Title
Honoring The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival for its commitment to producing excellent Shakespeare productions and education programming and making both accessible to all.
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WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival was founded as The Red Heel Theatre in 1989, initially focusing on classic works of English theatre; and
WHEREAS, In 1993, Carmen Khan became the Artistic Director of Red Heel and in 1996 focused the company's efforts on the works of Shakespeare, renaming it The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival; and
WHEREAS, Since that time, the Festival has produced 30 plays, reached nearly 30,000 high school students and nearly 70,000 adult audience members and is considered one of Philadelphia's great cultural institutions; and
WHEREAS, Since its conception in 2000, the Festival's Open Door Project has reached nearly 30,000 students from Philadelphia, the greater Delaware Valley and New Jersey-- from semi-rural communities outside of Philadelphia to troubled inner-city neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, For eight years, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's Open Door Project has welcomed thousands of students through its Student Matinee Series where each season, the Festival entertains 3,000 students with approximately 30 daytime performances which consistently sell out; and
WHEREAS, The Artist-in-Residence Program component of the Open Door Project invites students to study Shakespeare through performance where, Teaching Artists collaborate with the classroom teacher to lead students in hands-on activities that address both the literary and performance aspects of the plays; and
WHEREAS, Through a partnership with the renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival hosts special all-day training workshops for teachers under its Shakespeare Set Free Teacher Training; and
WHEREAS, In the 2007/2008 Season the Festival welcomed 4,107 students with matinees and in-classroom residenc...
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