There’s not much left on the Shakespeare Theatre grounds to remind us of the one-time glories of the Theatre. One prominent exception, however, is the large bronze sculpture facing the Housatonic River. It’s a mystery to many of us as to why this sculpture stands where it does and why it even exists. Its name has been long forgotten to most people, and it’s often referred to as “the thinker”, which name it never possessed. What is the story of this mysterious bronze figure keeping watch over our river?
In June of 1966, three boxes of sculpture arrived at the American Festival Shakespeare Theatre. The boxes contained the works of Astrid Zydower, a German born sculptress. The pieces were obtained by the Theatre to “add greatly to the glory of” the Theatre. The boxes contained a group of works entitled “Antony’s Body Being Drawn Up into the Monument by Cleopatra and Her Ladies”, “Ariel Supervising the Feast”, a bronze head sculpture of John F. Kennedy, and the now familiar “The Young Poet” sculpture which stands on the grounds of the Shakespeare Theatre Park.
The “Antony’s Body” collection was installed on the left-hand side of the proscenium. The “Ariel Supervising” collection was attached to the teak walls on the interior of the Theatre. All of Miss Zydower’s works had been commissioned for the Shakespeare Quadricentenary Exhibition held in 1964 in Stratford-on-Avon. They were purchased for the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre by Lincoln Kirstein, who was curator of the Theatre at the time. “The Young Poet” sculpture was first created for the Stratford Shakespeare Center in England. While “The Young Poet” sculpture stood in England, it was known as “Shakespeare Dreaming in the Forest of Arden.”
Miss Zydower was described by the Theatre as being “very pretty, 36 years old, and three feet six inches tall. A mouse who does huge figures.” She was born in 1930 in Deutsch-Krone Germany. She immigrated to England in 1939 as a Jewish refugee. From 1947-52 she studied at Sheffield College of Art, and from 1952-57 she studied at the Royal College of Art. Her credits and awards as a sculptress are legion. Her awards include: the Princess of Wales Scholarship in 1952; the Phoebe Stabler Bequest in 1956; the Feodora Glischen Award in 1957; and the Royal College Silver Medal in 1957.
