SALUTING THE CLASSICAL TRADITION IN DRAMA

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BARBARA ROMER o Friday, March 10

You’ve no doubt read in The New York Times about a project to transform a decaying structure on

Governor’s Island into a NEW GLOBE FOR THE NEW W ORLD. This concept occurred to a young Princeton graduate when she noticed that Castle W illiams, with its open courtyard, has the same dimensions as a storied playhouse that opened on the Bankside in 1599. Not one to dismiss an idle fantasy, BARBARA ROMER went to one of the world’s most renowned architects, NORMAN

FOSTER, and persuaded him to design a catalytic performing-arts venue NATIONAL ARTS CLUB for the heart of New York Harbor. Meanwhile she lined up support 15 Gramercy Park South from a cavalcade of impressive patrons, among them Shakespeare’s Manhattan Globe in London, the National Endowment for the Arts in W ashington, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of the Empire State, and such dramatic Program, 7:30 p.m. artists as Sir Peter Hall, Al Pacino, and Susan Sarandon. Please join us MEMBERS, $25 OTHERS, $30 for details about what Bottom would rhapsodize as “a most rare vision.”

MOLLY SMITH o Thursday, March 30

One of America’s flagship regional theatres, ARENA STAGE was founded in 1950 by Zelda and Tom Fichandler, who presided over its first four decades and moved it to its present home on 6th Street SW in 1961. It has nurtured the early careers of such stars as Jane Alexander, James Earl Jones, and Robert

Prosky and graced the dramatic repertory with classics like The Great WNDC CLUBHOUSE W hite Hope. In the process it has won acclaim throughout the country, with such distinctions as the first Tony Award to go to a non-Broadway 1526 New Hampshire Avenue institution. Like any successful operation, however, ARENA can survive Washington A only if it replenishes a storied heritage with a dynamic vision for the Cash-Bar Reception, 11:30 a.m. future. That, at least, is the view of MOLLY SMITH, a bold-spirited leader Lunch, 12:30 p.m. Program, 1:00 who took the helm seven years ago is now spearheading a drive to build LUNCH, $25 PROGRAM ONLY, $15 a complex that will make the W aterfront a vibrant cultural destination. Please join us for a dialogue about ARENA’s past, present, and future.

FLORA FRASER o Monday, April 10

You’re invited to an evening with the author of two acclaimed biographies, Beloved Emma [Hamilton] and The Unruly Queen [Caroline]. Heir to all the charisma of her celebrated mother, Lady ANTONIA FRASER, our guest will discuss and inscribe Princesses, her new paperback about The Six Daughters of George III. In this gripping volume FLORA FRASER delves into the underside of a dysfunctional royal family during a regime that began incompetently with the loss of Brit-

ain’s American colonies but went on to such stunning achievements as NATIONAL ARTS CLUB Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar (1805) and the consolidation of an empire 15 Gramercy Park South that was to dominate the globe for a century. The female offspring of a Manhattan monarch who was prone to insanity were prevented from marrying. Ms. Fraser shows that they nevertheless enjoyed scandalous freedom as Program, 7:30 p.m. they pursued their affairs. Among their acquaintances were many of the MEMBERS, $25 OTHERS, $30 performers who kept Shakespeare alive for 18th-century theatregoers.

Join the Guild, and Greet the Stars EVENTS IN LONDON, NEW Y0RK, AND W ASHINGTON

If you attended A SHAKESPEAREAN REVEL AT LINCOLN CENTER three Junes back, you relished such per- sonalities as actors JOHN CLEESE, KITTY CARLISLE HART, DANA IVEY, and TONY RANDALL, writer ADAM GOPNIK, and directors BARRY EDELSTEIN, BERNARD GERSTEN, and MARGOT HARLEY in a toast to KEVIN KLINE as the 2002 recipient of the SIR JOHN GIELGUD AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE DRAMATIC ARTS. It proved to be a joyous occasion, but like its predecessors, and like its sequel a year later with LYNN REDGRAVE as GIELGUD laureate and with her brother CORIN and her sister VANESSA as present- ers at the NATIONAL ARTS CLUB, it was also substantive, with unforgettable remarks not only about the honoree’s achievements but about the heritage those accomplishments illustrate. In this respect it called to mind a May 1999 GIELGUD presentation at Broadway’s BARRYMORE THEATRE, where ZOE CALDWELL, who’d won the 1998 GOLDEN QUILL at the FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY, led an eminent parade of theat- rical celebrities – actors KEITH BAXTER, BRIAN BEDFORD, HAL HOLBROOK, RONALD PICKUP, CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, and TOBY STEPHENS, playwright Sir DAVID HARE, director Sir RICHARD EYRE, Masterpiece Theatre producer REBECCA EATON, and news host ROBERT MACNEIL – in a sparkling TRIBUTE TO “HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,” Dame JUDI DENCH, who had just received an Academy Award as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and was en route to a Tony as Esmé in David Hare’s Amy’s View. A few months later Dame JUDI and another GIELGUD honoree, Sir DEREK JACOBI, were among the hosts for a January 2000 presentation of the trophy to performer, director, and filmmaker KENNETH BRANAGH in London’s historic MIDDLE TEMPLE HALL. This Bardic SALUTE TO “THE MAN OF THE MILLENNIUM” featured vignettes by U.S. Ambassador PHILIP LADER, composer PATRICK DOYLE, and actors SAMANTHA BOND, RICHARD BRIERS, HELENA BONHAM CARTER, RICHARD CLIFFORD, BEN ELTON, STEPHEN FRY, BOB HOSKINS, GERALDINE MCEWAN, and TIMOTHY SPALL.

On April 19, 2004, in the London theatre that had been renamed for Sir John in 1994, a few months after THE SHAKESPEARE GUILD unveiled a gleaming JOHN SAFER trophy to perpetuate a great actor’s legacy “with golden quill” (Sonnet 85), the Guild joined hands with the ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY and the ROYAL ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART for a gala celebration of the centenary of Sir John’s birth. In an evening that was hosted by BBC personality NED SHERRIN, playwrights ALAN BENNETT and Sir DAVID HARE, director Sir PETER HALL, and actors Dame JUDI DENCH, CLIVE FRANCIS, ROSEMARY HARRIS, MARTIN JARVIS, BARBARA JEFFORD, BARBARA LEIGH-HUNT, Sir IAN MCKELLEN, MICHAEL PENNINGTON, RONALD PICKUP, PAUL SCOFIELD, and Sir DONALD SINDEN commended their late-departed friend.

In recent years, through events in locales such as the BRITISH EMBASSY and the NATIONAL PRESS CLUB in America’s capital, the CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER in Illinois, and the ALGONQUIN HOTEL and the NATIONAL ARTS CLUB in New York, Guild constituents have chatted with actors F. MURRAY ABRAHAM, JANE ALEXANDER, SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, RICHARD EASTON, HENRY GOODMAN, BILL IRWIN, MICHAEL LEARNED, ROGER REES, PATRICK STEWART, and MICHAEL YORK, directors BILL ALEXANDER, PETER BROOK, MICHAEL KAHN, and ROBERT WHITE- HEAD, media leaders COKIE ROBERTS, SUSAN STAMBERG, and LINDA WERTHEIMER, and writers Sir HAROLD EVANS, GEORGE GARRETT, ADAM GOPNIK, STEPHEN GREENBLATT, ANTHONY HECHT, KEN LUDWIG, JUDITH MARTIN, DEBORAH TANNEN, and GARRY WILLS. Guild constituents are entitled to member prices at all SPEAKING engagements. In addition, those who affiliate with us as SUBSCRIBERS will receive 15% dis- counts on tickets for our June 12 GIELGUD GALA in New York in honor of CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER. CONTRIBUTORS enjoy 20% discounts on GIELGUD tickets, DONORS 25%, and BENEFACTORS 30%. PATRONS receive 4 prime tickets free, and 35% reductions on additional tick- ets. SUSTAINERS receive 10 prime tickets free, and 40% reductions on additional tickets. Members of the GOLDEN QUILL CIRCLE enjoy 20 prime tickets, and 50% reductions on additional tickets. Any payments that are not offset by benefits clamed are fully tax-deductible.

I wish __ to make a fully tax-deductible donation, or __ to enroll as a Guild member for a year in the __SUBSCRIBER ($50), __CONTRIBUTOR ($125), __DONOR ($250), __BENEFACTOR ($500), __PATRON ($1,000), __SUSTAINER ($2,500), or __GOLDEN QUILL CIRCLE ($5,000) category. I’d like to reserve __space(s) __at $25, __at $30, for Mar. 10. I wish to re- serve __space(s) __at $25, __at $15, for Mar. 30. I’d like __space(s) __at $25, __at $30, for Apr. 10. I enclose a check for $______. Please charge $______to __American Express __MasterCard __Visa account ______(_____/_____). Presenter of THE GOLDEN QUILL Name ______The Sir John Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts

Address______2141 WYOMING AVENUE NW, SUITE 41 John F. Andrews, President City, State, Zip ______WASHINGTON, DC 20008-3916 Phone & Fax (202) 234-4602, 234-4639 E-Mail shakesguild@ msn.com Phone, Fax, E-Mail ______Phone & Fax (202) 234-4602, 234-4639 E-Mail shakesguild@ msn.com

*I belong to ______, identified at the Founded in 1987 and operational since 1994, The Shakespeare Guild is a global nonprofit corporation that celebrates, and endeavors to cultivate larger and top of the front page as an organization that helps sustain these activities. more appreciative audiences for, the dramatist who has been applauded in one society after another as our most reliable guide to the mileposts of life.