A Season of Accolades

It’s a season of recognition for Shakespeare & Company, with four longtime Company artists set to receive special honors this month.

Company Founder and Artistic Director Tina Packer recently received the American Shakespeare Center’s “Burbage Award” for her lifetime of work in the international Shakespeare community, and is also receiving an honorary degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. “Tina is a force to be reckoned with as one of the country’s foremost experts on Shakespeare and theatre arts,” said ASC Managing Director David Dreyfoos, who presented the Burbage Award to Packer at a ceremony held at the Blackfriars Playhouse on April 25. “She is a consummate visionary, actor, manager, advocate for the arts, a true original, and one of a kind. Plus, she has the most wickedly wonderful laugh in the world.”

Elizabeth Aspenlieder is nominated for a 2009 Eliot Norton Award for “Outstanding Solo Performance” for her performance in Bad Dates at Shakespeare & Company and Merrimack Repertory Company.

Annette Miller is nominated for a 2009 Eliot Norton Award for “Outstanding Actress” at a small or midsize theatre company for her performance in Martha Mitchell Calling at the Nora Theatre Company, in a role she originated in the play’s world premiere at S&Co. in 2006. Annette will reprise her role as Golda Meir in William Gibson’s Golda’s Balcony at Shakespeare & Company this season as part of the Diva Series.

(This year’s Elliot Norton Awards ceremony takes place at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre on Monday, May 11, 7:00pm.  Tickets are $15 and available at the Harvard Box Office, Holyoke Center, in Harvard Square, 617-496-2222, www.boxoffice.harvard.edu.)

Company Founder and Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman earned the prestigious “Distinguished Arts Educator Award” in the field of theatre, bestowed annually by the Massachusetts Arts Education Collaborative. In addition to his work as an actor, director, Training Program faculty member at S&Co. and workshop engagements around the country, Coleman built up the Education Program into a much-emulated roster of programs that touches the lives of some 50,000 students every year. Initiatives launched under Coleman’s leadership include Shakespeare in the Courts, recipient of a 2006 Coming Up Taller Award at the White House, and the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, which engages students at about ten high schools annually and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008.