The History of Literature 771 Shakespeare and the Generation of Genius - The Role of Performing Arts in education (with Robin Lithgow) - RECLAIMED
Jan 29, 2026
Robin Lithgow, educator and lifelong theatre advocate raised in a Shakespeare festival family, reflects on how performance shaped literacy and imagination. She recounts theatrical childhoods, teaching Shakespeare in inner-city schools, and discovering Erasmus’s role in performance-based education. Short, lively stories show why daily arts practice matters for learning and empathy.
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A Childhood Immersed In Shakespeare
- Robin Lithgow grew up backstage at her father Arthur Lithgow's Antioch Shakespeare Festival and saw every play by age 13.
- She and her brother John performed small roles and learned theater craft by immersion in festival life.
Festival Life Meant Frequent Moves
- The family moved across Ohio as Arthur Lithgow shifted the Antioch Festival to Toledo, Akron, and Cleveland.
- Robin attended five high schools and describes the constant moving as emotionally hard but socially instructive.
Theater Transformed Inner-City Students
- As an LA inner-city English and drama teacher, Robin saw non-English speakers and low-readers blossom when performing plays.
- She reports students who struggled academically suddenly loved poetry and improved across subjects after theater work.
