Organizations1


 * WHAT ARE THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, THE SHAKESPEARE TRUST, AND THE FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY? WHAT IS HISTORY AND MISSION OF EACH OF THESE IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONS?**
 * Answer prepared by: Ben Zwief**

The Royal Shakespeare Company, the Shakespeare Trust, and the Folger Shakespeare Library allow people to experience and educate themselves about Shakespeare. Whether by watching reenactments of Shakespeare’s plays, visiting Shakespeare’s houses throughout his life or reading Shakespeare’s First Folios and other Elizabethan books, these three organizations allow the great influence of Shakespeare to continue even though he died about four hundred years ago. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is an ensemble company comprised of a group of directors, writers, actors and behind-the-scenes technicians, that was created in 1875 by Charles Edward Flower. The RSC employs more than 500 people today who are involved in productions, whether by setting up back stage or actually performing. The mission of the RSC according to the “About Us” page of the RSC’s website, is to “keep modern audiences in touch with the Shakespeare as our contemporary.” The RSC performs Shakespeare’s plays all over England but they also perform other work by modern writers. The RSC hopes to keep Shakespeare’s plays alive by informing people about Shakespeare and performing his plays.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed in 1847 to preserve five houses that have been associated with Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s Birthplace; New Place; Anne Hathaway’s Cottage; Mary Arden’s House; and Hall’s Croft. Each of these houses has their own significance as it relates to various times in Shakespeare’s life. Shakespeare’s Birthplace house is where he was born and grew up as a boy. When he grew up he moved to New Place, one of the grandest houses in Stratford-upon-Avon. New Place is the house where Shakespeare lived for the last 18 years of his life. The family of Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, his wife, lived in a house now called Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. This is where Anne Hathaway grew up. Mary Arden’s House is where Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, lived before marriage. Lastly, Hall’s Croft, is the house of Shakespeare’s daughter, Susana, and son-in-law, John Hall. The Trust also maintains books, records, pictures and other Shakespearean artifacts in their museum and library. The objectives of the Trust as stated on the “About Us” page on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s website, include striving to conserve these houses and artifacts while promoting Shakespeare in other parts of the world. Due to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, many people have been able to visit Shakespeare’s homes and learn more about him.

The Folger Shakespeare Library opened on April 23rd, 1932. Henry Clay Folger founded the collection of First Folios. Folger was born in 1857 and grew up in Brooklyn, attending Amherst College, who administers the library. Sadly Folger died in 1930 so he never saw his library open to the public. The First Folio is the 1623 published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Of 230-240 copies that survived, the Folger Library has 79 copies. The First Folios aren’t the only published work of Shakespeare at the Folger Library. There are over 100 copies of the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios. The Second, Third, and Fourth Folios are also collections of Shakespeare’s plays, just later editions. The library also has 208 quartos which are the same as the First Folio just printed on sheets of paper that were folded twice making eight pages per sheet of paper. The Folger Library aims to help visitors learn and grow in Shakespeare and his work. John F. Andrews put it best in his book William Shakespeare when he stated, “But the Shakespearean scholar who visits Washington, D.C., is likely not to work in the Library of Congress at all. He will go to the Folger Shakespeare Library, across the street, where there is an incomparable concentration of Renaissance and Shakespearean works...”

Each of these organizations—The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Shakespeare Trust, and The Folger Shakespeare Library—keep Shakespeare and his legacy alive by educating people about Shakespeare in many distinctive ways. They allow people to experience Shakespeare, become familiar with his works and imagine what his life may have been like. It is important that these organizations, and others like them, exist because they preserve and promote the influences of Shakespeare.
 * Bibliography**

"About Us." //Royal Shakespeare Company//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2010. .

"About Us." //Shakespeare Birthplace Trust//. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Mar 2010. .

Andrews, John F. William Shakespeare. III. New York City, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985. Print.

Campbell, Oscar James, and Edward G. Quinn. The Reader's Encyclopedia of Shakespeare. New York City, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1966. Print.

Wells, Stanley. Shakespeare An Illustrated Dictionary. London, Great Britain: Kaye & Ward Ltd, 1978. Print.

http://www.youtube.com/v/3DWYG270gqE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00
 * Here is a little longer video made by the Folger library, explaining what they do.**