Posted on Sun, Mar 27, 2011
The Boston Globe has proclaimed the Berkshires "an aggregation of performing arts unmatched anywhere in the country."
So I would be irresponsible if I did not spend considerable energy letting you know the details.
Yesterday I covered the summer plans for Shakespeare and Company. But in doing my research, I ran into a website called "Berkshire on Stage" which essentially does much of my work for me. In that particular post, blogger Larry Murray was touting the line-up at Barrington Stage Company this summer.
But I noticed his blog several days ago which presents an overview of the summer. Since "going viral" is the dream of every blog, I am sure Larry will not mind if I lift directly from his post and share his research and opinions:
A Berkshire First-Timer Primer
You don’t need a theatre ticket to soak up the food, natural beauty, history, night life and fabulousness of the Berkshires during the summer. The Berkshires have plenty to offer, and are not only family friendly, but also nature friendly, gay friendly, pet friendly, vegan friendly and meditation friendly. In fact, the rural diversity of the area is surprisingly welcoming to all – both urbane and down to earth at the same time, a winning combination. There is no app for it. You have to come here to experience it.
Many who visit remark on the less frantic change of pace, one which lends itself for the one thing that distinguishes the area above all others, its wealth of arts offerings. Mention the Berkshires and most people automatically think of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, when they think of this area. Or Jacob’s Pillow, the magnet for dance in America. And lately the Solid Sound Festival and Chicago’s Wilco at the mammoth Mass MoCA museum.
But quietly the Berkshires has become a buzz word among a new crowd, the serious theatre-goer. Not that theatre is new to the Berkshires, all of our companies have distinguished histories. But lately they have been creeping into the national news as the companies have been flourishing, expanding, and drawing ever-bigger crowds.
Once the theaters were thought to be for the summer crowd, but then , the locals discovered them too. These days you’ll find more residents than ever in the lines to get tickets for the really hot shows.
And local audiences can be tough audiences to please. They set the bar pretty high. Perhaps that is because the year-rounders, who endure the bitter cold winters, are hardy old souls, but once engaged by a play or musical, their hearts can melt like snowflakes under the spring sun. It happens a lot, and it is wonderful to see their smiles and hear their laughter. Makes living here year round even more enjoyable.
The Four Major Theatres and their Ten Stages
Located on the hilly and mountainous Western edge of Massachusetts, Berkshire County has a modest population of 130,000 hardy souls who benefit from being just a few hours from the bright lights of Broadway. In fact, many New Yorkers consider the Berkshires their summer hideaway, including dozens of performers, directors and playwrights. Even Bostonians, with their nearby siren call of Cape Cod are heading West to revisit the sometimes forgotten treasures of their own home state. I would gladly sign a petition to change the nickname from the Bay State to the Cultural State.
The four resident professional theatre companies contribute ten of the Berkshires’s two dozen stages to the culture count, with the balance at Tanglewood, the Pillow and three “presenting” organizations talked about below. And just behind this lineup are many more organizations who keep the Berkshires hopping from January to December.
Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTF) of Stockbridge and Pittsfield
The BTF is the granddaddy of the theatre companies, having been founded in 1928 and operating continuously since then, with the exception of 1942-45 which were the years when America fought WWII. Their main stage is a repurposed old casino which was dragged by oxen from Main Street Stockbridge, MA and has seen America’s greatest actors on its stage. It holds about 400 people. It is just a short drive from the famed Norman Rockwell Museum.
This summer the Fitzpatrick Main Stage will host Sylvia by A.R. Gurney, Period of Adjustment by Tennessee Williams, and the world premiere of In the Mood by Kathleen Clark.
The smaller Unicorn theatre only holds about 120, so every seat is close to the stage and because of its stadium seating angles, has excellent sight lines. Moonchildren will open the season there, followed by Dutch Masters and Finian’s Rainbow. Two plays will get world premieres at the Unicorn – the aforementioned Dutch Masters by Greg Keller and Birthday Boy by Chris Newbound.
The BTF recently merged with the Colonial Theatre and will share programming back and forth with it for the first time this summer. Thus three stages will be lit by this company.
The Colonial Theatre has its own extensive calendar of events and provides state of the art technical and production support for musicals and large dramas, like A Christmas Carol, while the Unicorn is being viewed as an ideal location for cabaret and jazz offerings, as well as solo performers.
Shakespeare & Company in Lenox
Also with three theaters, ShakesCo offers its usual mix of classics and contemporary plays in its 33rd Season. When not bringing Shakespeare back to life, they offer hilarious comedy and farce. So the Founder’s Theatre is where you will find the doomed lovers Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It, but their main house will also welcome the return of The Hound of the Baskervilles, a hilarious sendup of all things Conan Doyle with breakneck costume changes and cross-dressing spoofery.
The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre is a smaller “flex space” where crowds will flock to see Red Hot Patriot: the Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivans alternating with two other shows. The outdoor Rose Footprint Theatre is a destination for families, and this year the commedia dell’arte includes The Venetian Twins and the brand new Everyman/EveryActor.
Also on their bill of fare are The 39 Steps, The Learned Ladies and Women of Will with Tina Packer.
Barrington Stage Company (BSC)
The ingenue in our cast of great theaters is the Barrington Stage Company, founded just fifteen years ago by Julianne Boyd, and attracting nationwide attention for its excellent work. It has already sent several shows to Broadway, including William Finn’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Whipping Man and Freud’s Last Session. With a special knack for musicals, this summer includes the evergreen Guys and Dolls and The Game on the Main Stage. Also on the main stage is the premiere of Mark St. Germain’s The Best of Enemies. Stage 2 will host the premiere of the musical Mormons, Mothers and Monsters as well as Going to St. Ives, My Name is Asher Lev and Zero Hour, a one man show about Zero Mostel.
Their youth company also attracts numerous fans, this year presenting All Shook Up, a celebration of Elvis Presley at St. Joseph High School plus another location TBA.
At several points during the summer they will have three stages lit at the same time. And in October they will present a staged version of Lord of the Flies.
Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF)
While the first three companies are year-round residents and offer programming in the September-May slot, the WTF is only able to perform during the summer when it avails itself of two new theaters at Williams College. In essence it was a company begun 56 years ago by the college, and its friends, and it has grown and prospered as a visionary company with impeccable quality.
Two classic plays will light the Main Stage at the 62 Center this year: George S. Kaufman’s You Can’t Take it With You and Oliver Goldsmith’s rowdy comedy, She Stoops to Conquer. Closing the main stage season will be the Revue-sical Ten Cents A Dance, celebrating the music of Rodgers and Hart.
The recently announced Nikos Theatre season is one in which two classics, A Streetcar Named Desire and A Doll’s House can be seen in the intimate confines of this smaller theatre, as well as several new works, Lewis Black’s One Slight Hitch, the East Coast Premiere of Bess Wohl’s Touch(ed), and The Civilians’ production of You Better Sit Down: tales from my parents’ divorce.
Other Berkshire Venues
You will find a trio of “presenting” theaters in the Berkshires as well. Down south, in Great Barrington is another glorious restored theatre, The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, whose marquee will feature names like Joan Rivers, Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Wailers, Peter Yarrow and soprano Deborah Voigt.
At Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre there is not only The Who’s Tommy, but Tommy Tune and Tom Paxton plus far too many others to detail here.
In North Adams the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts has more than visual appeal, it has the Hunter Center performing space and Club B-10 for cabaret sized offerings. During the summer it also schedules things outdoors, from their walk-in open-air cinema to the multiple stages and excitement of the Solid Sound Festival featuring Chicago rockers Wilco. They also play host to the Bang on a Can week long contemporary music festival.
Jacob’s Pillow
With three stages, Jacob’s Pillow is the place to be if you love dance. The array of dance offerings is breathtaking. The Ted Shawn Theatre is their main stage, where dance companies from around the world show off their latest works. In the Doris Duke Studio Theatre, emerging companies, and those who are working on complicated new pieces allow audiences a preview of what will soon be hot, and what might not.
Families love the Inside/Out stage and its free late afternoon performances most summer days. Set in the open air in the woods, the stage is being completely rebuild for 2011 and offers both samples of the companies performing there, and showcases the students at its school. The quality is high, the experience magical.
Tanglewood
The BSO’s summer home is the place that began it all in the Berkshires. SInce 1936 the small orchestra encampment has grown, with the famous Shed also playing host to such well known artists as James Taylor, though this year he will be performing in the more intimate Ozawa Hall. There is also a theatre where opera and other staged works can be performed. It took us four articles to detail everything happening there.
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four
The great lawn, meticulously maintained, offers concert-goers the delightful experience of a picnic with live classical music, overlooking the beautiful Stockbridge Bowl. The only question on some people’s minds is whether the BSO’s Music Director, James Levine, who has been struggling with back problems, will be able to fulfill his scheduled performances. Even so, the BSO has one of the most impressive rosters of alternate conductors I have ever seen, so while missing the maestro might be a disappointment, the joy of discovering a fresh and upcoming conductor makes the gamble irresistible.
Tanglewood remains the Berkshires best known attraction, but the crowds who are arriving for other events are – in aggregate – beginning to outnumber those of the reigning diva for the first time. These new audiences are younger, more adventurous and who knows, they may take a night off from theatre to take in a concert. Now that would be a switch to the conventional thinking, wouldn’t it.
With so much on the calendar, the Berkshires offer as much culture in the summer as you will find in most major cities, and in an idyllic setting that still is pretty tough to top.
Posted on Wed, Mar 04, 2009
Located just a short walk from us, one of the world’s best Shakespeare companies has announced its upcoming season.
In 2009, Othello received such critical praise, and was such a resounding box office succes that performances toward the end of the season were sold out. We are very pleased to see that S&Co. is reprising last year’s Othello…with the same lead cast. Their official announcement and list of shows:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE…March 3, 2009
“Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass is the most consistently pleasing summer-theatre Festival in America.” Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal.
“When Tina Packer talks, people listen. When Tina Packer acts, people watch. When Tina Packer directs, people flock. In other words, when Tina Packer does anything, it’s always worth our attention.” – Ed Siegel, theatre critic/journalist WBUR.
“Tina’s erudition, her courage, her determination, I have always admired. But more than anything, her love of Shakespeare has both moved and inspired me.” Olympia Dukakis.
Shakespeare & Company’s Artistic Director Tina Packer unveils her Final Performance Season: Play On! the 2009/2010 season is the biggest in over a decade, bringing back critically acclaimed hits and introducing some of the most provocative new works on the american stage
{Lenox, MA} —Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer describes Shakespeare & Company’s 2009-2010 season as “young, passionate, daring and joyful. This is life laid bare.” With a re-dedication to the powerful truths at the heart of Shakespeare’s work and the excitement sparked by a new theatre and production center, Shakespeare & Company’s 2009-2010 Performance Season reinforces its commitment to the core themes that have made it an invaluable part of the Berkshires community for 32 years. It will be the fullest and most diverse season yet presented at the Kemble Street campus, drawing from the depth of artistic and human resources stored safely in the Company’s bank of intellectual property. As the final season designed under the direct leadership of Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer, and deftly assisted by Associate Artistic Director Michael Hammond, it connects to the passions at the heart of the Company by celebrating some of S&Co.’s greatest recent artistic triumphs, while introducing a host of important new works.
Tickets for the 2009-2010 Season will go on sale the morning of Thursday, March 5. To receive a season brochure, purchase tickets and gift certificates, or inquire about discounts and further information, please contact the Shakespeare & Company Box Office at (413) 637-3353 or visit the website at www.shakespeare.org or by e-mail boxoffice@shakespeare.org.
“Tough times call for great art, and for vibrant community building. This is when we need more than ever to stand up together and play on. Our season will bring together artists, friends, educators, and neighbors. And I hope we meet a lot of new friends, especially young ones, the curious kind who have never stepped through our door before. This is a place where special things happen, where you can leave the headlines at the door and reconnect to the good stuff. If you dare to be inspired, to change, to grow and reflect and know your world better, we’re here to make that happen,” says Packer, as she prepares for her 32nd and final season as S&Co.’s Artistic Director. “The opening line of Twelfth Night is ‘If music be the food of love, play on.’ That’s just what we intend to do. And we invite everyone to join in! ”
The season offers more Shakespeare than the Company has presented in over a decade, with the return of dynamic productions of two of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies bookending a fresh, new take on what some say is his most outrageous comedy. Audience favorites Hamlet and Othello return to Founders’ Theatre—with most of the original casts in place. The real-life family trio, Tina Packer, Jason Asprey, and Dennis Krausnick, will reprise their roles in Hamlet alongside Nigel Gore and many other returning actors, while John Douglas Thompson and Michael Hammond return in Othello.Packer is especially pleased to announce Twelfth Night as this year’s mainstage comedy, under the direction of Jonathan Croy (marking his mainstage directorial debut), with Kevin O’Donnell, the outrageous Parolles in last year’s All’s Well That Ends Well, playing Malvolio.
In the 2008/2009 season, ticket sales continued to surpass previous years. Sales presently stand at approximately $1,130,000, yielding the highest earnings ever in Shakespeare & Company’s 31-year history. Ticket sales increased about 3% and earned 7% more revenue from the previous season, and are up approximately 29% overall since 2005. Despite the challenging economy, the 2008-09 season saw an uptick in attendance, with the new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre bringing in a total audience of about 11,000. The total number of tickets issued this year was 51,000, up from 49,000 in 2007. The season also ran longer than previous years, with another successful fall show and the addition of a winter show, Bad Dates which, remarkably, is still playing as of the date of the 2009-2010 season announcement. As always, tickets for the 2009-2010 season will remain reasonably priced to keep the transformative power of theatre accessible to all.
“This upcoming season reflects the essence of what we do at Shakespeare & Company. It reflects everything we’ve always been and always will be—it’s about fire in the belly and passion in the heart. It’s life laid bare—youthful, daring and joyful. There’s no economic downturn that can decrease the priceless savings of intellectual property we’ve been building up all these years,” says Packer.
Underscoring Packer’s commitment to bring Shakespeare to life in uncompromising but surprising ways, the upcoming season rolls out on May 21st with a special two-week run in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre of a vivid, high-energy production of Romeo and Juliet,capping off its five-month New England Tour of Shakespeare to young audiences across the Northeast. Under Croy’s direction, with original music by Company member Marc Scipione, this R&J goes directly to the heart of Packer’s desire to open the doors wider to a new generation of actors and audiences this season. And as summer builds, the Company will introduce an invigorating new program, the Lunch Box Shakespeare Series, presenting Measure for Measure in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, as performed by the best and the brightest of S&Co.’s young professional actor training program.
The season also offers a special program titled Pinter’s Mirror, honoring the taut short plays of Nobel Prize-winner and recently deceased Harold Pinter, with three celebrated one-act plays, Victoria Station, Family Voices and A Slight Ache,each of which is filled with dark humor. One of the greatest voices in modern theatre in the English speaking world, Pinter has inspired American writers from David Mamet to J.T. Rogers, a playwright whose White People is also on the roster this season. Pinter’s Mirror features Elizabeth Ingram and Malcolm Ingram, and will be directed by Normi Noel. Other provocative new works include the Pen Literary Award-winning Devil’s Advocate by Donald Freed, and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow,by the multiple award-winning John Patrick Shanley, starring John Douglas Thompson when not reprising his universally celebrated role as the title character in Othello.
The upcoming season will see Packer working closely with Tony Simotes to execute a smooth transition into his new role as Artistic Director. The director of the smash hit Othello, Simotes is a long-time Company actor, director, fight choreographer and Founding member of S&Co. His first job here was as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed in the Company’s first season, at The Mount, in 1978. Packer sidesteps into the position of Founding Artistic Director during this time, enabling her to relinquish her day-to-day administrative and artistic responsibilities in order to devote her full efforts to the long-term vision of the Company, along with more time devoted to her own acting and writing.
Also on tap is the sure-to-be-crowd-pleasing Diva Series,three remarkable, one-woman shows playing for limited engagements. Annette Miller reprises her role as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony, a special dedication to William Gibson to celebrate his voice, tremendous body of work, courage and the inspiration he remains. Packer makes a special return engagement as the feisty and insightful titular character in Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine. The series also includes the devastatingly powerful new work The Actors Rehearse the Story of Charlotte Salomon, featuring newcomer Penny Kreitzer. These three plays are special events meant to focus attention on the Capital Campaign currently being conducted to complete the Production and Performing Arts Center, including the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. “The Diva Series is about three feisty ladies, and it celebrates one beautifully committed woman, Elayne P. Bernstein,” says Packer.
The family-friendly Bankside Festival includes Irina Brook’s uproarious production of Toad of Toad Hall by A. A. Milne, adapted from Kenneth Grahame’s beloved novel The Wind in the Willows, at the Outdoor Rose Footprint Theatre, as well as a newly launched, increasingly dynamic and jam-packed Bankside Lecture Series; specially designed Preludes (before evening performances at Founders’); special musical events; the much-loved reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th; and other enhanced efforts to rally and celebrate the young people of the community. The always-popular Gala will be held amid the Berkshires’ autumn splendor, on October 10.
Following a jam-packed summer season, the year continues with an exciting fall show—a Tony Simotes-directed farcical take on the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles—plus a newly added holiday season production, Irina Brook’s direction of Cindy Bella (or the Glass Slipper), and a winter production of award-winning Les Liaisons Dangereuses directed by Tina Packer,featuring this season’s Bad Dates star Elizabeth Aspenlieder, a show that stretches S&Co.’s upcoming season all the way to mid-March of 2010.
As always, S&Co. will remain an active part of the community year-round—even during the rare times when there is no production onstage. The Education Program has expanded its Shakespeare in the Courts program to Great Barrington this year, adding to its work with delinquent youths in Pittsfield and North Adams, and will continue to offer in-school
Residencies from Lenox to Long Island; innovative teacher workshops; the ever-expanding New England Tour of Shakespeare; the prestigious, month-long National Institute for Teaching Shakespeare conducted by Education Program Director Kevin G. Coleman at Smith College in Northhampton, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities; plus the capstone annual extravaganza the Fall Festival of Shakespeare. The Training Program will offer an expanded roster of world class actor training programs, including a Master Teacher Series, a Summer Training Institute (featuring a robust group of 30-plus college-aged actors living and learning on S&Co.’s campus for six weeks), the Performance Intern Program for young professional actors, a series of Weekend Acting Intensives around the United States and Canada, the third year of The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company this fall, and of course the signature Month-Long Acting Intensive from late December to January 2010. This announcement of the season comes shortly after S&Co. brought the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America’s (STAA) annual conference to the Northeast for the first time, bringing upwards of 150 of the world’s leading experts on Shakespeare performance to Lenox in the dead of winter.
“This community is something we’re a part of 365 days a year. We live here, we work here, we’ve got deep roots. Our important work doesn’t end when the leaves change, it’s what we do all year in the classrooms, in the rehearsal rooms, onstage and off—the invigorating and empowering examination of what it means to be alive,” says Packer, as she reflects on the past three decades as well as the current national climate. “The swings of the stock markets can’t affect the transformative power of language we’ve spent the last three decades exploring. So in response to the financial challenges that every major cultural organization is facing, we have chosen not to shrink back but to stand up and be counted.”
As part of this steadfastness to the Company’s core mission of discovery, dialogue and action in the face of the current economy, Packer is also promising an exciting roster of special guest appearances, lectures and explorations, such as a media-rich presentation by Susan Quinn, author of Furious Improvisation, a recent book about the WPA Federal Theatre Project; and a one-time only presentation called Revolutionary Moments, with actors recounting and replaying pivotal moments in history for people diverse as Thomas Jefferson and Nelson Mandela who were influenced by Shakespeare’s words. There will be special appearances by Aurea, a talented ensemble of actors and musicians presenting the words and images of Neruda and Lorca accompanied by chamber music. Throughout the summer, Resident Composer Bill Barlcay will periodically host an eclectic program of poetry slams and contemporary music in the lobby of the Bernstein Theatre after evening shows. Updates and info on new events will be available at www.shakespeare.org.
“We want everyone to feel especially welcome and intrigued by what’s happening here this year,” Packer says. “We will keep our prices affordable, because ticket prices should not be an obstacle to joining the fun. The doors are open to new ideas, new words, new music, and new audiences, and we want everyone to know: we are your Company, these are your stages, and this is our home, together.”
A streamlined design process and revamped workflow will create a simple and direct design aesthetic, reflecting the focus on the power of language. The new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre will be put to the test, hosting a dozen productions with some shared sets and design elements, while the Company’s mainstage, Founders’ Theatre, will run three Shakespeare
plays and a slew of special events. Sets and costumes will be simple, sound and lighting designs uncomplicated, and an ethic of doing more with less will extend across the Company’s operations. (over)
More details on how this approach will be executed are to come. But there is no decrease in the asset that has always fueled the Company’s unmistakable aesthetic: the power of the spoken word, which can in this context only be magnified.
“This season reflects the challenges inherent in this economic climate, without turning an inch from S&Co.’s core mission,” says Managing Director Nicholas J. Puma Jr. “This simply is not the year to roll out extravagant productions. If we relied on whiz-bang special effects and design elements, we’d be in trouble. But no economic downturn can decrease the wealth of experience built up here over 32 years, or diminish the special experience people have when they visit here. Our talented artists and amazingly committed staff know the greatest challenge is just an opportunity to do something extraordinary. It’s a tall order, but it’s what we’re here to do. No one comes to S&Co., as a patron or as an employee, to settle for the norm. What Tina and this Company do best is theatre ‘outside the ordinary.’ ”
2009-2010 season
Founders’Theatre:
hamlet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Eleanor Holdridge
Cast includes Jason Asprey, Nigel Gore, Dennis Krausnick, Kevin O’Donnell, Tina Packer, Elizabeth Raetz, others TBA.
Founders’ Theatre: June 26 – August 28
“Directorial touches that light up Shakespeare’s lines like fireworks on a summer night….Outstanding.”
The Wall Street Journal
“Terrific fun to watch…truly exciting.”
The New York Times
In 2006, this innovative production of Shakespeare’s masterwork busted box office records while storming to vociferous critical acclaim in its limited run at Founders’ Theatre. In September 2008, it toured the country in a much-discussed production that played for thousands of theatre goers. Now, it returns home for a limited engagement featuring much of the original cast, including the family circle of Tina Packer as Queen Gertrude, her son Jason Asprey as Hamlet, and her husband (and Jason’s stepfather) Dennis Krausnick as Polonius, along with Nigel Gore as Claudius. If you missed it the first time, this is a priceless second chance; if you saw the original production, this is a chance to re-connect with the unforgettable magic of S&Co.’s only exploration of what many call the greatest play in the English language.
Othello
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tony Simotes
Cast includes John Douglas Thompson and Michael Hammond, others TBA
Founders’ Theatre: July 3 – September 6
“Crisp and molten…fleet footed…forceful, beautiful…told so clearly you see it with fresh eyes”
The New York Times
“Lean, clean…terrific dash and elegance…cinematic in the best sense””
The Wall Street Journal
Othello was the talk of the Berkshires last summer, earning ecstatic critical acclaim while packing houses through a limited run in August and becoming the hottest ticket in town. The “mighty magic” of the play was too great to let it go away without offering another chance for those who were shut out the first time, as well as those who crave a chance to experience its power all over again. Featuring John Douglas Thompson in the title role and Michael Hammond as Iago, and again under the direction of incoming Artistic Director Tony Simotes, this acclaimed production puts the power of the word in the forefront.
twelfth night
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jonathan Croy
Cast includes Kevin O’Donnell, others TBA
Founders’ Theatre: July 24 – September 5
“Laugh yourself into stitches.” Twelfth Night, 3.2
Some comedies are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.
For the first time on its new property, S&Co. presents one of The Bard’s most outrageous comedies. Get your laughs back to back, tipsy- turvy, upside down, and all through the house in Shakespeare’s festive holiday of misrule, madness, switched identities, gender bending and comic fantasy. Enjoy the exploits of Feste the Clown, Sir Toby Belch, the conniving Malvolio, and a comic festival of misplaced love and, yes, happy endings.
Written in 1604, Twelfth Night unfolds in Illyria, a land of obsession, lusty clowns, and mistaken identity. The play opens with the love-sick Duke Orsino pining away for the unattainable Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, a shipwreck that separates a twin brother and sister (Viola and Sebastian) delivers young Viola onto Illyria’s shores. Thinking her brother dead and seeking employment with Orsino, Viola disguises herself as a man (Cesario) and promptly becomes Orsino’s servant. The only part she had not planned on was falling passionately in love with him…and the Countess falling just as hard for her.
diva Series (in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre):
Shirley Valentine, the actors rehearse the story of Charlotte Salomon, and Golda’s Balcony
A trio of special, limited engagement productions that demonstrate, celebrate and resonate the power of the female spirit and voice, and what one woman can accomplish when she commits. Here are the stories of Golda Meir, the lioness mother who commanded the world stage and built a free country; Shirley Valentine, the privately comical wife, mother and nobody/everybody anonymous who finds the spark in her heart to find herself all over again; and Charlotte Salomon, the vivacious, unbridled young artist who saw a form that no other artist before her dared to see or create and who passed it on to the world just before her life was taken by the Nazis.
These performances are dedicated to Elayne P. Bernstein, who knows the power of one woman’s spirit.
Shirley Valentine
By Willy Russell
Production assisted by Jenna Ware
Cast: Tina Packer
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: May 27 – 31, and September 11
“I used to be the mother. I used to be the wife. But now I’m Shirley Valentine again. Would you like to join me for a drink?” Shirley Valentine
Artistic Director Tina Packer reprises her role as Shirley Valentine, the irrepressible house wife who uncovers her independence and strength in this all-time audience favorite. Shirley Valentine warmed the hearts and tickled the funny bones of thousands of New England theatre goers when Packer performed the role at Shakespeare & Company to critical acclaim in 1991, and again in 1995 under the direction of Patrick Swanson. She had previously performed it in Boston several times in the 1980’s.
the actors rehearse the story of Charlotte Salomon
By David Bridel, Penny Kreitzer and Jonathan Rest
Directed by Jonathan Rest
Cast: Penny Kreitzer
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: June 3 – 14, and September 12 (over)
The Actors Rehearse the Story of Charlotte Salomontells the remarkable story of an astonishing artist who fled Nazi Germany to France in 1939, only to be apprehended by the Gestapo in occupied Vichy in 1943. In the interval, she created a
startling artistic oeuvre: 1325 notebook-sized gouache paintings, accompanied by textural narration and operatic musical
cues. She arranged 769 of them into scenes and acts and titled this epic Life or Theater? (Leben? Oder Theater?). At the age of 26, shortly before she was arrested by the Gestapo, Salomon gave her works to a trusted friend, saying, "Keep this safe. It is my whole life." Soon thereafter she was taken to Auschwitz, where she was murdered.
This provocative work is structured as a play-within-a-play, telling the true story of a group of actors who attempted to present Salomon’s story at the Jerusalem Festival in 1982. They struggle to present a truthful voice, in the face of the differing views of Charlotte’s stepmother Paula Lindberg, a famous opera singer at the time. As the story unfolds, Lindberg is forced to confront truths about herself, her relationship with her deceased stepdaughter, and the artist’s responsibility in the world. The Actors Rehearse the Story of Charlotte Salomonis based on actress Penny Kreitzer’s experience as a member of that troupe.
Golda’s Balcony
By William Gibson
Directed by Daniel Gidron
Cast: Annette Miller
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: June 17 – July 3, and September 13
This production of Golda’s Balcony is dedicated to our beloved friend and neighbor whose loss has been deeply felt within the Company and around the world. We celebrate and acknowledge the incredible depth and scope of Bill’s work, his life-long passion of story-telling and truths he has held, as if a mirror for all of us to be challenged and inspired by. William Gibson’s passionate portrayal of one of the most fascinating leaders of the 20th century was hailed by critics and audiences alike when it made its world premiere at Shakespeare & Company in 2002. While awaiting word from the White House and dreading a potential Doomsday scenario, Meir reflects on her life and the difficult personal and political decisions that have led her to office: from her first memories of her father, a carpenter, nailing boards against a door in Kiev to prevent a pogrom’s invasion, to her growing up and falling in love in Milwaukee; from her immigration to Palestine, to her struggle to prioritize family and Zionism; from the British Mandate (1914-1948) through the Second World War, to the establishment of Israel (1948); from Israel’s War of Independence through the 1956 Suez War and the 1967 Middle East War, to the horrors of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. "What is the price for survival,” Meir asks in the play. “What happens when idealism becomes power?"
also in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre:
romeo and juliet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jonathan Croy
Cast: Paul D’Agostino, Ben Brinton, Kaitlin Henderson, Alyssa Hughlett, Kelley Johnston, Sean Kazarian and Daniel Kurtz
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: May 21 – June 7
The company’s annual New England Tour of Shakespeare provides a feast of performance and workshop exploration for students throughout New England as well as New York. This year, we are turning the remarkably talented and versatile Tour personnel loose in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre for two weeks of performances open to the general public. What better way to kick off the summer than with an invigorating take on one of Shakespeare’s best-loved tragedies, presented by some of the Company’s up-and-coming actors?
This is a 90-minute production featuring a seven-member cast who take on multiple roles, placing the focus on a clear and powerful delivery of Shakespeare’s text. The production is modeled after Shakespeare’s own touring shows, which took to the countryside when the plague shook London and closed down the theatres.
Pinter’s Mirror: A slight ache, Family Voices, and Victoria Station
By Harold Pinter
Directed by Normi Noel
Cast include Elizabeth Ingram, Malcolm Ingram, and others TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: June 11 – August 2
“Sometimes a writer has to smash the mirror – for it is on the other side of that mirror that the truth stares at us.” Harold Pinter
Three brilliant one-act plays commemorating and celebrating the incisive voice and darkly comedic insight of Harold Pinter, an artistic genius and treasure who passed away last year. Performed by Elizabeth and Malcolm Ingram, it’s a rare opportunity for audiences to see and hear two exceptionally trained and gifted actors put life into Pinter’s taut language, tense pauses and deeply clever sense of meaning behind the words we say and the conversations we never have.
Lunch Box Shakespeare:
measure for measure
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Dave Demke
Cast: S&Co.’s 2009 Performance Intern Program participants
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: July 10 – September 5
As it did when first performed at the start of 17th century, this tale can still, within a few minutes, engage an audience of every age. Perhaps there’s even more appreciation and recognition of character today than ever. Isabella, a naïve and inexperienced girl must choose between the death of her condemned brother Claudio or give up her virginity to Lord Angelo, a corrupt, minor politician who can commute the sentence. It sounds like a melodrama, or heavy-handed tragedy, but it was written as a thinly veiled comedy about hypocrisy, corruption and sex for trade in high places, which never go out of fashion or stop pleasing audiences. It’s even more laughable to contemporary audiences overly saturated by morality propositions imposed by prime-time TV and Hollywood cautionary tales.
devil’s advocate
Written by Donald Freed
Directed by Dee Evans
Cast includes Ignatious Anthony and Dennis Krausnick
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: July 30 – August 16
With the most powerful military force in the hemisphere waiting outside, a despot seeks asylum as he teeters on the brink of imprisonment, exile or death. He has a strange and shocking tale to tell, and devastating accusations to make. Will his confession be enough to bring absolution for a litany of terrible crimes—or perhaps place the blame onto someone else?
Shakespeare & Company presents the North American debut of Devil’s Advocate, the story of Manuel Noriega’s one night of asylum in the Vatican embassy before surrendering to the U.S. military waiting outside. It won the 2006 PEN Award for Drama. This two-hander features S&Co. Founder, Director of Training and actor, Dennis Krausnick, and the UK’s Mercury Theatre Company’s Associate Artist, Ignatious Anthony.
The Dreamer Examines His Pillow
By John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Tod Randolph
Cast includes John Douglas Thompson, and others TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: August 7 – September 6
"…pungent, thought-provoking, original, poetic…and leading by stylized, fantasticated ways to genuinely startling illuminations." New York Magazine.
Donna has broken up with her boyfriend, but can’t let him go. Dad has lost Donna’s mother, and can’t paint anymore. When Donna drops by for the first time in a few years, the confrontation between father and daughter will open up complex, ancient questions about women and men, sex and truth, art and love, and forever alter the course of both their lives. Playwright Shanley’s work for stage, screen and television has been highly celebrated– (over)
he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film Moonstruck, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play (among several other awards) for his 2005 play Doubt: A Parable. He has also been nominated for an Emmy, and his adaptation of his play for the motion picture Doubt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
White People
By J.T. Rogers
Directed by Anna Brownsted
Cast includes Michael Hammond, and others TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: August 21 – September 4
“White People is remarkable. The play seems less written than merely transcribed; there’s not one false turn of phrase in it.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
What does it mean to be a white American? What does it mean for any American to live in a country that is not the one you were promised? White People is a controversial and darkly funny play about the lives of three ordinary Americans placed under the spotlight: Martin, a Brooklyn-born, high powered attorney for a white-shoe law firm in St. Louis, MO; Mara Lynn, a housewife and former homecoming queen in Fayetteville, NC; and Alan, a young professor struggling to find his way in New York City. Through heart-wrenching confessions, they wrestle with guilt, prejudice, and the price they and their children must pay for their actions. White People is a candid, brutally honest meditation on race and language in our culture.
the hound of the baskervilles
By Steven Canny and John Nicholson
Directed by Tony Simotes
Cast: TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: September 26 – November 8
“Theatre doesn’t come much sillier.” The Daily Telegraph
“Simple seeming gags are transformed into theatrical gems.” The Observer
“I had to keep wiping my eyes at humour which was consistently of the loosen-your-belt variety.” Liverpool Daily Post
A hoot. A howl. This American premier finds Holmes and Watson connecting straight to the funny bone in an hilarious adaptation of the Conan Doyle classic. Performed by three actors playing multiple roles, with multiple accents and quick-change beards, in this ghostly story Sherlock finds the villain and gets belly laughs. Created as an audience treat, in the finest British beer hall tradition, it is sprinkled with visual and verbal gags, pratfalls and gaffs. Everyone will enjoy and laugh out loud and often at this hilarious spoof on Sherlock, Dr. Watson and the Victorian literary genre.
Cindy Bella (or the glass slipper)
By Irina Brook and Anna Brownsted
Directed by Irina Brook
Cast: TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: December 3 – December 20
Cindy Bella (Or The Glass Slipper) is a magically updated spin on the classic folk tale Cinderella. It is a contemporary, urban, romantic fairytale of Cindy, a streetwise accordion player with an unconquerable love for music, singing and dancing, and the very handsome, cosmopolitan Prince who falls head over heels for her. Her hard-as-nails stepfather and outrageously wicked stepsisters try to stand in the way of their love, but a modern-day fairy Godmother shows up to help save Cindy’s dream. Cindy Bella (Or The Glass Slipper) was presented as a work-in-progress for two special performances last year, and now returns for its world premiere.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
By Christopher Hampton
Adapted from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Directed by Tina Packer
Cast includes Elizabeth Aspenlieder, others TBA
Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre: January 29—March 14
La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid" ("Revenge is a dish that is eaten cold")
Full of devious plotting, sexual intrigue and morally ambiguous motivations, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) was ahead of its time as a novel in 1872 and still may be ahead of its time today. This rich and deviously delightful adaptation is like a decadent chocolate you just can’t resist.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) is adapted from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Though de Laclos wrote under the patronage of France’s most powerful aristocrats (Marie Antoinette was said to be a big fan of the book), his morally ambiguous book was re-interpreted by some after the French Revolution as a subversive dig at the Ancien Regime. British playwright Christopher Hampton adapted it for the stage in 1986, causing a sensation and winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. It was also nominated in 1987 for the Tony Award for Best Play, and in 2008 for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
Family friendly, Outdoor Bankside Festival
Around the grounds, the Banksyde Terrace, and in the tented, outdoor Rose Footprint Theatre: June 1 – September 6
In 1590 in Shakespeare’s London, the southern shore of the Thames River, called The Banksyde, was home to brigands,
brothels, rogue businesses, and an explosion of theatrical creativity not seen before or since. Londoners would cross the river to experience plays, contests, shows, and to participate in the creation of a new language and a new way of looking at the world. Join the festivities at the south end of the property and on the banks surrounding Founders’ Theatre, Founders’ Alley, and the Rose Footprint, where you’ll find poets, dancers, musicians, and capering clowns. Josie’s Place will be open before and after all performances, offering light fare and drinks for purchase. Picnickers are welcome on the grounds. The walking paths will be open at the north end of the property.
Toad of Toad Hall
By. A. A. Milne
Adapted from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Directed by Irina Brook
Cast: TBA
Rose Footprint Theatre: June 20—August 29
This delightful play excerpts the story of Mr. Toad from the beloved children’s classic, The Wind in the Willows. Focusing on Toad’s adventures in the book—including his imprisonment, excape, and daringly successful efforts to win back his home—this is a rollicking tale sure to delight old, young, and anyone in-between. It is performed in two parts, on alternating performance days, with both parts performed on Saturdays.
Word Play
By Dennis Krausnick
Director: TBA
Cast includes S&Co.’s 2009 Performance Internship Program participants
Outdoor Rose Footprint: August 13 – September 6
This world premier, written by Company Director of Training, actor, playwright and Founding member Dennis Krausnick, is an outrageous splash of Shakespeare. This fast-paced performance offers startling bits of some of Shakespeare’s silliest and startling insults with just the right dash of fact, folklore, and surprises thrown in. It is a virtual feast of language that is accessible, provocative, informative, poignant, and always engaging. Presented by the Company’s renowned Training Program, the show runs under one hour.
Shakespeare & Young Company
Founders’ Theatre: May 9, May 10
Outdoor Rose Footprint: August 19, August 21
From Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet, no writer has captured the desire, volatility and energy of adolescence better than
Shakespeare. In his words, youth lives eternally. For these two special days, join our Young Company actors aged 13-17 as they perform Shakespeare’s works with a fierce and fiery temperament to match his own; and deal with life themes that make teenage years so formative, individual and indelible–filled with unbridled passion for friendship, love, justice, and hope.
Studio Festival of Plays
Founders’ Theatre: September 7
A full day and night celebrating five different, compelling plays presented as readings or staged readings by Company artists. The annual festival introduces the next generation of great plays and performers. Several Studio scripts have successfully gone on to become full productions at S&Co., including last year’s The Goat Woman of Corivis County, and other popular titles such as Martha Mitchell Calling, No Background Music, Golda’s Balcony, The Scarlet Letter, A Tanglewood Tale, Wit and this season’s The Dreamer Examines His Pillow and White People.
The Declaration of Independence
Outdoor Rose Footprint: July 4, at 3pm
This is the Company’s traditional community reading of the document that heralded the birth of democracy in the New
World. With eloquence that Shakespeare might have envied, inspired by the philosophical thought springing directly from the intellectual ferment of the English Renaissance, the 18th century American colonist Thomas Jefferson penned a political statement as complex and controversial as history itself.
Preludes
outdoors on the Prelude stage, on the Banksyde Terrace beside Founders’ Theatre at 6:45 pm
(Preludes run prior to all Founders’ Theatre evening shows beginning June 1)
Pre-show fun for the entire family to enjoy! Dances, combats, Shakespeare, song and other ten-minute surprises presented by our very own Company artists.
Tickets for the 2009-2010 Season go on sale the morning of Thursday, March 5. To receive a season brochure, purchase tickets and gift certificates, or inquire about discounts and further information, please contact the Shakespeare & Company Box Office at (413) 637-3353 or visit the website at www.shakespeare.org or by e-mail boxoffice@shakespeare.org.