On April 6, a man with an unquenchable love for the theater, Michael Kahn, received the prestigious William Shakespeare Award for classical theater. Mr. Kahn is the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. and the head of the Drama Division at The Juilliard School. He follows in the footsteps of the previous "Will Award" recipients, who include Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, Dame Maggie Smith, and Juilliard alumnus Kevin Kline. The Will Award recognizes the awardee's contribution to "the ongoing process of renewal and invigoration for the classics across America in regional and commercial theatres, the media, schools, and homes." Kahn's past accolades include a Tony and six Helen Hayes awards.

Michael Kahn

The 2001-02 theater season also marks Michael Kahn's 15th year as artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre. With Kahn at the helm, the Shakespeare Theatre became a separate entity from the Folger Shakespeare Library and moved into a new home at the Lansburgh Building. Plans are currently underway for the construction of an even larger theater in Washington.

This 15th anniversary is the latest milestone in a lifelong career in the theater, which began with Kahn's first-grade production of Jack Frost and the Snowflakes (which he directed and starred in). Although Michael Kahn has directed plays by Sam Shepard, Edward Albee, and Harold Pinter, his name is most readily associated with the classics. This relationship with the classics began in the late 1960s, when Joseph Papp asked Mr. Kahn to directed a production of Measure for Measure in Central Park. Since then he has directed almost every Shakespeare play, including such less frequently produced works as Pericles, King John, and Timon of Athens.

A physically imposing man more than six feet tall, he is personally warm and extremely direct. His personal magnetism has helped him to form and lead several major theater companies and training institutions. Michael Kahn has been the artistic director of the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn.; producing director of the McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J.: and artistic director of the Acting Company. Additionally, he founded the acting training program at the Chautauqua Institute. His seemingly boundless energy has allowed him to perform two full-time jobs simultaneously since 1992. His positions at both the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington and at Juilliard in New York require him to travel back and forth several times a week. Yet Mr. Kahn manages to fill both roles with ease and remains passionately committed to each. Among students, he has the reputation of being a fair, trustworthy, and compassionate man who has a genuine interest in improving the program.

After 30-plus years in the theater and countless productions, what drives Kahn to continue is his intense curiosity and "need to figure stuff out," as he explained in a recent interview. Joe Kraemer, personal assistant to Mr. Kahn, remarked that observing Kahn at work is "like watching someone put together a giant jigsaw puzzle." This drive also applies to training the next generation of theater artists, both at Juilliard and through the newly instituted master's program at the Shakespeare Theatre. Although Mr. Kahn recognizes the commercial reality of the entertainment business into which his students are entering, he hopes that, when they do perform theater, it will be of the highest quality. He says he is less concerned with whether there is more or less theater, but "more good theater."

When asked what else he wished to achieve, Mr. Kahn spoke of his perpetual "search for the next thing." For the Shakespeare Theatre, this means producing unknown and seldom done Elizabethan and Restoration plays. This unique commitment is part of Kahn's goal to make Washington, D.C. a cultural destination for travelers.

At Juilliard, Kahn's search has led to the creation of the playwrights and directing programs, the former headed by Christopher Durang and Marsha Norman and the latter by Andrei Belgrader. Moreover, the department is constantly seeking out new theater techniques to keep its actors grounded in classical theater and up-to-date with contemporary drama. During his 10 years as head of the Drama Division, Kahn has spearheaded an increase in the diversity of the student body. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his commitment to diversity. While denying any conscious agenda, he says he has always sought out the best theater artists irrespective of their race.

Kahn's passion and ability are evidenced by his long list of highly successful students who continue to enhance the face of American theater. The Juilliard School and its student body have been privileged to grow under the leadership of this visionary man of the theater. 

Gillian Jacobs and Mahira Kakkar are second-year drama students.