Poverty and privilege: Shakespeare in the mountains

Abstract

Allegany County lies in the western part of the state of Maryland, folded into the Appalachian Mountains that roll from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland on their way toward West Virginia. This is, as we like to say out here, the mountain side of Maryland, perhaps the state’s most beautiful region. It is also among the state’s most isolated and economically depressed regions; indeed, our largest city, Cumberland, was recently named the poorest city in Maryland.1 Our local students grow up largely disconnected from the vibrant Shakespeare culture that enriches the lives of many of their peers downstate. We are 150 miles from the nearest metropolitan area—too far for a casual visit to the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, or the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Allegany County had been coal mining country, and Frostburg State University, where I teach Shakespeare ten miles up the mountain from Cumberland, was built on land purchased by donations from Frostburg’s coal miners. Founded in 1898 as State Normal School Number Two, the university has a strong presence in a community that, in so many other ways, is sorely lacking in resources.