Notre Dame recently became the American home for the international acting company, Actors From the London Stage (AFTLS).

The company, whose overseas home is with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, tours North America twice yearly –– each time with a different cast of five diverse and talented thespians. The goal of the actors is to perform and teach Shakespeare to students across the country.

Formerly housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the troupe began looking for a new American base when they learned UNC would no longer offer an adequate level of financial support.

Fortunately, their search was brief. Notre Dame was, in the words of AFTLS general manager Kate Egerton, "a logical choice — the University and the Actors From the London Stage have a long-standing relationship. "

In fact, troupes from AFTLS have visited the University five times since 1990, performing Shakespeare's "As You Like It," "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "All's Well That Ends Well. "

Performing, however, is not the sole mission of AFTLS. "It's a week of teaching, and performing is just one method of that teaching. That's why it works so well in a university setting, " said Tom Barkes, general manager of Washington Hall Theater.

At each stop along their North American tour, members of the company will give mini-workshops in English and performing arts classes. This fall at Notre Dame, the cast members hope to instruct students in several literature and acting classes.

"It's practical Shakespeare, " said Lolita Chakrabarti, a troupe member, of the class initiative. "We're getting right in there with them and playing it. "

The company's addition to the College of Arts and Letters comes as the crux of a newly implemented program known as "The Shakespeare Initiative. "

Other elements of the program will include the Summer Shakespeare Festival, a lecture series and the addition of a new professor to fill an endowed chair in Shakespeare and performance. This chairperson will, in turn, become the director of the AFTLS program.

"Currently, a center for theater education and research is not present at Notre Dame, " said Egerton. "The AFTLS program, a deft merging of performance and teaching, will serve as a traveling ambassador for the University's growing program in performance arts. "

These combined factors indicate the beginning of a stable and long-lasting partnership between the University and AFTLS. "We're excited, " said Barkes, "Hopefully this will be a long and fruitful partnership. "

"We are absolutely here to stay, " said Egerton.

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