The Mission of the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Harman Center for the Arts Since its founding in 1985, the Shakespeare Theatre Company has endeavored to be the nation’s leading force in the presentation and preservation of classic theatre. Our core mission is to present classic theatre in an accessible, skillful, imaginative, American style that honors playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their plays through a 21st-century lens. With the formation of the Harman Center for the Arts—which includes the new Sidney Harman Hall and the existing Lansburgh Theatre—the Shakespeare Theatre Company is a national destination theatre offering a broad range of works to audiences in the greater-Washington area and across the nation. The Harman Center for the Arts provides state-of-the-art, affordable, midsized venues to outstanding local, national and international performing arts companies. The Harman Center for the Arts encourages synergy among sister arts organizations and stimulates an ongoing artistic dialogue that embraces all of the performing arts, while affording the Shakespeare Theatre Company the opportunity to expand its education and accessibility programs and engage diverse audiences in the arts.