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The National Endowment for the Arts's ABSTRACT Title of Document: UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE TO UNDERSTAND AMERICA? THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS’S SHAKESPEARE IN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE Ashley Lorraine Duncan Derr, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Directed By: Professor Franklin J. Hildy, School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies In 2003 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) created the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to introduce participants to the plays of Shakespeare through live productions and educational workshops. Each year, selected theatre companies receive a matching grant through this program that enables them to create educational activities and performances that are then provided free or at low cost for communities that have traditionally been considered under-served by arts programs. In an introduction to the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative published on the NEA’s website in 2007, former NEA Chairman Dana Gioia wrote, “In order to understand American culture or American theater, one must first understand Shakespeare.” It is this provocative statement that provides the impetus for the primary research questions of this dissertation. What did the NEA under the chairmanship of Dana Gioia believe that Shakespeare could and should teach citizens about American culture? How did the NEA’s marketing of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative serve to establish a branded product that could improve the reputation of the NEA following the battering it had taken during the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s? Through interviews with key participants in the initiative, including Chairman Gioia, analysis of the NEA’s promotional literature for the program, data compiled from the self- reports of participating theatre companies, and analysis of the media’s response to this and other NEA projects, this study provides both a detailed history of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative as well as a consideration of its position and importance within the overall narrative of the history of the Endowment. This study also includes an analysis of Gioia’s understanding and use of the term “culture” and the manner in which that understanding influenced the goals of the NEA under his leadership. This detailed analysis of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative provides not only an overview of a major Shakespeare performance-based educational program, but also an explanation of how the program was strategically branded and marketed to improve the reputation and status of the NEA at the turn of the twenty-first century. UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE TO UNDERSTAND AMERICA?: THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS’S SHAKESPEARE IN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE By Ashley Lorraine Duncan Derr Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Advisory Committee: Professor Franklin J. Hildy, Chair Professor Kent Cartwright Doctor Kristen Messer Professor Robyn Muncy Professor Heather S. Nathans © Copyright by Ashley Lorraine Duncan Derr 2013 Dedication To my boys: my husband, Jonathan, and my son, Sebastian. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my entire committee, Dr. Frank Hildy, Dr. Heather Nathans, Dr. Kristen Messer, Dr. Kent Cartwright, and Dr. Robyn Muncy, for their assistance with this project and for their advice and support throughout my graduate school career. I would also like to thank everyone who granted me interviews about the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative, especially Susan Chandler and Dana Gioia. Without their assistance this dissertation would not have been possible. Special thanks also to Leslie Liberato, my initial contact at the NEA, for pointing me in the right direction. This dissertation could not have been written without the help of my friends and family. I would especially like to thank my colleagues at the University of Maryland. AnnMarie Saunders, Matthew Shifflett, Ara Beal, and Rob Thompson provided valuable advice, helpful suggestions, and commiseration when the going got tough. Natalie Tenner and Erin Bone Steele were my weekly writing group pals. They kept me accountable and (mostly) on task. Finally, thank you to my family. Thanks to my parents and grandparents for 30 years and counting of support, and encouragement to aim high and chase my dreams. Thanks above all to my husband, Jonathan, and my son, Sebastian. Sebastian, thank you for being an easy-going baby and an excellent sleeper. I could not have finished this project without your many three-hour naps. You were born at the tail end of this project, and your arrival was what inspired me to finally complete it so that we could move on to our next stage together. Jonathan, on the other hand, has been along for the entire ride. Jonathan, thank you for giving me the time, space, and support to iii complete this project to the best of my ability. I am thankful that I found such a great partner for all of my endeavors. You make every day better. iv Table of Contents Dedication ..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………...v Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Methods..................................................................................................................... 4 Shakespeare: A Note on the Term ............................................................................ 9 Chapter Breakdown ................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1: The Development and History of the Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative ................................................................................................ 14 Early Development of the Initiative ........................................................................ 15 Phase One................................................................................................................ 18 Phase Two ............................................................................................................... 22 Sample Programs Funded in Part by Shakespeare in American Communities: Shakespeare for a New Generation Grants ............................................................. 32 Shakespeare in American Communities’s Scope and Scale ................................... 43 Chapter 2: Changing the Conversation: Shakespeare in American Communities and the Reputation of the NEA .......................................................................................... 47 Shakespeare in American Communities and the Culture Wars .............................. 48 The Conversation About the National Endowment for the Arts............................. 74 Chapter 3: “A Worthy and Noble Ambition”: National Response to the Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative ........................................................................... 83 Reaching Out for Support from Conservatives and the Bush Administration ........ 85 Media Response to the Initiative........................................................................... 105 v Chapter 4: American Shakespeare: The Branding of the Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative .............................................................................................. 119 William Shakespeare, Founding Father ................................................................ 121 The NEA’s Shakespeare: A Symbol of American Values.................................... 132 How the NEA Uses the Rules of Branding to Market Shakespeare ..................... 137 The Brand Story Not Told .................................................................................... 150 The Effect of Hyperbole on the Brand Story ........................................................ 162 A Successful Paradox ........................................................................................... 165 Chapter 5: “Populist Elitist”: How Dana Gioia and the NEA Define Culture ......... 168 The NEA As Cultural Authority ........................................................................... 169 The Authoritative NEA ......................................................................................... 181 Shakespeare, American Education, and the NEA ................................................. 189 Epilogue ................................................................................................................ 201 The Conversation About the NEA: 2013 .............................................................. 205 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 210 vi Introduction I first stumbled upon the website for the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative while doing research for a project exploring twenty-first century American original practices Shakespeare performances. 1 I was merely following an internet search engine’s suggestion in an attempt to track down a quote from the director of a theatre company, when I found myself on the National Endowment for the Arts’ website. I was intrigued by the description of the Shakespeare in American Communities initiative and paused my research
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