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Grantee: Spokane Shakespeare Society

Project Title: Second Season and Beyond
Year awarded: 2022, Round 2

Spokane Shakespeare Society was founded in 2021 by Spokane locals looking to expand
the theater experiences available for the Spokane community. Executive director Dr.
Amanda Cantrell and artist-in-residence R. Scott Cantrell have over 60 years of theater
experience between them, and a shared passion for bringing professional quality shows
to the wider community.

Last year, the Spokane Shakespeare Society brought free, family-friendly, and
professional quality outdoor theater performances to the Spokane community. In
collaboration with SAGA and the City of Spokane Parks and Recreation, the new
company developed and produced two Shakespeare performances for the public at the
Pavilion in Riverfront Park during August and September of 2021, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).

This year, SAGA is continuing to support the Spokane Shakespeare Society’s mission of
bringing professional Shakespeare performances for free to the public by providing
compensation for the artists and actors involved. The second half of the company’s
season two will include the show Romeo & Juliet in July, with eight performances,
followed by Goodnight Desdemona, (Good Morning Juliet) in September with eight
performances. The performances will be in Riverfront Park, in either Pavilion or the Lilac
Bowl, and open to the public with no ticket price.

This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.