The Co-Op Plaza building in downtown Fairbanks hosts easily two dozen or more businesses, cultural activities, restaurants, gift shops. The Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre is one of many interesting tenants in this 1940s era building which is been repurposed into a cultural and dining magnet.
Performances are held at multiple venues across this expansive part of interior Alaska, primarily at a location near the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
It looks to Blasterz on the day that we visited that the Co-Op Plaza hosts the business office, prop storage, and rehearsal space for Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre productions. The Co-Op Plaza is not big enough to serve as a theater.
From the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre website: (
visit link)
"The mission of Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre is to provide high-quality Shakespearean and classical theatre productions; to actively contribute to the Fairbanks arts community; to deepen appreciation of, and expand and diversify the audience for, Shakespearean and classic theatre in Interior Alaska, particularly among young people; to encourage and support young people in performing Shakespeare; and to build the capacity of Alaskans to perform Shakespeare and classical theatre.
Since an initial 1992 performance alongside the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre has grown into a year-round producing and international-touring theatre company. FST has expanded beyond summer performances to include outreach to Boys’ and Girls’ clubs, assisted-living residences, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and youth detention centers, as well as countless performances for K-12 students throughout Alaska. The cornerstone of FST’s education and outreach program is "Bard-a-Thon," a 24-hour-a-day, weeklong reading of the complete works of Shakespeare. Since 2000, this free event has drawn hundreds of people together during the cold Alaskan winter to give voice to Shakespeare’s words.
We believe in cultivating a love for the arts at an early age, and we are doing everything in our power to make the words of Shakespeare accessible to our youth. In recent years this has taken the form of three youth theatre camps, 'Springlings' (for ages 9-18 over spring break), 'Groundlings' (for 13-18 year-olds during the summer) and 'Fledglings' (for 9-12 year-olds concurrent with Groundlings.) Students at the camp learn about Shakespeare and theatre craft, and each camp culminates in a staging of an abridged Shakespeare work.
Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre is proud to be a member of The Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA). For more information visit www.stahome.org. STA was established to provide a forum for the artistic, managerial, educational leadership for theatres primarily involved with the production of the works of William Shakespeare; to discuss issues and methods of work, resources, and information; and to act as an advocate for Shakespearean productions and training."