STAA extends congratulations to all 36 recipients! Out of of the 36 companies selected 19 are STAA members. Those companies include: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Atlanta Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Since the 2003 inauguration, Shakespeare in American Communities has reached more than 1,200 communities in all 50 states. More than 500,000 people nationwide have benefited from the program including students from more than 2,500 schools.

NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “What is most remarkable about our Shakespeare for a New Generation program is that it not only benefits students across the nation by bringing them to live theatre, often for the first time, but that the program also helps their teachers by making their English assignments literally come to life-from the page to the stage. For the actors, it gives them the priceless experience of multiple performances and for the companies, it gives them the opportunity to become known by a whole new generation.”