“Shakespeare and the Public,” an international conference on Shakespeare as a popular artist, was held February 7 and 8, 1975, at Northwestern University. The Conference was sponsored by the World Center for Shakespeare Studies (Americans), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Northwestern University's School of Education, the department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the departments of Interpretation, Film and Theatre in the School of Speech. Conference organizers at Northwestern were Samuel Schoenbaum, Douglas Cole, and Leonard Barkan of the English Department and Robert Schneideman of the Theatre Department. Professor Schoenbaum, a noted Shakespearean scholar, was president of the World Center for Shakespearean Studies (Americas).
The Conference featured panel discussions, lectures, the American premiere of two films by French scholar and filmmaker Richard Marientras, and exhibits of Shakespearean memorabilia and materials relating to the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre in London. Oxford University Press also previewed Samuel Schoenbaum's book, William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life, at the Conference.
Panelists and speakers included Shakespeare scholars, educators, artists, and critics. Among the participants were the American actor, director, and producer Sam Wanamaker, Richard Marientras, Richard Hosley, Eric Christmas, Bernard Beckerman, C. Walter Hodges, J. L. Styan, Stuart Kaminsky, Leo Braudy, Roger Manvell, Wallace Douglas, Wallace Bacon, Robert Squires, Gladys Viedemanis, Samuel Schoenbaum, T.J.B. Spencer, Robert Schneideman, Michael Bawtree, Charles Marowitz, and Marvin Rosenberg.
From the guide to the Records of the “Shakespeare and the Public” Conference, 1974-1977, (Northwestern University Archives)
