The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre Site

The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre Site

The building that once stood at 1850 Elm Street in Stratford, Connecticut, was modeled after the Globe Theatre in London. On July 12, 1955, the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre opened with a performance of Julius Caesar. Over the decades to come, the theater showcased notable actors—such as Dirk Benedict, Meredith Baxter, David Birney, Lynn Redgrave, Jessica Tandy, Katharine Hepburn, Christopher Walken, and James Earl Jones—before putting o…