The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival

The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival is a small nonprofit theatre that produces plays by or about Shakespeare in Baltimore, Maryland. It also has an educational program that introduces school children to Shakespeare.

History

The first production of BSF was A Midsummer Night's Dream which was performed at the Cloisters in Brooklandville, Maryland in 1994. The company was founded by Kelley Dunn-Feliz and Richard Feliz that same year. In its early years, the Festival often faced financial instability, but was able to persevere thanks to the hard work, dedication and forward thinking of the Board of Directors- one of the strengths of the festival.

From 2001 to 2008, BSF was led by Artistic Director James Kinstle. During his tenure BSF started its residence at the Meadow at Evergreen House, an outdoor performance space that has held hundreds of patrons for outdoor productions. Over the years, residents of North Baltimore have brought picnics and chairs to spend a summer evening with Shakespeare.

In addition, Kinstle established BSF's home at the St. Mary's Community Center in Hampden. In the church space, an Elizabethan style stage was designed and constructed by master woodwright and Shakespeare scholar Thomas Brown, complete with balcony and parquet floors. Indoors, BSF produced Shakespeare, reworked classics and original work.

Under the tenure of Kinstle, BSF gained an Actor's Equity contract, drawing in high caliber professional acting talent from all over the region and providing a creative home. In 2007, the theater's season was prosperous enough to raise its Actor's Equity status. In 2008, shortly before stepping down from the position of Artistic Director, BSF secured a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, ensuring that the company would continue it's mission of bringing high quality productions and arts education to the Baltimore public.

The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival is listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.

In 2008, the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival announced the hiring of Michael Carleton as the theatre's new Producing Artistic Director. Mr. Carleton has been acting and directing for 24 years and has more than 120 professional productions to his credit. He has worked extensively with the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and other regional and New York theaters. His experience with Orlando Shakespeare Theatre combined with the work he did at Cape May Stage in Cape May New Jersey will be a tremendous asset as BSF grows, helping them to continue to deliver Shakespeare to Baltimore, and become a nationally recognized regional theatre.

A highlight of the BSF year and a unique contribution to the field is the annual presentation of a Shakespeare production performed entirely by students. The Teen Performance Program began in 2003 with a production of Macbeth followed by 2004's production of Love's Labor's Lost, 2005's production of Hamlet 2006's production of Much Ado About Nothing and 2007's Comedy of Errors. In 2008, BSF explored The Tempest through the lens of a high school. Teens from around the Baltimore area come together to work in a semi-professional theatrical process. The teens' outstanding performances are inspired by such outstanding teacher/directors as Tony Tsendeas (Macbeth and Hamlet), Lewis Shaw (Love's Labour's Lost), Joan Weber (Much Ado About Nothing), Ian Bellknap (Comedy of Errors) and Courtney Weber (The Tempest).

Artistic Directors

1993-1997 Kelly Dunn Feliz

1999-2000 Christopher Marino

2000-2008 James Kinstle

2008- Michael Carleton

Production History

1994
Midsummer Night's Dream

1995
Romeo and Juliet

1996
Twelfth Night

2000
Love for Words by Kimberley Lynne - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
I Hate Hamlet - Directed by Joseph Brady

2001
Much Ado About Nothing - Directed by Laura Hackman

2002-03
Cyrano de Bergerac - Directed by Joseph Brady
Hamlet - Directed by Laura Hackman

2003-04
As You Like It - Directed by Laura Hackman
Othello - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
Dickens of a Carol - Directed by Kathy Feininger
Teen Performance Program: Macbeth - Directed by Tony Tsendeas

2004-05
The Tempest - Directed by Laura Hackman
Julius Caesar - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
Dickens of a Carol - Directed by Kathy Feininger
Teen Performance Program: Love's Labour's Lost - Directed by Lewis Shaw

2005-06
Merry Wives of Windsor - Directed by Drew Kahl
Romeo and Juliet - Directed by Pat Diamond
Something Dickens This Way Comes - Directed and Written by Kathy Feininger
Teen Performance Program: Hamlet - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Directed by James Kinstle

2006-07
Midsummer Night's Dream - Directed by Laura Hackman
Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
Desdemona, a Play about a Hankerchief by Paula Vogel - Directed by Raine Bode
Teen Performance Program: Much Ado About Nothing - Directed by Joan Weber
All's Well That Ends Well - Directed by Donald Hicken

2007-08
Macbeth - Directed by Tony Tsendeas
Antigone by Bertolt Brecht - Directed by Raine Bode
Teen Performance Program: Comedy of Errors - Directed by Ian Belker
A Winter's Tale - Directed by Kathleen Akerley

2008-09
Twelfth Night - Directed by Laura Hackman
Taming of the Shrew - Directed by Joseph Brady
Every Christmas Story Ever Told! - Directed and Written by Michael Carleton
Teen Performance Program: The Tempest - Directed by Courtney Weber
Wittenberg - Directed by Tony Tsendeas

2009-10
Hamlet - Adapted and Directed by Michael Carleton

External links

• Baltimore Shakespeare Festival - official site