We began in 1988 when Jim Warren and Ralph Alan Cohen formed the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, a traveling troupe that used Shakespeare’s staging conditions to perform his plays. By 2000, we had performed in 47 states, one U.S. territory, and six foreign countries. Partnering with the City of Staunton and aided by private donors and generous help from Augusta County and the Commonwealth of Virginia, we built the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor playhouse in 2001. With one troupe at home and one on the road, we expanded our educational offerings and created America’s first MFA program in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin University, a Founding Educational Partner. We also established an international biennial conference for scholars, and we became the American Shakespeare Center. In 2009, to honor our achievement of turning Staunton into a world Shakespeare destination, the Commonwealth recognized us with the Governor’s Arts Award.
By our 35th year, in 2023, we have played to approximately 2.1 million people with a grand total of 6,262 performances in 231 different productions.
ASC will strive to become a company that mirrors the mélange of its global population—where we invite the top classical theatremakers to come craft their best work. ASC’s bright future is dedicated to challenging the relevance of early modern contemporaries with the fiery voices of the moment to become a premier classical company for the 21st century.
In 2024, we welcomed Vanessa Morosco as our new Executive Director and ASC partnered with Regional Libraries to introduce the Library Culture Pass, allowing 177 patrons free access to the Playhouse while hosting 7,667 students for matinees and delivering over 305 live performances.
ASC celebrates its 35th Anniversary season since the company’s beginning in 1988.
Returning to a fuller production year, ASC named Brandon Carter the third Artistic Director of ASC in 2022 alongside a new management model. Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries title Thrive, Or What You Will by L M Feldman—which won in 2020—had its world premiere is summer 2022.
The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered the Blackfriars Playhouse, but we were able to reopen safely for patrons and actors with our SafeStart Season in summer 2020, performing outdoors at the Blackburn Inn and in socially-distanced seating at our beloved Blackfriars. When tightening restrictions prohibited further live performances, we produced a virtual version of the fan-favorite, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with streaming for home viewing and screenings at an area drive-in and movie theatre.
ASC hires Ethan McSweeny as Artistic Director and announces the first winning titles of the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries competition: Amy E. Witting’s Anne Page Hates Fun and Mary Elizabeth Hamilton’s 16 Winters, or the Bear’s Tale. In 2019, we premiered the first two winners of that competition—Anne Page Hates Fun, by Amy E. Witting, and 16 Winters, or The Bear’s Tale, by Mary Elizabeth Hamilton. In fall 2019, we welcomed scholars from around the world to our biennial Blackfriars Conference.
ASC launches the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries playwriting competition to develop and produce a new canon of plays inspired by and in conversation with Shakespeare’s work.
ASC celebrates 15 years in the Blackfriars Playhouse.
ASC celebrates 25 years, during which it performed in 47 states, 5 foreign countries and one U.S. Territory. The ASC hosts the Seventh Blackfriars Conference, welcoming more than 200 scholars from around the world.The ASC awarded the 2013 Shakespeare Steward Award, presented annually by the Folger Shakespeare Library in recognition of outstanding contributions to the innovative teaching of Shakespeare in American classrooms.
The Blackfriars Playhouse celebrates its 10th Anniversary. The ASC hosts the Sixth Blackfriars Conference, welcoming more than 200 scholars from around the world.
The ASC adds another holiday title to the December rotation, bringing our total of yearly plays up to 16.
Due to popular demand of rarely (or never) performed Renaissance plays, the ASC adds an early modern title to the Fall Season, bringing our total of yearly plays up to 15. This year the Actors’ Renaissance Season expands to run into April while the Spring Season stretches further into June. The New York Post names Staunton as number 42 in its Top 100 Summer Destinations. The New York Times again plugs the ASC and the Blackfriars in its Summer Stages-Theatre section. Terry Teachout returns to the Blackfriars and praises the ASC again in the Wall Street Journal.
ASC Board of Trustees approves a five-year strategic plan which includes careful and deliberate planning for Globe II in Staunton, VA, a re-creation of Shakespeare’s second Globe theatre. The Virginia state legislature supports ASC’s vision of creating a national Shakespeare campus by awarding grant seed funds for Globe II planning. Due to popular demand, the Actors’ Renaissance Season expands to five plays.
After eleven years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and serving two terms as the President of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, David Dreyfoos joins the ASC as Managing Director. The ASC partners with Shakspeare’s Globe in London for a year-long conference (2008 at the Globe, 2009 at the Blackfriars) celebrating the work of Andrew Gurr, who was the chief academic advisor in the rebuilding of the Globe. ASC hosts our fourth NEH Summer Institute for university professors. “Shakespeare’s Playhouses Inside and Out” takes place over five weeks in July and August at the Blackfriars Playhouse. VA Governor Tim Kaine awards Ralph Cohen and Jim Warren the Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts.
The second Actors’ Renaissance Season draws even larger audiences than the previous year and includes performances of a new play written for the Blackfriars, The Brats of Clarence, which picks up after Richard III ends. Terry Teachout praises ASC, the Blackfriars, and Staunton as a Shakespeare destination in The Wall Street Journal.
Artist Jeff Stockberger paints the frons scenae of the Blackfriars Playhouse as S2 continues its efforts to explore the conditions of the original Blackfriars. S2 changes its name to the American Shakespeare Center. The first Actors’ Renaissance Season debuts, which includes actors delving deeper into Renaissance rehearsal practices as they mount shows with few group rehearsals and no directors or designers.
S2 Advisory Board member Dame Judi Dench visits the Blackfriars Playhouse to accept an award on behalf of her late husband, actor Michael Williams. S2 hosts the annual Shakespeare Theatre Association of America conference. The NEH sponsors a second summer institute at the Blackfriars and Globe – and awards Shenandoah Shakespeare a major matching grant.
The second Blackfriars Conference brings leading Shakespeare scholars and practitioners back to Staunton; keynote speakers include Stanley Wells, Tina Packer, Tiffany Stern, and Andrew Gurr. Arlo Guthrie headlines the Blackfriars Concert Series.
S2 casts its first Resident Troupe to perform in the Blackfriars Playhouse. The NEH sponsors an institute for Theatre and English professors from across the U.S., “Shakespeare’s Playhouses, Inside and Out,” which is held at the Blackfriars Playhouse and in London at Shakespeare’s Globe.
The Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s first re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre, opens in September. The first Blackfriars Conference for Shakespeare scholars draws the world’s most prominent authorities on Shakespeare in performance, including a keynote address by Andrew Gurr, the first Academic Head of Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Partnered with Mary Baldwin College, a Founding Educational Partner, in creating the world’s only masters degree program for the teaching, acting, and directing of Shakespeare.
S2 conducts a successful capital campaign and begins construction on the Blackfriars. By year’s end, S2 has performed in 46 states and D.C., 5 foreign countries, and one U.S. territory.
SSE officially changes its name to Shenandoah Shakespeare (S2); moves to Staunton, VA; and begins work on phase one of a three-part plan to create an indoor theatre called the Blackfriars Playhouse, a Center for Education and Research, and a Globe Theatre.
The Washington Post touts SSE for its “shamelessly entertaining Shakespeare.” The James troupe produces Shakespeare Para Todos, a bilingual outreach performance of Shrew that targets Hispanic audiences in the Shenandoah Valley. The Shubert Foundation awards general-operating support.
SSE performs its fourth extended run at the Folger Shakespeare Library to sell-out crowds. The first Young Company Theatre Camp (YCTC) introduces high school students to SSE-style Shakespeare, complete with classes, workshops, and a production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
A tour coordinated by the International Shakespeare Globe Centre takes SSE into primary and secondary schools in England. The Virginia Commission for the Arts features SSE in the VCA Tour Directory. The James troupe doubles its number of performances from the previous year.
SSE performs in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and Scotland; conducts the Center for Renaissance and Shakespearean Staging (C.R.A.S.S.), a six-week institute supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. To meet increased demand, SSE establishes an autumn tour (with the new “James” troupe) that runs concurrently with the original twelve-month (“Elizabeth” troupe) tour.
SSE makes its first visit to Canada with a weeklong residency at the University of Ottawa. The Virginia Commission for the Arts awards general-operating support.
The Washington Post and The Boston Globe print rave reviews of SSE shows. The company performs at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC.
A sold-out run on the Elizabethan stage at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. is followed by SSE’s first overseas tour: two weeks at the Shakespeare Globe Museum in London, two weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. The National Endowment for the Arts awards general operating support.
The Shakespeare Association of America invites the SSE to perform at its annual convention.
The SSE travels to New England and plays on Cape Cod and at Dartmouth College
The SSE opens its first show at Harrisonburg’s Trinity Presbyterian Church. Later has its first college gig at Mary Baldwin Colleges’ Fletcher Collins Theatre.
This page is designated as a selected press archive for the American Shakespeare Center.
DC Theater Arts I Nonstop yuks in ‘Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors’ at American Shakespeare Center
C-Ville Weekly I An otherwise brilliant version of The Scottish Play
DC Theater Arts I A madcap ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts I Wickedly funny ‘Importance of Being Earnest’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts I A ‘Macbeth’ for our moment at American Shakespeare Center
The Georgetowner I One Director, Three Very Different Plays
The Daily Progress I American Shakespeare Center’s ‘Macbeth’ breaks the fourth wall without breaking with convention
Broadway World I THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST At ASC’s Blackfriars Playhouse
Broadway World I American Shakespeare Center presents MACBETH
Daily News-Record I Representatives from Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton discuss Shakespeare at Harrisonburg Rotary Club
DC Theater Arts I All the Bard in two frenetic, hilarious hours at American Shakespeare Center
WHSV I American Shakespeare Center partners with local libraries to give free tickets to plays
DC Theater Arts I A zany good ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts I An eloquent fresh take on ‘Julius Caesar’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts I A spot-on ‘Pride and Prejudice’ at American Shakespeare Center
Playbill I Feel Good Friday: Cassius Goes All Mean Girls on Caesar
Staunton News Leader I Shakespeare Center and local libraries team up to provide free shows to residents
Augusta Free Press I American Shakespeare Center, Valley Libraries revive Theater Pass Partnership for patrons
Augusta Free Press I Staunton Jams returns with more than 45 performers, American Shakespeare Center partnership
Augusta Free Press I American Shakespeare Center partners with nonprofit to share words of healing
The State of Shakespeare Podcast I July 30 Interview with ASC Executive Director Vanessa Morosco
American Theatre I The Other Side of Summer
C-Ville Weekly I Trapdoors, from both sides now
American Theatre I Artistic Director Brandon Carter to Leave American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts I American Shakespeare Center announces departure of artistic director Brandon Carter
Virginia Living I The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton Brings the Audience into Focus
World Atlas | 9 Most Memorable Small Towns In Virginia
American Theatre I Vanessa Morosco Named American Shakespeare Center Executive Director
The Daily Progress I New ASC director brings acting, directing and educational chops to role
Playbill I Vanessa Morosco Appointed Executive Director of American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center names Vanessa Morosco new executive director
Broadway World | American Shakespeare Center Reveals Vanessa Morosco as New Executive Director
WVTF Music and RADIO IQ | Morosco takes charge of American Shakespeare Center
Staunton News Leader I American Shakespeare Center announces new executive director
Maryland Theatre Guide I American Shakespeare Center Announces Vanessa Morosco as New Executive Director
WHSV I Now on 3: American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A warm, engaging ‘Christmas Carol’ goes on at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | Hamlet and Ophelia re-embodied in thrilling ‘Hamlet’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | Much farce flavors ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | An explosive ‘Coriolanus’ rules at American Shakespeare Center
C-Ville Weekly | Falling for the season: 16 of our favorite things to do this autumn
WHSV | Hamlet returns to American Shakespeare Center with gender swap twist
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center brings back Blackfriars Conference, November 2-5
Augusta Free Press | ‘My thoughts be bloody’: Hamlet prepares to take stage next week at ASC
WVTF and Radio IQ | American Shakespeare Center follows the bard in doing away with directors
The Daily Progress | American Shakespeare Center opens fall season with gender-bending ‘Hamlet’
DC Theater Arts | ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Coriolanus,’ and ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ to cap American Shakespeare Center’s 35th season
Two Hours’ Traffic | Coriolanus, and Hamlet, American Shakespeare Center
Broadway World | American Shakespeare Center’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a Treat for All Seasons
DC Theater Arts | ‘Taming of the Shrew’ in rep at American Shakespeare Center is an entertaining triumph
DC Theater Arts | Actors have a ball in abbreviated Bard at American Shakespeare Center
Dr. Peter Kirwan | Measure for Measure (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars Playhouse
DC Theater Arts | A thrilling and stellar ‘As You Like It’ in rep at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A mesmerizing and exquisite ‘Eurydice’ in rep at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center announces 35th anniversary season, celebrating 400th anniversary of the First Folio
WHSV | Upcoming productions at the American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A vision of ‘The Tempest’ for all, in rep at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A raw and razor-sharp ‘Une Tempête,’ in rep at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A vividly hilarious ‘Pericles,’ in rep at American Shakespeare Center
Augusta Free Press | American Shakespeare Center announces upcoming season
WHSV | “Pass Over” performed at the American Shakespeare Center
Metro Weekly | L M Feldman Unearths Queer Roots with ‘Thrive, or What You Will’
DC Theater Arts | ‘Pass Over’ joins four-play summer season at American Shakespeare Center
Two Hours’ Traffic | Twelfth Night, and Thrive, American Shakespeare Center
Augusta Free Press | American Shakespeare Center opens summer with ‘Every Brilliant Thing’
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center breathes new life into ‘Romeo and Juliet’
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center’s ‘Henry V’ is tremendous fun
DC Theater Arts | A heart-stopping duel makes ‘Macbeth’ a thriller at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | My impromptu evening when the show couldn’t go on at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | A summer of live performances coming from American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center to livestream performances via Marquee TV
DC Theater Arts | Three ways to catch ‘Twelfth Night’ at The American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | ‘Henry IV, Parts I and II’ were stellar at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | ‘A King and No King’ was a goodly one at American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | The American Shakespeare Center’s streaming ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a much-needed romp
DC Theater Arts | Brandon Carter is charting the future of Shakespeare in Virginia
Garden & Gun | Staunton, Virginia: The Shenandoah Valley’s Best-Kept Secret
En Forme Magazine I BEDROCK SHAKESPEARE—Staunton theater keeps the lights on for the Bard
Virginia is for Laughers with X2 Comedy | The Joy of Conquering “Shakesfear” at ASC
Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide I The 10 Best Things to Do in Staunton VA
GrownUp Travels I Best Things to do in Staunton, Virginia
Southern Living I The Best Things To Do In Staunton, Virginia
Country Living I 40 of the Best Main Streets in America You Need to Visit ASAP
The Washington Post | Brandon Carter is Named Artistic Director of American Shakespeare Center
DC Theater Arts | American Shakespeare Center gets new AD and sets new season
Staunton News Leader | New leadership and season at American Shakespeare Center, trying ‘group-led’ model
Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts | The new distributive leadership model at the American Shakespeare Center connects fundraising, community engagement, and audience development
Erik the Travel Guy via Youtube | American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse
WHSV | American Shakespeare Center hosts summer theatre camp
WHSV | Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center is asking for help
WHSV | American Shakespeare Center announces plans to reopen with live performances in May
