Paul Allen speaking at Seattle's Town Hall.
Paul Allen speaking at Seattle’s Town Hall.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has always had a love for Shakespeare, and now he’s giving away some money again to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF).

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announced the contribution today. The OSF is a non-profit based in Ashland, Oregon, and puts on hundreds of plays every year.

“OSF masterfully makes the classics relevant to new generations and introduces compelling contemporary work,”  Allen said in a statement. “OSF has been an Allen family tradition for many decades and we’re proud to support this exceptional theater group. Without a doubt it is one of the, if not the, top drama festivals in the country.”

Allen’s foundation has now given $11 million to the OSF over the years. Allen also loaned his 1623 Dryden-Puleston-Bemis copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, Published according to the True Originall Copies — he is just one of two individuals on this planet who owns a perfect edition — to the foundation from 2003 through 2006 and again in 2010.

Editor note: Previously, this article incorrectly stated that Allen donated his Folio copy to the OSF this year. 

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