Avon, England National Theatre — London, England Original Shakespeare Company — London, England Oxford Shakespeare Festival — Oxford, England Rose Playhouse Bankside — London, England Rose Theatre Kingston — Kingston upon Thames, England Royal Exchange — Manchester, England Royal Shakespeare Company — London, England shakespeare.scot — Dundee, Scotland Shakespeare's Globe — Stratford-upon-Avon, England Sirrah Sisters — London, England Smooth Faced Gentlemen — London, England York Shakespeare Project — York, England
United States Actors' Shakespeare Project — Boston, Massachusetts African-American Shakespeare Company — San Francisco, California Alabama Shakespeare Festival — Montgomery, Alabama American Players Theatre — Spring Green, Wisconsin American Shakespeare Center — Staunton, Virginia Annapolis Shakespeare Company — Annapolis, Maryland Antioch Shakespeare Festival — Yellow Springs, Ohio Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre — Conway, Arkansas Atlanta Shakespeare Company — Atlanta, Georgia Austin Shakespeare — Austin, Texas Bag & Baggage Productions — Hillsboro, Oregon Baltimore Shakespeare Factory — Baltimore, Maryland Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company — Johnstown, Pennsylvania Barefoot Shakespeare Company — New York City, New York Bath Shakespeare Festival — Bath, Maine Bay Colony Shakespeare Company — Marshfield, Massachusetts Brave Spirits Theatre — McLean, Virginia California Shakespeare Theater — Orinda, California Camden Shakespeare Festival — Camden, Maine Chesapeake Shakespeare Company — Baltimore, Maryland Chicago Shakespeare Theater — Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati Shakespeare Company — Cincinnati, Ohio Classical Actors Ensemble — Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota Cleveland Shakespeare Festival - Cleveland, Ohio Colonial Theater Shakespeare Festival — Westerly, Rhode Island Colorado Shakespeare Festival — Boulder, Colorado Connecticut Free Shakespeare — Norwalk, Connecticut Commonwealth Shakespeare Company — Boston, Massachusetts Coos Bay Shakespeare in the Park — Coos Bay, Oregon Cromulent Shakespeare Company — Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota Delaware Shakespeare — Wilmington, Delaware Door Shakespeare — Sister Bay, Wisconsin Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre — Fairbanks, Alaska Fern Shakespeare Company — Atlanta, Georgia First Folio Shakespeare Festival — Oak Brook, Illinois Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival — Flagstaff, Arizona Flatwater Shakespeare Company — Lincoln, Nebraska Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival — St. Marys, Kansas Florida Shakespeare Theatre — Miami, Florida Folger Shakespeare Theatre — Washington, D.C. Foothills Theatre Company — Littleton, Colorado Garfield Shakespeare Company — Indianapolis, Indiana Georgia Shakespeare Festival — Atlanta, Georgia Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival — Allendale, Michigan Great River Shakespeare Festival — Winona, Minnesota GreenStage — Seattle, Washington Hampshire Shakespeare Company — Amherst, Massachusetts Hamptons Shakespeare Festival — Long Island, New York Harlem Shakespeare Festival — Harlem, New York Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival — Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Hawai'i Shakespeare Festival — Honolulu, Hawai'i Heart of America Shakespeare Festival — Kansas City, Missouri Hip to Hip Theatre Company — New York City, New York Hofstra Shakespeare Festival — Hempstead, New York Hoosier Shakespeare Festival — Marion, Indiana Houston Shakespeare Festival — Houston, Texas Hudson Shakespeare Company — Stratford, Connecticut Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival — Garrison, New York Hudson Warehouse — New York City, New York Idaho Shakespeare Festival — Boise, Idaho Illinois Shakespeare Festival — Bloomington, Illinois Iowa Shakespeare Experience — Des Moines, Iowa Kentucky Shakespeare Festival — Louisville, Kentucky Lantern Theatre Company — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival — Lake Tahoe, California Lakeside Shakespeare — Benzie County, Michigan Lord Denney's Players — Columbus, Ohio Madison Shakespeare Company — Waunakee, Wisconsin Marin Shakespeare Company — San Rafael, California Michigan Shakespeare Festival — Jackson, Michigan Missouri Shakespeare Festival — Joplin, Missouri Montana Shakespeare in the Parks — Bozeman, Montana Montford Park Players — Asheville, North Carolina Muse of Fire Theatre Company — Evanston, Illinois Nashville Shakespeare Festival — Jackson, Michigan Nebraska Shakespeare Festival — Omaha, Nebraska New Orleans Shakespeare Festival — New Orleans, Louisiana New Swan Shakespeare Festival — Irvine, California New York Shakespeare Festival — New York City, New York North Carolina Shakespeare Festival — Winston-Salem, North Carolina North Dakota Shakespeare Festival — Grand Forks, North Dakota Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival — South Bend, Indiana Ohio Shakespeare Theatre — Akron, Ohio Old Globe Theatre — San Diego, California Oregon Shakespeare Festival — Ashland, Oregon Original Practice Shakespeare Festival — Portland, Oregon Orlando Shakes — Orlando, California Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival — Center Valley, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company — Grand Haven, Michigan Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Portland Actors Ensemble — Portland, Oregon Red Bull Theatre — New York City, New York Resurgens Theatre Company — Atlanta, Georgia Richmond Shakespeare Festival — Richmond, Virginia Riverside Shakespeare Company — New York City, New York Robinson Shakespeare Company — South Bend, Indiana Rochester Community Players — Rochester, New York Rome Shakespeare Festival — Rome, Georgia San Francisco Shakespeare Festival — San Francisco, California Saint Louis Shakespeare Festival — St. Louis, Missouri Santa Clarita Shakespeare — Santa Clarita, California Santa Cruz Shakespeare — Santa Cruz, California Seattle Shakespeare Festival — Seattle, Washington Seven Stages Shakespeare Company — Portsmouth, New Hampshire Shakespeare & Company (Minnesota) — White Bear Lake, Minnesota Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts) — Lenox, Massachusetts Shakespeare by the Sea — San Pedro, California Shakespeare Carolina — Rock Hill, South Carolina Shakespeare Festival of Dallas — Dallas, Texas Shakespeare in Delaware Park — Buffalo, New York Shakespeare in Detroit — Detroit, Michigan Shakespeare in Yosemite — Merced, California Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company — Brookline, Massachusetts Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey — Madison, New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre Company — Washington, D.C. Silicon Valley Shakespeare — Washington, D.C. South Carolina Shakespeare Company — Columbia, South Carolina South Dakota Shakespeare Festival — Vermillion, South Dakota Southern Shakespeare Festival — Tallahassee, Florida Southwest Shakespeare Company — Mesa, Arizona Sweet Tea Shakespeare — Fayetteville, North Carolina Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park — Syracuse, New York Taffety Punk Theatre Company — Washington, D.C. Tennessee Shakespeare Company — Fayetteville, North Carolina Texas Shakespeare Festival — Kilgore, Texas Theatre at Monmouth — Monmouth, Maine Theatre for a New Audience — New York City, New York Troupe of Friends — Westfield, New Jersey Upstate Shakespeare Festival — Greenville, South Carolina Utah Shakespeare Festival — Cedar City, Utah Vermont Shakespeare Festival — Greensboro, Vermont Virginia Shakespeare Festival — Williamsburg, Virginia Viroqua Shakespeare Festival — Viroqua, Wisconsin Washington Shakespeare Festival — Mount Vernon, Washington West Virginia Shakespeare Festival — Huntington, West Virginia What You Will Shakespeare Company — Urbana, Illinois Wichita Shakespeare Company — Wichita, Kansas Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum — Topanga, California Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company — Lander, Wyoming Young Shakespeare Players — Madison, Wisconsin
Staged reading series Alabama Shakespeare Project — Tuscaloosa, Alabama Appalachian Shakespeare Project — Athens, West Virginia Back Room Shakespeare Project — Chicago, Illinois Black Shakespeare Project — Brooklyn, New York Manhattan Shakespeare Project — Manhattan, New York Play On! Shakespeare Project — Portland, Oregon Portland Shakespeare Project — Portland, Oregon Shakespeare Project of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois The Shakespeare Project — New York City, New York
Fictional New Burbage Shakespeare Festival — New Burbage, Canada (Slings & Arrows)
See also Shakespeare Theatre Association Shakespeare in the Park festivals European Shakespeare Festivals Network (ESFN) List of festivals in Glasgow