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For Shakespeare festival, where there鈥檚 a Will, there鈥檚 a way, new leader hopes

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival鈥檚 credentials run deep and wide. In 1975, for instance, it became the first American Shakespeare company to perform all 37 plays of the canon.

Today, the festival is four plays away from completing the canon a second time.

But as bard-o-philes may note, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival of today frequently stages non-Shakespearean plays. In the last two years, six of 12 of the CSF鈥檚 plays were not written by Shakespeare.

Between 1958 and 2006, by contrast, 152 of 162 performances were Shakespeare plays; half of the other 10 were plays about Shakespeare. In short, the percentage of Shakespearean plays in the Shakespeare festival has shifted from 94 percent to 50 percent.

Why the sharp turn from tradition?

Though it may seem madness, yet there is method in it.

So emphasizes Philip Sneed, the festival鈥檚 producing artistic director. Sneed, who became the festival鈥檚 leader in late 2006, says adding different plays is not, in fact, groundbreaking.

鈥淲e鈥檙e actually behind the times in this,鈥� Sneed says. 鈥淢ost of the festivals moved beyond Shakespeare years ago.鈥�

The CSF is making the transition quickly, committing to performing at least two non-Shakespeare plays a year.

As Sneed sees it, the addition of other works is a way to broaden the appeal of the festival, and, ultimately, the audience for Shakespeare himself.

In the 鈥�70s, seeing Shakespeare under the stars was unusual, and outdoor festivals 鈥渢ook off,鈥� Sneed says. 鈥淚t was novel. Then theaters started realizing that they couldn鈥檛 do just Shakespeare鈥� and expect to retain large audiences.

Last year, the CSF produced three plays by Shakespeare (鈥淗enry VIII,鈥� 鈥淟ove鈥檚 Labour鈥檚 Lost鈥� and 鈥淢acbeth鈥�) and three by other authors (鈥淎 Child鈥檚 Christmas in Wales,鈥� 鈥淲oody Guthrie鈥檚 American Song鈥� and 鈥淭he Three Musketeers鈥�).

鈥淭he Three Musketeers鈥� is a classic French farce. It鈥檚 also a way to introduce younger audiences to the theater. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great story, but it鈥檚 also something kids can follow,鈥� Sneed says.

鈥淲hat we hope is that someone who comes and sees 鈥楾he Three Musketeers鈥� with a 10-year-old will maybe try the Shakespeare comedy next year,鈥� Sneed observes.

That plan may be working. In the last two years, the portion of CSF audiences under the age of 18 has increased by a factor of five, from 2 percent to more than 10 percent.

And there鈥檚 reason to believe that these young audiences may try Shakespeare.

鈥淵oung kids understand Shakespeare sometimes better than the adults, because they don鈥檛 freak out about words they don鈥檛 understand,鈥� Sneed says.

Neither young nor old should worry about words, he contends. The plays were meant to be watched, not read. In the hands of good actors, Shakespeare鈥檚 meaning is clear.

Sneed does admit that he鈥檚 never had a problem with the Bard鈥檚 language. The son of a Southern Baptist preacher, Sneed grew up reciting the verses of the King James Bible.

Still, he notes, a few 鈥渏udicious cuts鈥� can help people understand archaic word choices.

In an important moment, for instance, Macbeth muses that 鈥渢he greatest is behind.鈥� Macbeth means that the greatest promise (becoming king) will follow those prophesies that have already come true. But this meaning of 鈥渂ehind鈥� is lost on today鈥檚 audiences, so Sneed changed it to 鈥渢he greatest is to come.鈥�

But such changes are rarely necessary, Sneed emphasizes. People quickly understand 鈥渢hee鈥� and 鈥渢hou,鈥� and they get Shakespeare鈥檚 risqu茅 humor. 鈥淚 think people sometimes don鈥檛 realize what a bawdy playwright Shakespeare was.鈥�

They do, however, realize the value of Shakespeare. Sneed notes that after 400 years, Shakespeare is still the world鈥檚 most-produced playwright. Last year, the CSF produced 鈥淗enry VIII,鈥� one of the Bard鈥檚 least-produced plays, and attracted audiences 鈥渇rom all over who couldn鈥檛 see it anywhere else.鈥�

These are people who want to see the entire canon. Sneed likens them to peak- baggers who climb (and dutifully record their ascent of) all of Colorado鈥檚 鈥渇ourteeners,鈥� mountains higher than 14,000 feet above sea level.

That kind of passion appears in his expansive vision. One reason to stage plays by other writers is that it鈥檚 entertaining, he says. Many playwrights have been influenced by Shakespeare, and, 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see Shakespeare in context with other writers.鈥�

Sneed hopes to stage plays from Russia, Cuba, Britain and other cultures. He is collaborating with other artistic groups to commission a new cycle of history plays, based on American history. The collaborative group has applied to the National Endowment for the Arts for funding.

Those are big ideas. But these are tough times. And while Sneed has managed to attract more people to the festival, he鈥檚 not projecting growth this year. The pressures of the recession and lower-than-expected ticket sales for the holiday production caused Sneed to drop plans to produce a Russian play this summer.

Instead, the CSF will produce 鈥淭he Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),鈥� a popular comedy that, fiscally speaking, is more likely to generate black ink.

Even while scaling back, Sneed continues to aim high. He says Shakespeare鈥檚 theater, and all great theaters throughout history, have comprised artists working together for long periods. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing everything we can to put artists at the center of the work. We don鈥檛 want it to be run by bureaucrats.鈥�

Sneed seems to embrace that value. Though he runs the festival (and serves as president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America), Sneed is still acting. Last year, he played Macbeth, a role he鈥檚 now done three times. He notes that in Britain, actors routinely perform roles multiple times.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get it right the first time, and I can鈥檛 claim to have gotten it right the third time,鈥� he says.

He鈥檚 been at it a long time. In junior high, Sneed knew he wanted to be an actor鈥攏ot a movie star, but a classical stage actor. He hoped to be as good as Lawrence Olivier. As a CU student in 1978, he auditioned for the CSF, expecting to be cast in a leading role. Instead, he got a walk-on part.

He says he learned a lesson about being 鈥渁 small fish in a big pond.鈥� But it didn鈥檛 dim his passion for the stage. Even after three decades, the play鈥檚 still the thing.

For more information about the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, see . To support the festival, please contact Tara Olney, director of development, CU Foundation, at 303-492-6018, or tara.olney@cufund.org.