Theatre on the Mind:

Exploring the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery

Published in

Exploring Montgomery

7 min readApr 24, 2018

Throughout the country there are other Shakespeare festivals, yet Alabama’s is credited for being among the best this country has to offer.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival (aka “ASF”) 2018.

History

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival has been a center point for Montgomery since 1985. However, “ASF” has not always been situated across the park from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

The story of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, lovingly referred to as “ASF,” begins in Anniston, Alabama in 1972. Equipped with nothing more than, according to Dr. Susan Willis, “a store-front space and then in an non-air conditioned high school auditorium.” Back then, ASF was referred to as “Theatre in the Mind” which stood as an educational program and is still active today in the Carolyn Blount Theatre.

Dr. Willis is a renown dramaturg — a literary editor on the staff of a theater — and English professor at Auburn University at Montgomery, who has been with the theater for decades. Dr. Willis has been with ASF as dramaturg, director, and a board member of the company since its roots in Anniston for 24 years and counting. Dr. Willis has proven time and time again that she very well is one of Montgomery’s most preeminent Shakespearean scholars as well as valued historian on ASF.

“There were no Equity actors in that original company (they got their first Equity contract several years later) and the new artistic director, Martin Platt, had just graduated from Carnegie Mellon’s theatre program. The high school subsequently built a beautiful -air conditioned!- new auditorium with special ability to accommodate a thrust stage for ASF’s summer performances. Later ASF added a store-front second space to the repertory plans. It stayed in Anniston through 1984, at which time the move to Montgomery was already under way, with construction of the current Carolyn Blount Theatre in Blount Park.”- Dr. Susan Willis, MFA Faculty and Dramaturg for Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Cathy Ranieri — a graduate student from the Theatre AUM program — has worked for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival thanks to connections from the theatre program offered at AUM. Cathy learned a great deal of the history of ASF’s origins. Ranieri recalls,

“The Festival faced bankruptcy in the early 1980’s. Board member Carolyn Blount approached her husband, Wynton Blount. He agreed to build a new home for ASF, set in a 250-acre park, if only the theatre would move to Montgomery. Mr. Blount christened the performing arts complex “The Carolyn Blount Theatre” in December 1985.”- Cathy Ranieri, Box Office Shift Leader at Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Henceforth, Blount Park has been home to Montgomery’s beloved theater: Standing before us today is a custom-built building that debuted in December of 1985. Wynton Blount and his brothers owned their own construction company that was internationally known, making funding for the building the least of the Blount’s worries. Wynton Blount and his wife Carolyn donated the land itself (and eventually the building) to the theatre company as well as the city of Montgomery. Dr. Willis was very thorough in recounting the history of the theatre itself: she recalls Wynton Blount dedicating the theatre to his wife which was designed by his son.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival with a statue of Wynton Blount honoring his donation 2018.

“Thomas Blount, is an Atlanta architect, and he and his architecture partner, Perry Pittman, designed and oversaw the building of the current structure…the family liked neo-classical architecture for this structure and park, inspired by Palladio,” Dr. Willis said.

What is it about the Alabama Shakespeare Festival that makes it so attractive and such a draw for the Montgomery community? Dr. Willis believes, “The number varies year to year, depending on the number of events, length of season.” To ASF’s credit, one reoccurring draw is the yearly production of A Christmas Carol. ASF also provides opportunities for college students across the state to come see a show and experience professional theater in motion.

Even if visitors aren’t there to see a production, there are still a great deal of people visiting the park itself as well as the Shakespeare Gardens located just outside the Carolyn Blount Theatre. In dedication to the Festival’s first production, a sculpture stands of the character Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Shakespeare Gardens, which once stood inside the main lobby of the theater.

Ranieri once performed in the Shakespeare Garden and even learned some interesting facts. For example, the Shakespeare Garden only has flowers and herbs mentioned in Shakespeare’s text.

Puck, from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, once stood inside the main lobby of the Carolyn Blount Theatre.

The Shakespeare Garden is an attraction that draws visitors and community members to the theater.

Only flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays may be planted in the garden.

Location, Location, Location: what makes ASF special?

One of the key ways to get to ASF is through a small road within the park itself. Right across the park is a ASF’s equally famous neighbor, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Intriguingly enough, Wynton Blount wanted to create a cultural hub for the arts which ultimately is what kept the museum close to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. While interviewing Dr. Willis, the crucial question of why ASF was built where it was built kept eating away. Dr. Willis further explained that Mr. Blount didn’t just find and buy a plot of land to donate, he donated a piece of his own home:

“The theatre complex is built on Mr. Blount’s estate (it was previously pasture land). He donated the land as a park to the city of Montgomery, planning it as a cultural park to enhance Montgomery’s quality of life/art. So it was built in his “back yard” and gifted to make all our lives better.” Dr. Susan Willis

Not too far away is the Alabama Museum of Fine Arts.

ASF: A festival among many across the nation.

It was important to Mr. Blount that his wife allow him to bring the Anniston-based theater company to his home in Montgomery. Throughout the country there are other Shakespeare festivals, yet Alabama’s is credited to being among the best this country has to offer.

As unbiased as possible, Dr. Willis explained that ASF stands among the rest because of its modestly large budget (in her words, not the largest but “a substantial budget”), number of qualified staff members and mentorship programs, and the simple fact that ASF produces a yearly season of shows. Most theaters, including Theatre AUM, produce a four-show season, and sometimes summer shows are included but the college-level theaters have a minimum of three shows per regular season.

ASF and companies like the Cloverdale Playhouse (also in Montgomery) produce strong seasons and have a network that shares viewers from all over Alabama, like the cities of Birmingham, Auburn, and Tuscaloosa.

What’s next for ASF? That is always the million dollar question for many theatre companies, but ASF plans each season yearly ahead of schedule. Dr. Willis expressed hope that the company will be able to expand the building by adding a storage unit for costumes and props. Costumes and props can be quite fragile; good climate control can prevent flawless costume and prop designs from fading or withering away through time and lack of use.

Recently taken on Shakespeare’s birthday, the current main attraction in the lobby.

Twelfth Night: ASF’s current big production.

Another name that stands among the finest the Alabama Shakespeare Festival has to offer is Greta Lambert. Lambert currently is directing ASF’s production of Twelfth Night. Starting on April 25th until May 6th, Lambert’s production will be among the the many works of Shakespeare brought to life onstage along with Much Ado About Nothing. If you ever find yourself in the Montgomery area, stop by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and see for yourself why Montgomery, rather Alabama, takes pride in Wynton Blount’s generous and captivating donation by seeing Twelfth Night directed by Greta Lambert, by William Shakespeare.