The Festive Remembrance of Shakespeare: a Comparative Study Of
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THE FESTIVE REMEMBRANCE OF SHAKESPEARE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MISSION, IDENTITY, AND RHETORIC OF THREE AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALS by Melissa Rynn Porterfield BFA, Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus, 1996 MA, Miami University, 2003 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Melissa Rynn Porterfield It was defended on January 14, 2013 and approved by Dr. Bruce McConachie, Academic Rank, Theatre Arts Department Dr. Kathleen George, Academic Rank, Theatre Arts Department Dr. Marianne Novy, Academic Rank, English Department Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Attilio Favorini, Academic Rank, Theatre Arts Department ii Copyright © by Melissa Rynn Porterfield 2013 iii THE FESTIVE REMEBRANCE OF SHAKESPEARE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MISSION, IDENTITY, AND RHETORIC OF THREE AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALS Melissa Rynn Porterfield, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2013 ABSTRACT Much has been written over the years on the collective memory of Shakespeare and how it continues to be perpetuated centuries after his death, even in places such as America, to which he had no direct connection. Most recently, the intersection of performance studies and memory studies has afforded theatre historians the opportunity to reevaluate the impact of performance on the collective memory of Shakespeare by acknowledging that the embodied performance of a text is no less important than its written words. This dissertation’s examination of three American Shakespeare companies -- Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia -- explores the shifting sands of this intersection. Relying on contemporary theories regarding the inherently social process of memory, this examination posits that the performances of these companies both partake of and constitute commemorations of Shakespeare. The institutional identity of each company is so integral to the performances they produce that the rhetoric and graphics used by these companies in their marketing and promotional materials, are, like the performances themselves, capable of affecting and sustaining the collective memory of Shakespeare. In case studies of each institution, I iv examine the particular bond these companies had to the community in which they performed and the ways that each became intimately entwined in the cultural life of that community, pointing to the ways in which their promotional rhetoric and general production aesthetic is directly related to their ideas about how Shakespeare should be remembered and the distinct target audience they hope to attract. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...................................................................................................................................XV 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 THE AMERICAN COMPANY: AN HISTORICAL PROTOTYPE............. 1 1.2 PERFORMANCE, COMMEMORATION, AND NOSTALGIA: THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF SHAKESPEARE.......................................................... 10 1.3 MEMORY AND NARRATIVE: AMERICANS REMEMBER SHAKESPEARE ................................................................................................................ 15 2.0 CHAPTER ONE: TINA PACKER’S SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY.............. 25 2.1 A NEW ANGLO-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY.................... 30 2.2 A NEW, VIVID PERFORMANCE AESTHETIC ......................................... 74 2.3 EXTRAORDINARY, SPECTACULAR, UNIVERSAL SHAKESPEARE.99 3.0 CHAPTER TWO – SHAKESPEARE & THE CITY: THE THREE RIVERS SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL.................................................................................................. 138 3.1 SHAKESPEARE & PITTSBURGH?!?!: AN IMPROBABLE PAIRING. 138 3.2 UNPRETENTIOUS SHAKESPEARE: THE WORKING MAN’S PLAYWRIGHT................................................................................................................ 140 3.3 PITTSBURGH’S SHAKESPEARE FRANCHISE AND THE STEEL CITY RENAISSANCE ............................................................................................................... 177 vi 3.4 BARD O’ THE ‘BURGH ................................................................................ 192 3.5 FESTIVAL, COMMEMORATION, AND COMMUNITY BUILDING... 211 3.6 FADING BACK INTO THE RUST BELT: THE DEMISE OF TRSF...... 220 4.0 CHAPTER THREE – WWSD?: THE SHENANDOAH SHAKESPEARE EXPRESS/ SHENANDOAH SHAKESPEARE. THE AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE CENTER .....................................................................................................................................235 4.1 SHENANDOAH SHAKESPEARE: RENAISSANCE RULES, ROCK ‘N’ ROLL AESTHETIC ........................................................................................................ 235 4.2 SHENANDOAH SHAKESPEARE: GROWING UP AND SETTLING DOWN ................................................................................................................................. 273 4.3 CONVERSION WITHOUT WORSHIP: ASC’S ANTI-MEMORIAL CONUNDRUM................................................................................................................. 314 5.0 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................... 349 5.1 NOBROW SHAKESPEARE?........................................................................ 351 5.2 REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING...................................................... 355 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................ 358 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 366 APPENDIX C............................................................................................................................ 369 WORKS CITED........................................................................................................................ 372 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Tony Simotes Teaches (Travelling Conservatory Brochure, photo by Judy Salsbury, Shakespeare & Company, 1979.).................................................................................................. 57 Figure 2: John Broome Teaches (Sixth Season Program, photo by Judy Salsbury, Shakespeare & Company, 1983, 9.)....................................................................................................................... 57 Figure 3: Kristen Linklater Teaches (Fourth Season Program, photo by Jane Edmunds, Shakespeare & Company, 1981, 13.)............................................................................................ 57 Figure 4: S&C Bumpersticker (“S&C At The Mount” Bumpersticker, Shakespeare & Company, 1979.) ............................................................................................................................................ 66 Figure 5: S&C Shakespeare in the Berkshires Logo (Travelling Conservatory Brochure, Shakespeare & Company, 1979.).................................................................................................. 67 Figure 6: S&C Giant Ampersand Logo (Touring Brochure, Shakespeare & Company, 1987.) .. 67 Figure 7: The Word Is Out (Seventh Season Touring Pamphlet, Shakespeare & Company, 1984.) ....................................................................................................................................................... 85 Figure 8: The Word Gala Invite (Tenth Anniversary Gala Invite, Shakespeare & Company, 1989.) ............................................................................................................................................ 86 Figure 9: Shakespeare & Company Sword Logo ......................................................................... 95 viii Figure 10: What Revels Are In Hand! (Tenth Festival Season Subscriber Mailer, Shakespeare & Company, 1987.)........................................................................................................................... 97 Figure 11: Promotional Ad for Jason Asprey and Tina Packer in S&C's 2008 Hamlet (Thirtieth Season Program, Shakespeare & Company, 2007: 27.) ............................................................... 98 Figure 12: S&C Promotional Photo of The Mount (Warren Fowler, photographer). Promotional Stock Photo of The Mount, Fourth Season Program, Shakespeare & Company, 1981: 16.)..... 105 Figure 13: Third Season Program (cover art), Shakespeare & Company, 1981......................... 112 Figure 14: Tenth Anniversary Season Mailer, Shakespeare & Company, 1987. ....................... 113 Figure 16: Sixth Season Program (cover art), Shakespeare & Company, 1983......................... 115 Figure 15: Twentieth Anniversary Training Programs Brochure (cover art), Shakespeare & Company, 1998........................................................................................................................... 115 Figure 17: Studio Two Thank-You Ad (Thirtieth Season Program, Shakespeare & Company, 2007: 115.) .................................................................................................................................