After spending two decades in Washington invigorating a theater devoted to performing the works of Shakespeare, Michael Kahn will make his biggest mark a week from today with the opening of the Harman Center for the Arts at Sixth and F streets. It promises to transform his Shakespeare Theatre Company and strengthen his adopted city’s reputation as a hub for the performing arts.

As he sits in his office in a smartly renovated 19th-century commercial building on Capitol Hill, Kahn seems a bit stunned by the scale of the undertaking. Everything is increasing: seating capacity from 451 to 1,226, the number of productions each year from five to eight, the annual budget from $13 million to $19 million, full-time administrative staff from 115 to 141. At the moment, 65 actors are in rehearsal for three plays in four rehearsal spaces, a beehive of activity almost unheard of outside New York.

The Shakespeare Theatre’s 15-year residence at the Lansburgh Theatre, less than two blocks from the new facility, has been a cornerstone of the revitalization of the Seventh Street/Penn Quarter neighborhood. Now, Kahn’s goal is to make the Lansburgh and Sidney Harman Hall a destination for classical theater and multidisciplinary performing arts, raising the profile of Washington as a cultural center along the way.

“Standing still is a position I’ve never enjoyed; I’ve welcomed or initiated challenges,” he says, his research for “Tamburlaine,” by Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, spread over the coffee table. Adapted and directed by Kahn, it will be the opening production at the Sidney Harman Hall on Oct. 28.

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Kahn, who wouldn’t reveal his age, is a tall man with a worldly demeanor. He is a Brooklyn native who developed an interest in theater before he reached his teens. He believes that for Washington’s theaters and other cultural organizations to flourish, larger audiences need to come from outside the region, boosting the city’s hotel and restaurant business in the bargain. The Shakespeare Theatre Company has already made a start; one-third of the single-ticket sales for this year’s productions of “Hamlet” and “Richard III” came from outside the region.

“The level of quality [in the arts] has increased immensely since I arrived, and it would be nice to be recognized for that,” he says. “The city has not quite understood that theaters are an economic engine, but it’s beginning to see what it has, and I hope we will be part of spearheading that.”

Although drawing significant attendance from outside the region is not unprecedented — the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Festival in the summer of 2002 attracted people from every state and 34 countries, for example — some theater professionals in town say that programming decisions made by both the Shakespeare Theatre and other groups that perform at the Harman Center will be crucial in determining how far the company can extend its reach. They question the ability of classical theater to attract consistently large audiences, especially after the novelty of the first year has worn off. But everyone agrees that more theater in Washington can help all theaters, as long as the quality and programming are on target.

Stephen Richard, executive director of Arena Stage, has good reason to track the Harman Center’s progress, as his theater is undertaking a major renovation scheduled for completion in 2010-11. Richard admires the ambitiousness of the Harman Center, but wonders whether more seats are always better. Arena’s three renovated spaces will have roughly the same number of seats, 1,350, and they will not always have simultaneous productions. “The Harman Center’s business model is fascinating,” he says. “It shares the risk with other arts organizations, and that’s a smart way to deal with the tripling of inventory. It’s a huge increase, and to have partners to enliven that space with variety is terrific.”

Although Kahn has become a theatrical impresario, he considers teaching to be at the core of his work. He directed The Julliard School’s drama division from 1992 to 2006. He now teaches at the graduate Academy for Classical Acting, which he created in 2000 in association with George Washington University. Kahn doesn’t use a particular method, but instead tries to help actors get the tools they need to stretch their talent. He says that teaching has greatly honed his directing skills.

“You have to question and solidify what you believe and how you work. You learn to work with actors better. Young actors’ views keep Shakespeare alive for me — my productions of “Hamlet” and “Othello” were so influenced by working with students, and I can see the change in my style.”

In fact, he credits new insights he made while working with students at Julliard for prompting him to consider becoming artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre. “I had done a lot of Shakespeare and thought I had nothing else to bring to the table,” Kahn says. “Teaching Shakespeare at Julliard, I developed a different point of view. I told the theater’s board that this country didn’t need another Shakespeare theater unless we could do something different to justify our existence artistically.” Kahn agreed to come to Washington for three years, and says that after 21 years, the experience continues to offer surprises.

What does he think sets his theater apart? One element is bringing in artists who are admired and respected — Avery Brooks (starring in this season’s “Tamburlaine”), Dixie Carter, Richard Thomas and Pat Carroll, to name a few — then creating an accessible yet intelligent way of looking at Shakespeare. He continually assesses what gets in the way of audiences connecting to the plays, while working to make them relevant and entertaining.

Kahn praises Washington audiences, although he would like to see more enthusiasm for challenging and unknown work. He also would like to see more good new plays produced and hopes that the Harman Center will present some of them.

“I don’t miss New York. Could I have done productions of ‘Lorenzaccio’ or ‘Don Carlos’ there? No,” he says. “Theater is still an important part of people’s lives here — they stop me on the street to talk about plays, and people have subscriptions to multiple theaters. It’s bucking a certain trend.”

He tends not to look back, but Kahn says with a chuckle that he’d like to return to the days when he had a full head of hair. And what he’s most proud of? “It’s when people say I’ve made a contribution to the city, both artistically and to the neighborhood. Also, I identified myself as a gay man, when that was something people weren’t doing.”

Kahn’s goals for the future are predictably ambitious. First, he wants the $89 million Harman Center paid off. “I want the theater to still be trusted by the Washington public, the repertory not to be compromised because we have more seats and to use the spaces so that 1,200 people are downtown every night. And I want it to be such a success that anyone would want my job.”

MICHAEL KAHN’S TIPS FOR SUCCESS

1. Have a vision, one that can continue to evolve.

2. Work hard and have self-discipline.

3. Don’t compromise what you believe in, but find ways to be practical when necessary.

4. Be a good delegator, and surround yourself with people who are better than you.

5. Have a sense of humor, and keep it.