In Montgomery, Alabama the Court Square Fountain marks the place where enslaved people were bought and sold, while just across the street a historical marker recognizes civil rights icon Rosa Parks’ bus stop. This dissonance is interwoven throughout the city’s history, with both its triumphs and horrors, all happening in the same downtown area.

“Montgomery is an oddly fantastic duality,” Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) Executive Director Todd Schmidt said. “We think of these places as relics of the past, but they’re very real and that’s important to remember.”

The theater, which celebrates its 50th season this year, was founded in 1972 in a high school auditorium in Anniston, Alabama. ASF moved to a performing arts complex in Montgomery in 1985, and has become a leader in the performing arts throughout the state and region. ASF broadens the cultural identity of the South by producing classics, Shakespeare, contemporary plays, musicals, theater for young audiences, and exciting new works. Many of ASF’s performances have featured actors of color in principal roles, and leaned on the creative expertise of Black artists in leadership roles to better connect with a diversity of community members. 

Since its inception, ASF has provided education programs to more than one million students and partnered with organizations across the state to prepare students for professions in technical theater and open doors for Montgomery Public School students to audition and perform on stage.

Before the pandemic, ASF produced two shows with students from the Montgomery Public Schools. The first show, Four Little Girls was about the 1963 16^th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. They next produced Ruby, about Ruby Bridges, who at six years old was the first Black student to integrate schools in Louisiana.

“The shows brought a whole new level of connection to the community. We performed it on the stage of the church that was bombed. And then we were invited by Congresswoman Terri Sewell to go to the opening of the Congressional Black Caucus that year up in DC. Many of the students had never been to DC, so it was an incredible opportunity,” said Schmidt.

The pandemic has made it difficult for the theater to conduct business as usual. For the past two years, ASF has been able to stay operational because of federal funding. The company received Payment Protection Program (PPP) funding, Small Business Administration funding, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant funding and, recently, a $150,000 American Rescue Plan grant from the NEA.

The Arts Endowment funding will be used to support actors’ fees for the 2022 production season, which will return to full, in-person productions for the first time since the COVID pandemic.

“We’ve got a small but mighty development department, and we’ve been very fortunate to receive considerable amounts of support. Without this increased funding from the federal government, Alabama Shakespeare Festival would be in a terrible situation right now, and I think many theaters across the country would be in a similar boat,” said Schmidt.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival has also received support from its donor base, and Schmidt is especially grateful for their generosity.

“I think many people got comfortable and thought, ‘Oh, I can just sit home and watch a movie or listen to music.’ So, movie theaters are struggling, arts organizations are struggling. Until people feel comfortable and have that desire to get back and sit among a group of people and share that experience. The audience is half the show, and being in that room with other people laughing or crying, and enjoying it together is part of the experience,” said Schmidt.