Will Power

by Jennifer Melick   
Posted December 19, 2007

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

Painful tromps through the canon may have scared off countless English students, but STNJ shows that the classics can also be entertaining. The permanent home for this May-to-December troupe is the 308-seat Kirby Theater on the Drew University campus in Madison, where innovative interpretations of Shakespeare’s Henry V and Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano have enthralled critics and audiences alike. Considered one of the best professional Shakespeare companies in the country, STNJ started 45 years ago as the itinerant New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, settling in Madison in 1972. Audiences love the one outdoor play produced each summer at the open-air Greek Theatre at the nearby College of Saint Elizabeth. From February to June, the educational touring company visits schools in the New Jersey/New York area. This month STNJ is doing William Saroyan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Time of Your Life. In December, The Blue Bird—based on the Maurice Maeterlinck classic—will be freely adapted by company artistic director Bonnie J. Monte.