Lisa Norris and Brian Lynner met in the spring of 1992, as Brian was launching the first Iowa Shakespeare Conservatory. They became partners in the Iowa Shakespeare Project, founding an annual summer Shakespeare Festival that employed professional actors and directors from Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Kansas City and California. In its few short years, the Shakespeare Project served over 30,000 Iowans with free outdoor productions of full-length Shakespeare plays in parks in cities including Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City, Winterset, Waterloo, Burlington, Grinnell, and Stratford. The Shakespeare Project's education programs served more than 10,000 students at schools throughout the state and provided training for more than two dozen high school students and college interns, providing them with opportunities to learn from and work alongside seasoned professionals.
Despite rave reviews and audiences of more than 1,000 a night in some venues, The Iowa Shakespeare Project was forced to shut down in 1996, due to a lack of funding support. Alas, Brian’s wild, crazy dream of a Globe Theatre in Iowa was not to be. (The partners still have the drawings by architect Ben Allers, and if they ever win the lottery they might still build it!)
Although ending the Shakespeare Project was a difficult decision, Lynner and Norris are proud of the project’s accomplishments, and have fond memories of the many excellent artists who came to Iowa to share their talents. Iowa Shakespeare Project company members have gone on to find great success in Chicago, New York, regional theatres, and other Shakespeare Festivals all over the country. Actor Deborah Staples is a member of the resident acting company at Milwaukee Rep. Actor Tara Mallen founded her own award-winning company in Chicago – the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. And actor David Alan Basche pops up often on television in guest spots and on series including The Starter Wife and Lipstick Jungle, and in films including United 93, War of the Worlds, and Sex & the City II. Graduates from the Shakespeare Conservatory and intern programs went onto study acting at some of America’s leading theatre training programs, including the acting program at Julliard.
After closing down the Project, Lynner and Norris took a break from theatre (and each other) to focus on other creative projects and on family. They re-connected in 1999, and began framing the idea for a new venture that became Unexpected Company.
