American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy

American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy (Stratford, Connecticut). Conceived in 1950 by Lawrence Langner, it was later incorporated as a nonprofit organization. A theatre, loosely suggested by surviving drawings of Shakespeare's Globe but fully enclosed and employing the finest modern conveniences and equipment, was opened in 1955 on a site along the Housatonic River with Julius Caesar, and over the next twenty or so years numerous Shakespearean works were staged. Beginning in 1959 special spring performances for students were initiated. As interest and the quality of production waned, non‐Shakespearean plays were added to the programs. The name of the organization was shortened in 1972 to the American Shakespeare Theatre. The theatre saw fewer and fewer productions, most critical and public failures, and bankruptcy followed. In 1988 the property was reincorporated as the nonprofit American Festival Theatre, but little has happened to bring it back to life since then. Although the organization stands as a testament to poor management and the perils of relying on external funding, for the many who enjoyed the pseudo‐Shakespearean playhouse in its heyday it remains a high point in American theatregoing.