Then in 1956, Carnovsky recalled, "Shakespeare suddenly discovered me!" "In 1956", he said, "John Houseman, who was then the general director and producer at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, called me up and said, 'would you like to do some Shakespeare?' I said, 'Yes, of course!' So that's how I began. The first year I did a part in "King John", a part in "Measure for Measure" and a part in "The Taming of the Shrew". Then I proceeded to learn what Shakespeare was all about, in light of the realistic method of acting that I had discovered during my years with the Group Theatre. The following year, I found myself doing Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice", and that was really the opening of the can of peas, for me." At Stratford he played many roles, notably Feste in "Twelfth Night" in a production featuring Katharine Hepburn as Viola, and Prospero in a celebrated production of "The Tempest" directed by William Ball of the American Conservatory Theater.