[2][3] After beginning his career off-off-Broadway in 1964, directing experimental theater and other works, including Shakespeare, Kahn had both notable failures and successes with Broadway projects, winning acclaim especially for productions of The Royal Family (1975–76) and Show Boat (1983).
During his long tenure as artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Kahn has overseen its growth, including initiating its Free For All productions.
[5] Kahn's career began off-off-Broadway by directing Jean-Claude van Itallie's War Sex and Dreams and America Hurrah at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1964–65.
[12] Additional Broadway credits include several Shakespeare plays and revivals of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1974–75), The Royal Family (1975–76), Whodunnit (1982–83), and Show Boat (1983), among others.
This Masters of Fine Arts degree is a comprehensive one-year program that trains actors for the classical theater, with an emphasis on Shakespeare.
[22] Kahn's Shakespeare Theatre Company directing credits include Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 in repertory,[23] Wallenstein, The Government Inspector, Strange Interlude, The Heir Apparent (world premiere), Old Times, All's Well That Ends Well, The Liar, Richard II, The Alchemist, Design for Living, The Way of the World, Antony and Cleopatra, Tamburlaine, Hamlet, Richard III, The Beaux' Stratagem, Love's Labour's Lost, Othello, Lorenzaccio (world premiere), Macbeth, Cyrano, Five by Tenn, The Winter's Tale, The Silent Woman, The Oedipus Plays, The Duchess of Malfi, Timon of Athens, Don Carlos, Hedda Gabler, King Lear, Coriolanus, Camino Real, A Woman of No Importance, King John, The Merchant of Venice, Peer Gynt, Sweet Bird of Youth, combined Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 & 3, Mourning Becomes Electra, Henry V, Volpone, combined Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2, Richard II, The Doctor's Dilemma, Mother Courage and Her Children, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, Richard III, Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, and Romeo and Juliet.
In 1968, Michael Kahn directed the inaugural production of Camino Real by Tennessee Williams at the Robert S. Marx Theatre at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
[26][27] He also directed the world premiere of Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, starring Christine Lahti, which opened in October 2013.
[33][34][35] In recognition of his many successes in presenting Shakespeare in America, Michael Kahn was honored by Queen Elizabeth II as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.