#Elizabeth Aspenlieder

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REVIEW: "The Waverly Gallery" at Shakespeare & Company

REVIEW: “The Waverly Gallery” at Shakespeare & Company

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Singer's Notes 129: The Consul, the Tramp, and America's Sweetheart at Oldcastle; Hamlet at Shakespeare & Co.; Koženád at Union College

Singer’s Notes 129: The Consul, the Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart at Oldcastle; Hamlet at Shakespeare & Co.; Koženád at Union College

David Joseph as Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Aspenlieder as Mary Pickford in The Consul, the Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart at the Oldcastle Theatre Company Oldcastle Theatre Company’s The Consul, the Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart, a world premiere by John Morogiello Yet another success for this Company. There was vivid acting. Elizabeth Aspenlieder, as Mary Pickford, is an arresting actress,…

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Shakespeare & Company Announces Complete 2020 Season

Shakespeare & Company Announces Complete 2020 Season

Adam Davis and Allyn Burrows. (Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company is excited to announce its 2020 summer season, May 21 – October 18, 2020. Under the theme “The Labyrinth of Love” the season includes Shakespeare titles: King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, and, in a special workshop production, Measure for Measure. The contemporary plays this season are The Lifespan of a…

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Shakespeare & Company Announces Complete 2020 Season

Shakespeare & Company Announces Complete 2020 Season

Adam Davis and Allyn Burrows.

(Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company is excited to announce its 2020 summer season, May 21 – October 18, 2020. Under the theme “The Labyrinth of Love” the season includes Shakespeare titles: King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, and, in a special workshop production, Measure for Measure. The contemporary plays this season are The Lifespan of a Fact 

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Berkshire Playwright Jane Denitz Smith Loves Dialogue

Berkshire Playwright Jane Denitz Smith Loves Dialogue

Playwright Jane Denitz Smith

Jane Denitz Smith has always been a writer. Over the years she’s written in a variety of genres, but playwriting is a format to which she keeps returning. 

  “I’ve always loved dialogue, it’s my place of comfort, what I felt was most interesting,” Smith explained, “I am fascinated by the tension between what’s said and what’s felt.”

  This coming Sunday, January 26,…

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Shakespeare & Company Wins Six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

Shakespeare & Company Wins Six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

Top honors for Outstanding Play Production went to the Company’s production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company is proud to have been honored with six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards. At a ceremony held in Pittsfield last week, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented 23 Berkshire Theatre Awards. This was the fourth year the awards…

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by Macey Levin

  Kenneth Lonergan’s play The Waverly Gallery had its off-Broadway debut in 2000 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize the following year. It dramatizes the story of Gladys Green who, over a two-year period, slips from mild senility to full-blown dementia. The original production and the recent revival, which brought Elaine May back to Broadway after a 50-year absence, obviously had an emotional effect on audiences and reviewers. The current offering at Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox, Massachusetts, however, is more labored than profound.

  Directed by Tina Packer, the founder and former artistic director of the company, the first act works fairly well. Gladys, a lawyer and activist when younger, is now the owner of a small unprofitable art gallery on Waverly Place off Washington Square in Manhattan. We meet Gladys (Annette Miller) and her grandson Daniel Reed (David Gow) at lunch. Her failing memory is obvious, but she is still in touch with reality. Their conversation is primarily expository and Gladys’s tics, repetition of comments and questions, and her search for memories, though comic, effectively foreshadow her slow decline.

  In addition to the main thematic thread, the play also focuses on the effect the disease has on Daniel, his mother Ellen Fine (Elizabeth Aspenlieder) and step-father Howard Fine (Michael F. Toomey.) Through a series of monologues directed to the audience, Daniel informs us of Gladys’s disintegration and the family’s angst. Don Bowman (David Bertoldi), an inept artist, shares Gladys’s delusional dreams. She allows him to live in the back room of the gallery as he prepares for a longed-for art show. It is soon revealed that the owner of the gallery’s property intends to take it over and turn it into a restaurant resulting in even more severe consternation.

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Though the subject matter is what is important in this play, the script is repetitive. Oftentimes characters comfort Gladys with the same expressions or repeatedly complain to each other about her behavior and/or needs. A number of dialogue sequences overlap preventing the audience from clearly understanding what is being said. These elements may be found in real life, but on a stage, especially with the number of times it occurs in this production, it is problematic. This may be the director’s choice. The set changes, eat up a lot of time. The cast, especially in the second act, occasionally over-acts; comforting embraces, for instance, are held for an extended amount of time as are occasional silences.

  Playwright Lonergan has based Gladys on his grandmother. Annette Miller’s performance as Gladys rings with truth as many of us can probably verify from personal experience. Her descent into the disease is skillfully portrayed and her pain is real. Daniel deals with his grandmother more often than the others and David Gow’s performance is very sensitively played; he is supportive and tender until, unable to withstand Gladys’s constant demands, he is finally engulfed by emotional turmoil. Aspenlieder and Toomey effectively portray the frustration and anger provoked by the helplessness they encounter. David Bertoldi’s inept artist Dan Bowman is the most compassionate of the people in Gladys’s life and he plays it with great sincerity. His inability to accurately assess his talent mirrors Gladys’s unreal expectations to find a job and live on her own.

  The set, basically black and white, designed by Juliana Von Haubrich is an open space with several chairs, a sofa, and a table that is taken offstage and reset several times. The upstage wall rotates to delineate different locations. As mentioned above the numerous scene changes take a goodly amount of time. The lighting by James W. Bilnoski is unobtrusive as is Brendan Boyle’s sound. There is a puzzling choice by costume designer Elizabeth Rocha. Gladys and Don change costumes as time goes on, while Daniel, Ellen and Howard wear the same costume from beginning to end.

  Director Packer has effectively mined the humor in the play to help contrast with the harrowing and heartbreaking situation the characters face, but it could be even more effective if the production were tighter.

  The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Director: Tina Packer; Associate director: Michelle Joyner; Cast: Elizabeth Aspenlieder (Ellen Fine) David Bertoldi (Don Bowman) David Gow (Daniel Reed) Annette Miller (Gladys Green) Michael F. Toomey (Howard Fine); Set Designer: Juliana Von Haubrich; Lighting Designer: James W. Bilnoski; Costume Designer: Elizabeth Rocha; Sound Designer: Brendan Boyle; Stage Manager: J.P. Elins; Running Time: 2 hours; 45 minutes; one intermission; May 23 – July 14; Shakespeare & Company Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA

REVIEW: “The Waverly Gallery” at Shakespeare & Company by Macey Levin Kenneth Lonergan’s play The Waverly Gallery had its off-Broadway debut in 2000 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize the following year.

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Shakespeare & Company Opens its 2019 Season with "The Waverly Gallery"

Shakespeare & Company Opens its 2019 Season with “The Waverly Gallery”

Performances Run May 23 – July 14

“An exquisite blend of humor and sorrow.”—Broadway News

(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company‘s season opens Memorial Day Weekend with Pulitzer Prize finalist The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer. This powerful story sheds a heartrending and humorous light on the effects of senility on a family. Performances ru…

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Shakespeare & Company Announces Full 2019 Summer Season

Shakespeare & Company Announces Full 2019 Summer Season

(Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company is thrilled to announce its 2019 summer season, May 23 – October 13, 2019. Under the theme, “The Strings of the Heart,” the season includes Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, and, in a special work-shop production, Coriolanus. The contemporary plays this season are the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Waverly Gallery b…

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Shakespeare & Company Presents a Winter Studio Festival of Plays

Shakespeare & Company Presents a Winter Studio Festival of Plays

(Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce its annual Winter Studio Festival of Plays on January 19 and 20, 2019. This weekend of staged readings will showcase emerging and established playwrights, and feature Company artists. All performances will take place in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on the Shakespeare & Company campus in Lenox, Massachusetts.

“Our play reading…

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by Macey Levin

Editor’s Note: The playwright’s preferred pronoun is judy.

Since the classic Greeks created the drama there have been plays about dysfunctional families starting with Oedipus Rex followed by Hamlet, A Doll’s House, The Little Foxes, A Long Day’s Journey…, Buried Child, and now we have HIR by Taylor Mac at Shakespeare and Company’s Bernstein Theatre in Lenox, MA.  It is an edgy production of a brutal play.

Isaac (Adam Huff) expects to come home to serenity after a three-year stint in Afghanistan where he worked with the Mortuary Service retrieving body parts.  He has been dishonorably discharged for using drugs.  The living room/kitchen area is a mess with clothes strewn everywhere and nothing in the room is clean.  His father Arnold (John Hadden,) who sleeps in a cardboard carton, is in a nightgown wearing an ugly multi-colored wig, his face painted with grotesque makeup.  Isaac is greeted by his mother Paige (Elizabeth Aspenlieder) who explains the chaos along with the empty cupboards with the phrase “We don’t do that anymore.”  She proselytizes the family’s new “philosophy” of challenging accepted norms.  Isaac tentatively greets his sister, now his transgendered teen-age brother, Max (Jack Doyle) an acolyte of their mother’s new approach to life.

Arnold has had a stroke and is in a childlike state unable to be conversant.  After years of mistreating his family physically and psychologically, Paige has exacerbated his condition by not ministering to his needs and by wresting control of the family’s life.  Despite her seemingly gracious manner she rules with an iron fist and brooks no disagreement; she is a beast under the beauty.  To ameliorate Max’s transition, she changes pronouns.  They no longer use “him” or “her”; it is “hir” or “ze” so that there is no specific gender identity.  Max’s one area of disagreement with Paige is his desire to live in an anarchistic Faerie commune.

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As Isaac becomes aware of the severity of the family’s transformation, he becomes determined to rectify the conditions and put things back into their proper order.  He and Paige become antagonists, Max remaining neutral and Arnold largely unaware.  The sporadic confrontations are occasionally softened by moments of familial love and concern.

Taylor Mac is an Obie Award winning playwright/performance artist who has received a MacArthur Fellow “Genius” grant.  Many of judy’s plays are dark comedies with strong thematic statements.  In HIR judy addresses physical and emotional abuse, drug addiction, PTSD, sexual identity and the growing termination of familial values and security.  Calling the play “absurd realism,” Mac indulges in outrageous maltreatment of his characters.  The first act is a TV sitcom gone wild with preposterous dialogue and attitudes producing many guffaws, while act two grows darker as the humor evaporates.

Director Alice Reagan has staged the play effectively by keeping the manic moments under control but not minimizing the burgeoning hostility amongst the family members.  Her actors endow their roles with intelligence and energy.  Aspenlieder, a S&Co. stalwart, imbues Paige with an evangelistic spirit allowing her viciousness to emerge as situations warrant.   Her treatment of Arnold is almost savage as Hadden appears emotionally paralyzed and he captures the physicality of his post-stroke personality or lack thereof.  Huff’s Isaac is appropriately tormented when he realizes his dreams of peace are beyond him and that he must seize control of his family’s future.  Max is the softest member of the clan and Doyle uses that is a key to his opposition to those proposals with which he disagrees.  The four actors work well together to give credibility to the play’s various transitions.

Carolyn Mraz has created a seedy set that depicts the psychological nature of the characters.  Even after Isaac tries to bring order to the house, Paige disrupts everything as a matter of course.  Costume designer Charlotte Palmer-Lane has outfitted the cast realistically, including Arnold’s bizarre clothing forced on him by Paige.  The lighting design by Deb Sullivan complements the tone of the play as Amy Altadonna’s original music enhances the production.

HIR is an absorbing and bruising piece of theatre, but its intriguing situation and comments are provocative and worth a visit.

HIR by Taylor Mac; directed by Alice Reagan: Cast: Elizabeth Aspenlieder (Paige) Jack Doyle (Max) John Hadden (Arnold) Adam Huff (Isaac); Set Designer: Carolyn Mraz; Costume Designer: Charlotte Palmer-Lane; Lighting Designer: Deb Sullivan; Sound Designer/Composer: Amy Altadonna; Assistant Director: Mary Corinne Miller; Stage Manager: Fran Rubinstein; Running time: 2 hours, including one intermission; Shakespeare & Company, Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre; September 13 – October 7, 2018.

  REVIEW: “HIR” at Shakespeare & Company by Macey Levin Editor's Note: The playwright's preferred pronoun is judy. Since the classic Greeks created the drama there have been plays about dysfunctional families starting with…

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(Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company announces its 2018 summer season. Exploring themes of Delight, Deceit, and Desire, the season includes three Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, As You Like It, and Love’s Labor’s Lost; plus the New England Premiere of Morning After Grace by Carey Crim; Creditors by August Strindberg adapted by David Greig; Heisenberg by Laurence Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens; Mothers and Sons by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally; and HIR by Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with our lineup for the 2018 Season,” said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. “From stirring stories to sublime surprises, from gut punches to tender kisses, from raging battles to quiet moments, we’ve an array of programming that is sure to delight and deliver!”

The Roman Garden Theatre, inaugurated in 2017 for Shakespeare & Company’s production of The Tempest, will be re-configured for the production of As You Like It. Located adjacent to the Tina Packer Playhouse, the Roman Garden Theatre is an intimate outdoor performance space with comfortable bench and chair seating. All other performances take place in the Tina Packer Playhouse and the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre; and at The Dell at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home.

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Additional casting and details about Shakespeare & Company’s 2018 programming will be available at a later date. Following is Shakespeare & Company’s official 2018 Summer Performance Season:

Morning After Grace By Carey Crim Directed by Regge Life May 24 – July 15 Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre Featuring Corinna May * New England Premiere 

In the New England premiere of this touching comedy, playwright Carey Crim shows us with a deft hand that we are never too old to suddenly know ourselves through chance intersection with former strangers in unlikely circumstances. Angus, Abigail, and Ollie are resigned to having it all figured out, until they aren’t, leaving hope for us all as they turn the past on its ear. Regge Life returns to the Company after directing last season’s hit show God of Carnage.

Macbeth By William Shakespeare Directed by Melia Bensussen July 3 – August 5 Tina Packer Playhouse Featuring Jonathan Croy and Tod Randolph

A gripping tale of blind ambition and nefarious plotting by two of Shakespeare’s most notorious anti-heroes, Macbeth is a deliciously shadowy thrill ride. When yearning and imagination collide in the darkest recesses of a passionate mind, there may be blood. If victims fall in the consumption of power, the conscience can devour itself from within. Peace and sleep do not come without a reckoning. Such is the eternal and towering reminder of this stunning classic directed by Obie Award winner Melia Bensussen.

Creditors

By August Strindberg Adapted by David Greig Directed by Nicole Ricciardi July 19 – August 12 Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre Featuring Jonathan Epstein and Kristin Wold

Inhabiting another’s mind proves to be the psychological chess match August Strindberg once again masters in this stunning translation by John Whiting Award recipient David Greig. Strindberg called Creditors his most mature work, and in this riveting version the emotional landscape is littered with debt. The cost of love runs deep for these three characters, and if everyone owes something to someone, who can really call themselves a creditor? Nicole Ricciardi rejoins the Company for another season after directing last season’s critically acclaimed 4000 Miles.

Love’s Labor’s Lost

By William Shakespeare Directed by Kelly Galvin July 10 – August 18 The Dell at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home (Outdoors) Family-Friendly

A spoof of those who try to shun love and life, Love’s Labor’s Lost is full of witty wordplay, hilarious mishaps, and riotous comedy. The Dell is the perfect setting for this sweet coming-of-age story, with its host of delightful characters and sparkling depiction of young love.

As You Like It

By William Shakespeare Directed by Allyn Burrows August 9 – September 2 Roman Garden Theatre (Outdoors) Casting Includes Thomas Brazzle, MaConnia Chesser, Nigel Gore, Deaon Griffin-Pressley, Ella Loudon and Mark Zeisler

Like the Roaring Twenties did for this country, the Forest of Arden represented a world of possibilities for young Rosalind. Our brilliant adventuress escapes a threatening world of suppression, even death, and her exile represents a dramatic break between past and future as she traverses the forest and the prospect of new horizons. Menace gives way to hope, re-invention, poetry, and love, cooked up with a big dose of hilarious comedy! Join us at sunset in the Roman Garden Theatre for this madcap romantic comedy that is sure to steal your heart and lift your spirits.

Heisenberg

By Simon Stephens Directed by Tina Packer August 11 – September 2 Featuring Tamara Hickey and Malcolm Ingram

Alex and Georgie are the very improbable couple at the center of this exploration of love against odds and reason. When they stumble into each others lives on a bench in London, real questions are raised that defy physics and simple explanation are raised. Tony-Award winning playwright Simon Stephens, who penned the Broadway-hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, presents a refreshing look into just how unpredictable life can be, especially when examined closely! Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer directs this contemporary comedy in her namesake theatre.

Mothers and Sons

By Terrence McNally Directed by James Warwick August 16 – September 9 Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre Featuring Annette Miller

“A wonderful Hamlet on his way to becoming a great one” is how Cal describes his deceased lover, Andre when Katherine, Andre’s mother, shows up unexpectedly on his doorstep. In this funny and moving piece, Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s sharp dialogue illustrates how reconciling loss and transgression can reveal the enduring nature of love.

HIR

By Taylor Mac Directed by Alice Reagan September 13 – October 7 Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre Featuring Elizabeth Aspenlieder and Martin Jason Asprey

HIR, a darkly uproarious comedy, tells the story of a son coming back from the military to find his family turned completely upside down. Playwright Taylor Mac, exploring what is being ignored in the world, confronts social expectations head on in this wildly refreshing tale of progressive responsibility. When it comes to family, sometimes you just have to figure it out.

Tickets FLEXpasses, offering 35% off regular ticket prices, ability to book shows and seats one week earlier than the general public, and a waiver of the exchange fees, are on sale now. Single tickets for the 2018 performance season go on sale to members and groups on February 21, to FLEXpass holders on February 28, and to the general public on March 7.

Shakespeare & Company will once again offer a 40% discount to full-time, year-round Berkshire County residents (excludes Saturday nights, opening nights and previews). The Tina Packer Playhouse, Roman Garden Theatre and the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre are wheelchair accessible. For more information on our summer performance season, or our year-round programming, call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353 or visit www.shakespeare.org.

Gala The 2018 Gala will be held Saturday, June 30. The evening will honor Trustee Michael A. Miller and his 25 years of dedication to Shakespeare & Company. The evening will include a festive cocktail reception followed by special performances from musicians of the Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble and Shakespeare & Company artists. After the performance, guests will be escorted to the tented courtyard for an elegant dinner, and a night of dancing with DJ BFG.

About Shakespeare & Company Located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the largest Shakespeare Festivals in the country. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts over 30,000 patrons annually. The Company is also home to Shakespeare & Company’s internationally renowned Center for Actor Training and nationally renowned and award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.

Shakespeare & Company Announces 2018 Summer Season (Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company announces its 2018 summer season. Exploring themes of Delight, Deceit, and Desire,

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Shakespeare & Company Adds October 5 "God of Carnage" Performance to Aid Hurricane Relief

Shakespeare & Company Adds October 5 “God of Carnage” Performance to Aid Hurricane Relief

Proceeds will be donated to the One America Appeal (Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company adds a special benefit performance to its God of Carnage run to give back to those impacted by the recent hurricanes. The proceeds from the added performance will be donated to the One America Appeal to support those effected by the terrible devastation of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Shakespeare &…

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by Macey Levin

         Yasmina Reza, a French actress, novelist, screenwriter and playwright, has had three productions on Broadway; two of which have won Tony Awards as best play: ART and God of Carnage.  The plays are satirical studies of upper middle class society.  Her savage wit is on full display in Shakespeare & Company’s terrific presentation of …Carnage.

          Two couples are in the midst of a polite but strained conversation regarding a playground fight between their eleven-year-old sons.  Veronica (Elizabeth Aspenlieder) and Michael Novak’s (Jonathan Croy) son Henry was hit in the face with a stick by Benjamin, son of Alan (Allyn Burrows) and Annette (Kristin Wold) Raleigh, and has two broken teeth and several bruises.  Both sets of parents try to be cordial and understanding while searching for an unthreatening way to teach their boys a moral lesson.  As their conversations evolve slips of the tongue abound; their defensive and combative comments belie their refined behavior and hollow marital relationships are revealed. Reza examines the contrast between the adopted attitudes of people under stress who are attempting to be rational, and their basic instinctual behavior after the patina of civility has been stripped away.

          The four characters have disparate perspectives on life.  Veronica, a writer who is working on a book about Darfur, preaches universal cooperation.  Her husband Michael sells home goods, specializing in toilets, and tends to vacillate on his opinions based on who is closest to his views at any given moment.  Alan is a cold and overbearing lawyer who espouses his belief in the god of carnage because, he says, everyone has to take care of themselves even to the detriment of others.  He seems to live on and for his cell phone much to the dismay of his wife Annette, a wealth manager.  She is restrained until she drinks an inordinate amount of rum.  In the play’s grossest scene, she vomits over Veronica’s valuable art books.

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          Though the events are somewhat predictable and it is something of a one-joke plot, the acting is so strong and entertaining that the weaknesses of the play are minimized. Croy is a wonderful physical actor.  His gestures and bodily movements are hysterical as he becomes more and more inebriated.  At the same time, he is charming in his anger and frustration.  Aspenlieder, a superb comedienne, whose looks at her antagonists, including her husband when the time comes, are graphic and filled with silent, but comic, intention.

         Alan is something of a snob and played by Burrows he is the least sympathetic of the entire group, though the rest of them aren’t necessarily upright people.  Alan is more devoted to his position as the chief lawyer of a troubled pharmaceutical company than he is to his family, and Annette lets him know it.  Wold probably has the most difficult role in that she has to be somewhat restrained until she becomes drunk and then riotous.  It is a pleasure to watch these four actors ply their craft with intelligence and insight. 

          Devin Drohan’s set is indicative of a middle class living room that belies the turbulent lives of the residents.  Street noises (traffic, blaring horns, sirens,) designed by Amy Altadonna, are peppered throughout the running of the plot lending reality to the Brooklyn environment in which they live.

         Director Regge Life has controlled the deterioration of the relationships and the crazed physical action so that the play preserves its shaky semblance of reality.  He has paced the opening minutes of the play in a languid manner and allows the characters to become increasingly madcap while respecting its necessary verisimilitude.

        This God of Carnage is a treat and another one of Shakespeare & Company’s expert and entertaining works.

God of Carnage, by Yasmina Reza, Translated by Christopher Hampton; Directed by Regge Life; Cast:  Elizabeth Aspenlieder (Veronica Novak) Allyn Burrows (Alan Raleigh) Jonathan Croy (Michael Novak) Kristin Wold (Annette Raleigh); Scene design: Devon Drohan; Costume design: Charlotte Palmer-Lane; Lighting design; James W. Bilnoski; Sound design: Amy Altadonna; Stage Manager:Hope Rose Kelly. Running Time: ninety minutes; no intermission; Shakespeare & Company, Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox MA; From 9/14/17; closing 10/8/17

REVIEW: “God of Carnage” at Shakespeare & Company by Macey Levin          Yasmina Reza, a French actress, novelist, screenwriter and playwright, has had three productions on Broadway; two of which have won Tony Awards as best play: …

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“Never underestimate the pleasure of watching really good actors behaving terribly…” —The New York Times

(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company presents God of Carnage written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Regge Life. The play won a Tony Award for Best Play and an Olivier Award for Best Comedy, now this award-winning New York hit comes to the Berkshires. Written by the author of ART, God of Carnage runs from September 14 – October 8th in the Elayne P. Bernstein.

At the play’s opening two sets of parents meet for the first time to address their sons’ recent playground fight. Tensions quickly emerge between the parents around the best way to raise a child. The meeting progresses, the liquor flows, and the gloves come off in this comedy of bad manners. Audiences can expect a 90-minute thrill ride into the most dangerous place on earth: parenthood.

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“When I got the call to helm God of Carnage I was delighted. The title fascinated me and the play satisfies that fascination,” said director Regge Life. “Confrontation supersedes harmony as attempts to instill a sense of shame fail and the savage act of a child is defended. In the end, we realize there is a selfish beast lurking inside each of us and, no matter how civilized we try to be, it can turn to violence at any moment, despite the outward appearance, the veneer of being a progressive urbanite. God of Carnage reminds us that it is a dog-eat-dog world, and like it or not, in a moment, we can all join the pack.”

Regge Life will be returning to Shakespeare & Company for the first time since 2013’s acclaimed Kaufman’s Barbershop to direct God of Carnage. The cast features four Shakespeare & Company veterans: Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Jonathan Croy, Kristin Wold, and Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. The creative team includes Devon Drohan (Set Design), James W. Bilnoski (Lighting Design), Charlotte Palmer-Lane (Costume Design), and Amy Altadonna (Sound Design).

Tickets for God of Carnage are available online at shakespeare.org, or by calling Shakespeare & Company’s box office at (413) 637-3353. The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. Shakespeare & Company is located at 70 Kemble St. in Lenox, Massachusetts. This production is generously sponsored by Deborah and Bill Ryan.

AT A GLANCE PRODUCTION: God of Carnage PLAYWRIGHT: Yasmina Reza DIRECTOR: Regge Life SET DESIGNER: Devon Drohan LIGHTING DESIGNER: James W. Bilnoski COSTUME DESIGNER: Charlotte Palmer-Lane SOUND DESIGNER: Amy Altadonna STAGE MANAGER: Hope Rose Kelly VOCAL COACH: Ariel Bock

CAST MEMBERS VERONICA NOVAK: Elizabeth Aspenlieder ALAN RALEIGH: Allyn Burrows MICHAEL NOVAK: Jonathan Croy ANNETTE RALEIGH: Kristin Wold

SCHEDULE September: 14 – 7:30 PM – Preview 15 – 7:30 PM – Preview 16 – 7:30 PM – Opening 17 – 3:00 PM 22 – 7:30 PM 23 – 3:00 & 7:30 PM 24 – 3:00 PM 29 – 7:30 PM 30 – 3:00 & 7:30 PM

October: 1 – 3:00 PM 6 – 7:30 PM 7 – 3:00 & 7:30 PM 8 – 3:00 PM – Closing

About Regge Life (Director, God of Carnage). Regge Life is pleased to be directing again at Shakespeare & Company. He directed the widely acclaimed Kaufman’s Barbershop in 2013. He has directed across the country with credits such as Cross That River for the Aspen Theater, I Just Stopped by to See the Man for Milwaukee Rep, Yellowman and Gem of the Ocean for Pittsburgh Public Theater, Ghosts for the Pearl Theater, Piano Lesson for Virginia Stage Company, A Walk in the Woods at Capital Rep, Rebel Armies into Deep Chad, Laurence Fishburne’s Riff Raff and Arthur Miller’s The American Clock for the Juilliard School and Living in the Wind and Do Lord Remember Me at The American Place Theatre.

About Yasmina Reza (Playwright, God of Carnage). Yasmina Reza is a French playwright and novelist, based in Paris, whose works have all been multi-award-winning, critical and popular international successes, produced worldwide and translated into 35 languages. She has written seven plays (Conversations after a Burial, The Passage of Winter, ART, The Unexpected Man, Life x 3, A Spanish Play, God of Carnage, How You Talk the Game) and 6 novels (“Hammerklavier,” “Une Desolation (Desolation),” “Adam Haberberg,” “Dans la Luge d’Arthur Schopenhauer,” “Nulle Part” and “L’Aube, le Soir ou la Nuit (Dawn Dusk or Night)”). Films include: “Le Pique-Nique de Lulu Kreutz,” directed by Didier Martiny and “Chicas,” written and directed by the author.

About Shakespeare & Company Located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the largest Shakespeare Festivals in the country. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts over 30,000 patrons annually. The Company is also home to Shakespeare & Company’s internationally renowned Center for Actor Training and nationally renowned and award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.

Shakespeare & Company Presents God of Carnage “Never underestimate the pleasure of watching really good actors behaving terribly...” —The New York Times (Lenox, MA) – 

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(Lenox, MA) – In celebration of the Company’s 40th Season, Shakespeare & Company presents a special August event series, Storytellers and Songwriters. Each event will explore various characters through solo performances by veteran Company artists, many including live music and original compositions from acclaimed musicians and songwriters, including Michi Wiancko, Kris Delmhorst, and the BSO Tanglewood Music Composer Fellows. This series spans the weekends of August 11th, 18th, and 25th. All pieces will be performed in the Tina Packer Playhouse at 8:30pm.

“At Shakespeare & Company we celebrate language, connections, and community,” said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. “In this unique series of performances, we celebrate the human spirit through music and the spoken word. Storytellers & Songwriters highlights indelible stories and sublime music interwoven into delightful one-night only events.”

Company artists performing solo pieces include: Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Allyn Burrows, Nehassaiu deGannes, Jonathan Epstein, Nigel Gore, John Hadden, Tina Packer, and Tod Randolph. These stories will be interlaced with musicians and songwriters who have a deep appreciation of poetry reminiscent of Shakespeare. Special musical guests include Kris Delmhorst, Michi Wiancko, Bobby Sweet, Vikki True, and the BSO Tanglewood Music Center Fellows. All events are stage managed by long-time Company member Hope Rose Kelly.

The Storytellers & Songwriters series will be performed in the Tina Packer Playhouse. Tickets are available online at shakespeare.org, or by calling Shakespeare & Company’s box office at (413) 637-3353. Tickets range from $20 – $50. The Tina Packer Playhouse is air conditioned and wheelchair accessible. Shakespeare & Company is located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Massachusetts.

AT A GLANCE

Via Dolorosa by David Hare August 11 at 8:30pm Featuring: Jonathan Epstein

Via Dolorosa is the story of British playwright David Hare’s 1997 visit to Israel and Gaza, told by a single actor in a virtuosic 90 minute dramatic whirlwind of people, places, and events. As Hare, Jonathan Epstein turns himself into more than 30 different characters, each an impassioned participant in the Arab-Israeli struggle, as the play ranges through London, Tel Aviv, the Settlements, Gaza, and Jerusalem itself, in search of some kind of hope in a world where it seems that everyone can say, and with justice: “This land is ours.” This performance will be followed by a talkback with Jonathan Epstein.

T.S. Eliot and His Love of Shakespeare by Joan Ackermann August 12 at 8:30pm Featuring: Allyn Burrows with musical guest Michi Wiancko

Allyn Burrows plays the poet, playwright, literary contrarian, and Nobel Prize winner T.S. Eliot in an exploration of the great writer’s fascination with language and Shakespeare. The words of the two great poets will be intertwined with the music of celebrated violinist Michi Wiancko. Wiancko is an internationally-acclaimed and multi-dimensional violinist, composer, and collaborator, described by Gramophone as an “alluring soloist with heightened expressive and violinistic gifts.”

Door of No Return by Nehassaiu deGannes August 18 at 8:30pm Featuring: Nehassaiu deGannes

Partly autobiographical, but drawing primarily on historical research and present-day interviews, Door of No Return courageously excavates the rich, complex but often silenced multicultural legacies of New England. Nehassaiu deGannes is a trickster/shaman figure voicing experiences of immigration, displacement, enslavement, and resistance from a brilliant multiplicity of perspectives. Drawing on her Caribbean heritage and Canadian upbringing, her visits to West Africa, and her arrival in Rhode Island, Nehassaiu criss-crosses time and space to bring us stories from the 18th century and the Triangle Trade, as well as unexpected contemporary narratives.

In Light of Jane by Joan Ackermann August 19 at 8:30 pm Featuring: Tod Randolph with musical guest Kris Delmhorst

A lighting designer visits an empty theatre space two years after a devastating loss, and as she sorts through her memories, the way forward is illuminated in unexpected ways. This funny and moving piece features long-time Shakespeare & Company actor Tod Randolph. Blended into the evening is the music of American Singer/Songwriter Kris Delmhorst, who also performs an intimate concert. Delmhorst grew up in Brooklyn, NY but her musical home is in Boston, MA where she cut her teeth on open mics, bar gigs, and subway busking before embarking on her life as an internationally touring songwriter. The Boston Globe called Delmhorst “bold and brilliant.”

Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck August 20 at 8:30pm Featuring: Elizabeth Aspenlieder with musical guest Vikki True and original recorded compositions by the BSO Tanglewood Music Composer Fellows

A hilarious and heartbreaking story, Bad Dates follows a single mother’s idiosyncratic journey of self-discovery which involves the Romanian mob, a Buddhist rainstorm, a teenage daughter, over 600 pairs of shoes, and a few very bad dates. Highlights of the evening will include interwoven music provided by the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Composer Fellows, directed by Michael Gandolfi (Composition Head of the TMC), and local singer Vikki True, who will join the production with an array of soul stirring melodies that will support the production. True will then take center stage for a short set of some of her classic R&B/Jazz standards.

Women of Will by Tina Packer August 25 at 8:30pm Featuring: Tina Packer with Nigel Gore

After three years of traveling the world and a four month Off-Broadway run, Women of Willcomes home. By examining passion and intrigue through women’s eyes, we see how Shakespeare himself developed as a human being. Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer is joined by Company veteran actor Nigel Gore

Travels with the Masked Man by John Hadden August 26 at 8:30pm Featuring: John Hadden with musical guest Bobby Sweet

Founding Company member John Hadden performs a riveting 50-minute, one-man show based on his book Conversations with a Masked Man: My Father, the CIA, and Me. Bobby Sweet infuses the show with his unique sound. Join them for this journey of deception, “the game” (espionage), and rough filial love. The evening finishes with an intimate concert by local favorite singer/songwriter Bobby Sweet.

SCHEDULE: August: 11 – 8:30 PM – Via Dolorosa 12 – 8:30 PM – T.S. Eliot and His Love of Shakespeare 18 – 8:30 PM – Door of No Return 19 – 8:30 PM – In Light of Jane 20 – 8:30 PM – Bad Dates 25 – 8:30 PM – Women of Will 26 – 8:30 PM – Travels with the Masked Man

About Shakespeare & Company Located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the largest Shakespeare Festivals in the country. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts over 30,000 patrons annually. The Company is also home to Shakespeare & Company’s internationally renowned Center for Actor Training and nationally renowned and award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.

Shakespeare & Company Presents Storytellers & Songwriters (Lenox, MA) – In celebration of the Company's 40th Season, Shakespeare & Company presents a special August event series,