1979 - 1984

Jeffrey Horowitz, a classically trained actor, uses the modest settlement from a personal injury lawsuit to found a theatre company devoted to Shakespeare. TFANA begins by touring the northeast with collages of Shakespeare's scenes, soliloquies and songs directed by Frank Cosaro. Horowitz himself plays Petruchio.      

1984

TFANA's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed Amy Saltz, with design by Julie Taymor, is invited to play at the Public Theatre.  Also this year, in partnership with the New York City Public Schools, TFANA launches an educational program called The World Theatre Project.  A second program, New Voices, is begun two years later.
     

1986

Julie Taymor directs The Tempest, her first Shakespeare play.  The production is hailed by The New York Times as "fresh, intelligent and elegant" and in 1987 is remounted at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut.

1987

An OBIE Grant for Artistic Achievement brings credibility and recognition, helping the company continue to grow.

1988

Macbeth, directed by Nicholas Mahon with Joseph Zeigler and Nancy Palk, is named Critics Choice by Time Magazine.

1989

The Red Sneaks, written and directed by Elizabeth Swados, commissioned and produced by TFANA, plays to sold out houses in New York, and later tours to Aspen, Colorado.

1990

William Gaskill, former director of Britain's Royal Court and National Theatres, directs Othello, his first Shakespeare in NYC.  Clive Barnes calls it "one of the best New York Shakespeare productions of the past twenty years.  

1991

TFANA mounts a production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Bill Alexander, in the decrepit shell of 42nd Street's old Victory Theatre.  It is the first Shakespeare in Times Square in sixty years.  

1993

Barry Kyle directs Henry V with Mark Rylance in the title role.  The production receives a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, and Clive Barnes names it one of the ten best Off-Broadway Productions of the Year.

1994

Robert Stattel plays Titus Andronicus, directed by Julie Taymor, and receives a Callaway Award for Best Classical Performance.  Excerpts are later aired on PBS.   Also this year, TFANA receives a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, and The America Play, by Suzan Lori Parks, commissioned by TFANA, is produced in association with The Public Theatre and Yale Repertory.

1995

The first New York production of Shakespeare's Henry VI in 25 years.  Directed by Barry Kyle, the production receives two Drama Desk Award nominations, and Clive Barnes again lists a TFANA production as one of the ten Best Off-Broadway Productions of the Year.

1996

TFANA returns to the now- refurbished New Victory Theater with Gozzi's The Green Bird, directed by Julie Taymor, translated by Albert Bernel, with music by Elliot Goldenthal.  It receives numerous awards, including both a Drama Desk Citation and an Obie Award for actor Derek Smith, before transferring to the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego -- TFANA's West Coast premiere.

1997

The Two Gentlemen of Verona, produced in association with London's Globe Theatre, marks the U.S. premiere of the company headed by TFANA veteran Mark Rylance. TFANA also mounts the first major NY production of The Changeling in over 30 years.  The New Yorker calls the production "a feverish, sensual spectacle."

TFANA launches The American Directors Project to develop young and mid-career American directors for Shakespeare.

1998

TFANA is the first New York company ever to produce Richard II and Richard III in repertory.  Directed by Ron Daniels, with Steven Skybell and Chris McCann as the two tragic kings.

1999

TFANA 's 1994 production of Titus Andronicus, directed by Julie Taymor, is made into a major motion picture starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.

2000

Julie Taymor's production of The Green Bird, originally produced at TFANA in 1996, is produced on Broadway.