What is American Shakespeare Theatre?
The '''American Shakespeare Theatre''' was a [[theater]] company based in [[Stratford, Connecticut|Stratford]], [[Connecticut]], [[United States]]. It was created in the early 1950s by [[Lawrence Langner]], [[Lincoln Kirstein]], [[John Burrell (theatre director)|John Percy Burrell]], and philanthropist [[Joseph Verner Reed]]. The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre was opened in 1955. Their first play was ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]''.<ref name=rizzo>{{cite news |title=The Story Behind the Former American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford |last=Rizzo |first=Frank |date=20 August 2009 |url=http://blogs.courant.com/curtain/2009/08/the-story-behind-the-former-am.html |newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119211213/http://blogs.courant.com/curtain/2009/08/the-story-behind-the-former-am.html |archive-date=2013-01-19 |access-date=2012-01-08}}</ref> The theater building burned to the ground on January 13, 2019.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://fox61.com/2019/01/13/historic-shakespeare-festival-theater-burns-to-the-ground-in-stratford/| title=Historic Shakespeare Festival Theatre burns to the ground in Stratford| last=Terzi| first=Tony| date=January 13, 2019| work=[[WTIC-TV|WTIC News]]| access-date=January 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Perkins |first1=Julia |title=Shakespeare theater in Stratford burns to ground |url=https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Shakespeare-Theater-in-Stratford-burns-to-ground-13530018.php#photo-12734106 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |newspaper=[[Connecticut Post]] |date=January 13, 2019 |archive-date=January 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113195155/https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Shakespeare-Theater-in-Stratford-burns-to-ground-13530018.php#photo-12734106 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{US-stub}} [[Category:Theatres in the United States]]