ABSTRACT
The Bard’s rise, fall, and renaissance at the Ateneo illustrate how Shakespeare has operated as cultural capital in the Philippines for over a century. The Ateneo is chosen as the site of an investigation because for most Filipinos it is a synonym for elite education. Formerly the Escuela Municipal de Manila, the Ateneo was founded by Spanish Jesuits in 1859 as a grade school for boys, most of them scions of wealthy and inuential families at the time. It later added secondary college, and postgraduate education to form a complete school system, and acquired its current name of “Ateneo de Manila.” Because the Jesuit plan of studies embraced drama and theater as an integral part of its curriculum,1 the Ateneo built a long tradition in theatrical, and in particular, Shakespearean, productions. As an active participant of this tradition, I rely in part on personal narrative, in addition to archival research, to answer my questions.
