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Show Grant insures permanency of Utah Shakespearean Festival A permanent home for the Shakespearean Festival will be provided beginning with the 1971 season through the generosity of descendents of Utah pioneers in drama who are desirous of perpetuating the cultural reputation of the state. A gift of $20,000 has been given to the Festival by Prof, and Mrs. Obert C. Tanner in memory of Mrs. Tanner's parents, par-ents, Thomas Davenport Adams and Maria Luella Redd Adams. Also named in the memoriam is Will L. Adams, uncle to Mrs. Tanner. The three pioneer residents of Parowan were primary sponsors of the theater arts in the early days of southern Utah settlement. In 1853 the mother of Thomas Thom-as and Will Adams played a principal role in a highly professional pro-fessional production of Shakes-pear's Shakes-pear's "Merchant of Venice" as produced by the Parowan Dramatic Dra-matic Association. The Adams family sponsored sponsor-ed stock companies and dramatic dra-matic associations that travel-led travel-led through southern Utah to bring drama to the many new-communities new-communities under develop-, ment. Often the plays were presented under very challenging challen-ging conditions. Following extensive experience exper-ience in drama with his mother, mot-her, Sarah Davenport Adams, Will L.. as he was widely known throughout the region, organised the Parowan Young Dramatic Club that produced several Shakespeare works and a number of other plays. By 1913, the Adams Stock Co. was organized, with Will L. as director. This company toured for a full year in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. j Other badly needed theater' facilities will be obtained as the result of a gift of Mrs. Will Barnard of Brigham City, who has donated $10,000 to the Festival in the name of her .usband, Will Barnard. Permanent seating for the theater will be made possible through a $5,000 grant, from the Eggertsen Foundation and several private grants of $1000 each, as well as a number of smaller gifts. The gifts are particularly timely since the Festvai producers pro-ducers had concluded that the temporary set which has been used for nine seasons would no longer withstand the damaging dam-aging effects of the elements. "We were very hesitant to use this very unsafe stage this season, "Fred C. Adams, founding found-ing producer said. "However, had wc not been ablc to get by with it one more time, it would have meant 'he end of the Festival." Plans for the new Shakespearean Shakes-pearean theater have been designed de-signed with the help of Dr. Douglas Cook, Festival artistic artis-tic designer, L. Robert Gardner, Gard-ner, Cedar City architect, and the Utah Statc Building Board. |