Shakespeare hits the road

In an ambitious bid to unite Romeo and Juliet in Texarkana and install Othello in Anchorage, the National Endowment for the Arts on Wednesday announced details of a new Shakespearean touring program aimed at reaching 100 communities in 50 states.

The announcement in Washington -- made on the 439th anniversary of the day Shakespeare is thought to have been born -- depends upon a collaboration of six regional theater companies, the nonprofits Arts Midwest (based in Minneapolis) and the NEA.

The NEA’s spending on the venture is relatively modest -- $3 million from a $116-million-a-year agency. But NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, a booster of the project since his January confirmation, describes it as the largest Shakespearean tour in U.S. history. He said the program has the backing of honorary chairpersons Laura Bush and Motion Picture Assn. of America President and CEO Jack Valenti, and includes companion educational programming.

For cities and towns on the “Shakespeare in American Communities” itinerary from September through November 2004, the arrival of theatrical heavyweights is likely to make larger waves than the complicity of the first lady. One central idea behind the program, NEA officials said, is to bring professional productions to venues that typically don’t have the money or population to attract performances of that quality.

Many scheduling details remain unsettled, but in addition to the Texarkana and Anchorage dates, California performances are expected to include the Aquila Theatre Company of New York doing “Othello” at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts (March 11-14); and the Acting Company, also of New York, doing “Richard III” at El Camino College in Torrance and UC Davis, dates to be determined.

Among other touring companies: Arkansas Repertory Theatre (based in Little Rock) doing “Romeo and Juliet”; Artists Repertory Theatre (of Portland, Oregon) doing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with actors from the Central Dramatic Company of Vietnam; Chicago Shakespeare Theater doing “Romeo and Juliet” and Guthrie Theater (of Minneapolis) doing “Othello.”

Absent from the list are two West Coast institutions known for their Shakespearean work -- the Globe Theatres of San Diego and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. An NEA spokeswoman said the selection of participating companies, made by Arts Midwest (a collaboration of arts agencies from Midwestern states), favored companies that emphasize touring more than those troupes do.

The NEA’s last comparable cooperative venture was “Continental Harmony,” a collaboration with the American Composers Forum that began by sending composers to pen original music for more than 50 American communities in the run-up to July 4, 2000. The federal agency contributed $1.05 million to that program, which continues through this year.