New York Classical Theatre's Stephen Burdman Receives Sidney Berger Award

Stephen Burdman, the Founder and Artistic Director of NY Classical Theatre, was recently honored by the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) as the recipient of the organization's Sidney Berger Award. The award is given annually to an artistic director in recognition of her or his outstanding talent and dedication to the works of William Shakespeare. With NY Classical, Burdman has been bringing free theatre to New York audiences for over 22 years, including most of Shakespeare's canon. The award was presented to Burdman on January 8, 2022 at the STA's annual conference.

The Shakespeare Theatre Association is a 29-year-old member service organization (founded in 1991) that provides support and mentorship as well as shares best practices with colleagues from within the United States and internationally. Membership is made up of 124 theaters including such institutions as Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Stratford Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe, American Shakespeare Center, Shakespeare's Globe, Folger Shakespeare Library, and Prague Shakespeare Company, among others, and 29 Associate Members representing diverse types of theatre (indoor, outdoor, year-round, seasonal, university-affiliated, free) with wide-ranging budgets ($25,000 to $60,000,000) and Equity as well as non-Equity companies.

Burdman founded NY Classical Theatre in 2000 and is the vision behind the creation of the company's distinctive staging style, Panoramic Theatre. He founded NY Classical, New York's free Off-Broadway Equity classical theatre company, to give all audiences the chance to discover classical theatre.

He has directed nearly half of Shakespeare canon. To date, he has directed 35 productions for NY Classical. Some of his favorite productions include: The Importance of Being Earnest (Two-Ways), Romeo & Juliet (performed by 6 actors), The Rivals, The Winter's Tale, Measure for Measure, The Seagull, A {15-Min!} Christmas Carol, Playing Moliere, Henry V (in The Battery and, via ferry boat, Governors Island), Hamlet, King Lear, Misalliance, Mary Stuart, Scapin, and The Triumph of Love.