1.- What is your organization or company? Give background history including who, when, and why it was founded.
The Shakespeare Tavern was founded in 1984 with a production of “As You Like It” at Manuel’s Tavern, a well-known pub in Atlanta. From there the organization got national attention and grew into the popular venue it is today.
2.- What do they do or make – describe the products and services and what makes them unique.
They describe themselves as “a bright and talented group of professionals who interpret, direct, produce and perform the works of William Shakespeare.” Identifying as an Original Practice Playhouse, they offer a unique theatre/pub combo and a variety of new takes on Shakespeare and Shakespeare-related plays.
3.- Describe the culture of the organization or company. What is the work environment like – the atmosphere? What is the building like – exterior/ interior, architecture, fittings, and furniture? How do the employees work together? What are the jobs and roles of individual? How are they treated by management?
The front of the building is designed to look like the original Globe, like so:
Patrons can order drinks and food before the show and at intermission. It is restaurant-style seating with a buffet line in the back of the theater. The stage is stationary, also modeled after the Globe:
The organization depends very heavily on volunteers, especially during performances. In addition to ushering, volunteers help sell the food and souvenirs. There is a core management group as well as the acting company. The acting company is usually runs the education programs with supervision from the management. It is a very close-knit working environment and the theatre is known for re-casting a lot of the same people every season.
4.- Who is the targeted audience? What are their demographics?
The Shakespeare Tavern has a surprisingly unclear target audience. Because of their education programs and a strong subscriber program, a lot of their audience consists of families and older couples. But being located downtown, they also work hard on the student and 20-something audience. Their marketing tends to be consistent but general, playing on the universality of Shakespeare.
5.- What is the organization or company mission statement?
Their full mission statement is posted on their website:
“The Atlanta Shakespeare Company is a quest for a living theater, a theater whose “raison d’être” is the communion of actor, audience, and playwright. To foster that communion, ASC has built the only Original Practice Playhouse®, The New American Shakespeare Tavern®, at 499 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, GA. Using this space as a laboratory for the exploration of Elizabethan stagecraft and theatrical techniques, all of our work is guided by a single clarion principle that ASC reveres above all others: the voice of the playwright. This is true whether the company is presenting an original piece, an American classic, or a timeless masterpiece by William Shakespeare. In all cases, each production is a process that begins with the way each play was originally staged in its own time and ends with a modern audience experiencing the play in a manner consistent with its creator’s original intent.
Thus, when presenting plays by Shakespeare, ASC productions feature hand-made period costumes, all live music and sound effects, thrilling sword fights, and abundant “direct address” to the audience, all of which is orchestrated to assure that the passion and poetry of Shakespeare’s genius remains at the heart of the theatrical experience. This is unlike “modern” approaches that routinely update, alter, deconstruct, or otherwise adapt the plays in the supposed service of a 20th Century sensibility.
This Core Aesthetic, known as Original Practice, informs and inspires all of our work.”
See www.shakespearetavern.com for more information.