Dave Read

April 26, 2009 performance reviewed by Frances Benn Hall.

The Berkshire Theatre Festival opened its 2009 season early at the Unicorn with a one day event that united the Shakespearean macho of actor Jonathan Epstein with the Sonnets of William Shakespeare, all in honor of the birthday of the Bard.

Billed as Love in the Afternoon; Shakespeare’s Sonnets and the Story Behind Them one might have expected an experienced actor with a beautifully cadenced voice to stand behind a lectern reading from the sonnets and linking them with biographical comment.

Indeed a lectern stood on left stage. But Epstein was not behind it. Instead he was all over the stage and even out into the aisles among the audience. And there was no reading of sonnets. The sonnets were in Epstein’s head and as he became the speakers within them, he pulled us, the audience, into actual participation in the event.

With enthusiasm and glee he had the whole audience experiencing assonance in the joys of joining in all the repetitions of a single vowel such as ‘A’ reappearing in a sonnet’s first twelve lines, only to be avoided in the couplet.

At other times he cajoled an audience member onto the stage to participate in the delivery of a sonnet. When alone on the stage he was often Shakespeare himself: scolding, envying, or flattering the recipient of his words. And his delivery heightened the moods, tones, and concerns of the poems’ contents.

A much-quoted (and in my day memorized by school children) sonnet such as “Let us not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments” can have its meaning interpreted depending upon vocal delivery, point of view of the speaker within the poem, and the mixture of bawdy Anglo-Saxon puns entwined in the more sedate classical English.

Between sonnets Epstein chatted concerning just who was being told what in a particular sonnet. And he called aspects of our audience participation “five finger exercises for the soul.”

All in all, a delightful ninety minutes, difficult as it is to attempt to describe it.

It would be a boon if Jonathan Epstein could return each April to share his Shakespearean knowledge and dramatic experience and make “Love in the Afternoon” a yearly occurrence such as the BTF has done with Dickens at Christmas.

The Berkshire Fringe Festival is looking for technical theater and performance interns to work inthe Berkshires of western Massachusetts July 25th – August 18th in support of the 2009 Berkshire Fringe Festival which runs Wednesday July 29 – Monday, August 17.

Performance and Technical Theater concentrations give our interns experience in the areas they are most interested in. Performers participate in professionally directed staged readings of brand new plays in the EarlyStages program, and will mentor with one of the Artistic Directors. Technical interns work side-by-side with our tech staff all summer.

Go to their website for more info. and to apply.

David Auburn will direct this summer’s production of Sick, by Zayd Dohrn, at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, artistic director Kate Maguire has announced. Mr. Auburn has been working steadily as a director for both film and the stage since winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his play Proof. For Sick, he will be working with his fellow Julliard alum Zayd Dohrn in bringing this intriguing black comedy to the stage. This marks Mr. Auburn’s first return to Berkshire Theatre Festival since he worked with the company 13 years ago on a workshop production of his first play, Skyscraper.

On working this season with Mr. Auburn, Ms. Maguire says, “Obviously, getting someone of David’s stature to join us on this relatively new work is a dream come true. David combines both a writer’s sensibilities with a keen directorial eye and is the perfect person to help bring Zayd’s vision to the stage. I’m very excited to see the results.”

Sick is the story of the Krebs family who live in a home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This home has been turned into a veritable “clean room” to provide safe haven to the children of the Krebs family, both of whom suffer appear to suffer from severe allergies. But despite Mrs. Krebs’ attempts to protect her family with scrubbers, masks, and isolation, the delicate balance is brought to the breaking point when her husband’s academic career brings a stranger into their safe house. In its New England Premiere, Sick seeps onto the stage as a terrifying family drama filled with dark comedy, mistrust, and shocking realism.

Sick runs on Mondays through Saturdays August 18 through September 6. Show times are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, with matinee performances on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2pm. There will be no matinee performance on Thursday, September 3 and the show will close with a special matinee on Sunday, September 6 at 2pm. Opening/Press night is August 22 at 8pm.

Full details: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival schedule

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival schedule runs from June 20, to August 30, 2009 comprising 117 ticketed performances along with 200 free events. The Pillow has begun a Student Rush Program, with $20 tickets for college students when available. (Students can email info@jacobspillow.org for details.) Also, the Doris Duke Theatre now will open on Wednesday evenings, adding one more full performance to each week’s schedule.

Free event highlights include an exclusive exhibition focused on the dance imagery of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and writer Jules Feiffer, created for and debuting at the Pillow; a performance honoring the 100th birthday of choreographer Erick Hawkins; a PillowTalk with Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show;” dancers of the youth program made famous by the film Mad Hot Ballroom; and a discussion with Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui just a few hours before the world premiere of his latest work, Orbo Novo.

Jacob’s Pillow – free exhibits June 24 – August 30, 2009

A Dance to Jules Feiffer – Blake’s Barn

Open Tues-Sun, noon through final curtain

This exclusive exhibition, created for and debuting at Jacob’s Pillow, focuses on the dance imagery of renowned cartoonist and writer Pulitzer Prize-winner Jules Feiffer, known for his iconic modern dancer and her “Dance to Spring,” among many other social commentaries. Feiffer’s solo dancer in a black leotard was a regular fixture in The Village Voice for decades, and the first 10 years of strips have now been collected in a new volume entitled Explainers.

Feiffer will also take part in a PillowTalk on August 5 and a special reading of Which Puppy?, at the Pillow’s Community Day on July 26. Which Puppy?, a new children’s book about the Obama family’s search for a pet, is illustrated by Feiffer and authored by his daughter Kate Feiffer, who will also participate in the reading on July 26.

Alvin Ailey: Anniversary Salute – Blake’s Barn

Open Tues-Sun, noon through final curtain

In recognition of the 50th anniversary season of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Jacob’s Pillow commemorates its seminal relationship with Ailey, which began in 1953. This exhibit features photographs by John Lindquist and John Van Lund that have been rarely or never seen, including some of Ailey’s earliest works for the stage.

The Art of Merce Cunningham – Ted Shawn Theatre Lobby

Open 30 minutes prior to performances

Since Merce Cunningham first performed at Jacob’s Pillow in 1955, his works have been accompanied by the designs of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and other distinctive visual artists. As a special tribute to Cunningham’s 90th birthday, these artistic collaborations are documented in costumes, sketches, posters, and other artifacts from the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Archives.

Tap! – Doris Duke Studio Theatre Lobby

Open 30 minutes prior to performances

This photography exhibit features many important artists that have tapped across the Pillow’s stages, including Jimmy Slyde, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, and a host of others.

Outsiders – Bakalar Studio

Open to the public whenever classes or rehearsals are not in session

Photographers have been documenting dance at the Pillow since the organization’s beginnings in the 1930s. On display here are a few highlights of these open-air images, including classics by John Lindquist and John Van Lund alongside more recent photos by Christopher Duggan, Mike Van Sleen, and others.

Jacob’s Pillow Archives – Blake’s Barn

Open Tues-Sun, noon through final curtain

This informal library and reading room allows impromptu visitors to view videos, browse through books, access the Pillow’s computer catalog, or peruse permanent collections of Pillow programs and photographs. Pillow Interactive, the popular touch-screen computer kiosk, provides instant access to rare film clips and dance history information ranging from the present day back to the 1930s.

Earbud

Earbud–a tiny marble sheathed in foam
to wear like an interior earring so you
can enjoy private noises wherever you go,
protected from any sudden silence.
Only check your batteries, then copy
a thousand secret songs and stories
on the tiny pod you carry in your pocket.
You are safe now from other noises made
by other people, other machines, by chance,
noises you have not chosen as your own.
To get your attention, I touch your arm
to show you the tornado or the polar bear.
Sometimes I catch you humming or talking to the air
as if to a shrunken lover waiting in your ear.

American Life in Poetry: Column 213 – By Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006

Bill Holm, one of the most intelligent and engaging writers of our northern plains, died on February 25th. He will be greatly missed. He and I were of the same generation and we shared the same sense of wonder, amusement, and skepticism about the course of technology. I don’t yet own an Earbud, but I won’t need to, now that we have Bill’s poem.

Berkshire Playwrights Lab announces that award-winning contemporary playwrights Joan Ackermann, Eric Bogosian, Larry Gelbart, and David Mamet will write original short plays to be read by celebrated actors Karen Allen, Elizabeth Franz, Dan Lauria, Wendie Malick, Peter Riegert, Jay Thomas, and others at the organization’s Gala Season Opening on Friday, May 29, 2009, 8pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, Mass.).

Proceeds from the Gala Season Opening will benefit the Berkshire Playwrights Lab Free Staged Reading Series, which will take place on Wednesdays at 8pm on June 10, July 1, July 15, July 29, August 12, August 26, and September 16 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Specific play titles and casts TBA.

Founded in 2006 by theater professionals Joe Cacaci, Bob Jaffe, Jim Frangione, and Matthew Penn, Berkshire Playwrights Lab is dedicated to encouraging, developing, and presenting new plays. Through readings, workshops, and fully-staged productions, the Lab provides emerging and established writers with a professional and creative environment, while offering audiences the unique and provocative opportunity to share in the dramatic evolution of premiere works. For more information about this new organization, see www.berkshireplaywrightslab.org.

The Gala Season Opening will feature original material written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet (Glengary Glen Ross) and Pulitzer Prize finalist Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio). Larry Gelbart is best known for writing the musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the television series, M*A*S*H, and for co-writing the Oscar-nominated screenplay, Tootsie. Playwright Joan Ackermann is the co-founder and artistic director of Mixed Company, a twenty-five-year-old theater in Great Barrington, Mass., and she was a long-time writer and producer for the television series, Arli$$.

The evening’s actors are equally accomplished as the playwrights. Karen Allen is best known for starring in the films, Raiders of the Lost Ark and National Lampoon’s Animal House. Elizabeth Franz won the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman. Dan Lauria played Jack Arnold (the dad) on the television series, The Wonder Years. Wendie Malick was twice nominated for an Emmy and once for a Golden Globe for playing Nina Van Horn on the sitcom, Just Shoot Me!. Peter Riegert starred in the films, Local Hero and Traffic, and in many David Mamet plays on Broadway. Jay Thomas is a two-time Emmy winner for playing Jerry Gold on television series, Murphy Brown.