Khan Artist: Candid Cuisine with Shakespeare Theatre Company AD Michael Khan

STC Artistic Director, Michael Khan

Over Penne Alla Vodka and Tartuffo at Carmine’s, Shakepeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Khan showed his wit, shared his wisdom — and warned about his new guilty pleasure:

“My mother used to read Shakespeare to me.  She was Russian, so it’s likely how she educated herself to read English… and the same for me,” explains Khan about his early and enduring love for the Bard, and how he came to create what The Wall Street Journal calls ‘… the nation’s foremost Shakespeare company’ during his 24 seasons as Artistic Director.

Taking inspiration from his own favorite experiences in the audience – he admits a partiality to London theatres –  Khan strives to bring to DC more thought-provoking and situationally appropriate pieces, such as the recent Black Watch, and, currently on stage, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, of which he says, “What better place than Washington, DC to explore scandalous pasts and the difficulty of separating the personal from the political?”

Having recently announced its 25th Anniversary Season schedule, The Shakespeare Theatre Company celebrates a quarter century of classical works under Khan – and will be unveiling a bust of the Artistic Director to commemorate his achievements and vision. “It was originally going to be a full statue, but I couldn’t allow it,” jokes the humble Director.  Think of all of the people who would come in and say, ‘So that’s what Sidney Harmon looks like!'”

But even as this charmer’s legacy and passion for the classical performance arts continues to grow, Khan does admit to an arguably less cultured means of communication as an evening escape.  “I love Facebook,” he sighs.  “Sometimes I’m on [Facebook] for hours at night… It’s so much easier than e-mail.  I may just start to communicate with the staff that way!”