{"id":1346,"date":"2009-03-04T11:16:49","date_gmt":"2009-03-04T15:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.berkshirelinks.com\/berkshires-news\/?p=1346"},"modified":"2009-03-04T11:16:49","modified_gmt":"2009-03-04T15:16:49","slug":"shakespeare-and-companys-2009-schedule-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/shakespeare-and-companys-2009-schedule-details\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare and Company’s 2009 schedule overview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shakespeare and Company, the Berkshires’ theatre company founded in Lenox 32 years ago has announced an ambitious schedule for the 2009-10 season, Tina Packer’s final season as Artistic Director. Ms. Packer will turn her focus to the long-term vision of the Company, and to her own acting and writing, upon the arrival in June of her successor and co-founder Tony Simotes. He is a long-time Company actor, director, and fight choreographer whose first job here was as Puck<\/strong> in A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em> performed in the Company\u2019s first season, at The Mount<\/strong>, in 1978. <\/p>\n

At-a-glance: season details Shakespeare and Company 2009-10 season<\/a><\/p>\n

plenty of Shakespeare<\/h2>\n

Shakespeare and Company’s 2009-10 schedule includes reprisals of Hamlet<\/em> and Othello<\/em> featuring most of the casts from the plays’ original Lenox, MA<\/strong> productions. The real-life family trio, Tina Packer, Jason Asprey, and Dennis Krausnick<\/strong>, will reprise their roles in Hamlet<\/em> alongside Nigel Gore<\/strong> and many other returning actors. Review of June 26 performance of Hamlet at Shakespeare and Co.<\/a><\/p>\n

John Douglas Thompson<\/strong> and Michael Hammond<\/strong> return for this season’s production of Othello<\/em>, directed by Tony Simotes<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s mainstage comedy will be Shakespeare’s<\/strong> Twelfth Night,<\/em> with Jonathan Croy making his mainstage directorial debut, with Kevin O\u2019Donnell<\/strong> playing Malvolio<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

The 2009-10 season ropens on May 21st with a special two-week run in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre<\/strong> of Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, capping off its five-month New England Tour of Shakespeare to young audiences across the Northeast. It will be directed by Jonathan Croy<\/strong>, with original music by Company member Marc Scipione<\/strong>, this Romeo and Juliet<\/em>. Later in the season, the Company will introduce a new program, the Lunch Box Shakespeare Series<\/strong>, presenting Measure for Measure<\/em> in the Bernstein Theatre, as performed by the best and the brightest of Shakespeare and Company’s young professional actor training program.<\/p>\n

remembering Harold Pinter<\/h2>\n

The season also offers a special program titled Pinter\u2019s Mirror<\/em>, honoring the taut short plays of Nobel Prize<\/strong>-winner Harold Pinter, who died last year, with three celebrated one-act plays, Victoria Station<\/em>, Family Voices,<\/em> and A Slight Ache<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Pinter\u2019s Mirror<\/em> features Elizabeth Ingram<\/strong> and Malcolm Ingram<\/strong>, and will be directed by Normi Noel<\/strong>. Other provocative new works include the Pen Literary Award<\/strong>-winning Devil\u2019s Advocate<\/em> by Donald Freed<\/strong>, and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow<\/em>, by the multiple award-winning John Patrick Shanley<\/strong>, starring John Douglas Thompson.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

introducing the Diva Series<\/h2>\n

The Diva Series<\/strong> will be three one-woman shows playing for limited engagements. Annette Miller<\/strong> reprises her role as Golda Meir<\/strong> in Golda\u2019s Balcony<\/em>, a special dedication to William Gibson<\/strong> 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\u2019s<\/strong> Shirley Valentine<\/em>. The series also includes the devastatingly powerful new work The Actors Rehearse the Story of Charlotte Salomon<\/em>, featuring newcomer Penny Kreitzer<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bankside Festival<\/h2>\n

The family-friendly Bankside Festival includes Irina Brook\u2019s uproarious production of Toad of Toad Hall by A. A. Milne, adapted from Kenneth Grahame\u2019s 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\u2019); 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\u2019 autumn splendor, on October 10. <\/p>\n

fall and holiday season shows<\/h2>\n

Following a jam-packed summer season, the year continues with an exciting fall show\u2014a Tony Simotes<\/strong>-directed farcical take on the Sherlock Holmes<\/strong> story The Hound of the Baskervilles<\/em>\u2014plus a newly added holiday season production, Irina Brook\u2019s<\/strong> direction of Cindy Bella (or the Glass Slipper)<\/em>, and a winter production of award-winning Les Liaisons Dangereuses<\/em> directed by Tina Packer<\/strong>, featuring this season\u2019s Bad Dates star Elizabeth Aspenlieder<\/strong>, a show that stretches Shakespeare & Company’s upcoming season all the way to mid-March of 2010.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> or by e-mail boxoffice@shakespeare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shakespeare and Company’s 2009 schedule of theatre in the Berkshires runs to March 2010 and features reprisals of popular Shakespeare plays Othello, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night as well as three short Harold Pinter plays and introduces the Diva Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idealpoetry.com\/rwc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}