Review: Shakespeare in the Theatre: Shakespeare Theatre Company

Shakespeare in the Theatre is a book that explores the work of the Shakespeare Theatre Company and how Washington DC became the urban centre ‘most closely identified with Shakespeare and classical drama’ in North America. There have been extensive production reviews of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's work in academic publications, but there has not been a peer-reviewed profile – until now. The book also considers American identity, colonial legacy and the advent of the Folger Theatre Group.

Lichtenberg and Payne chronicle how a ‘small repertory troupe at the Folger theatre on Capitol Hill became an internationally renowned company performing in a lavish multi-venue performing arts centre in downtown Washington DC,’ discussing theoretical practice and the ‘ambivalence of American theatre artists towards their British cultural inheritance’ alongside the American cultural ‘cringe’ over British high culture. There are debates about both British and American theatre at the core of this book that are worth exploring from a historical and artistic standpoint.