Theatre
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The Future of Theatre
Theatre Communications Group Conference
By: - Aug 29th, 2014When seeking news of what’s happening in American not-for-profit theatre, you can track those happenings via the Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Once a year the organization convenes its National Conference in a different city, allowing members and interested parties to come together, press the flesh, attend workshops and panels, and exchange ideas on the state and future of American theatre.
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Two Gentleman of Verona at Old Globe
Shakespeare Summer Season to September 14
By: - Aug 22nd, 2014This time The Old Globe wraps up their highly successful 2014 Shakespeare Summer Season with the delightfully entertaining rom/com “Two Gentlemen of Veronaâ€, directed by acclaimed Globe Alum and Tony Award nominee Mark Lamos.
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A Hatful of Rain at Berkshire Theatre Group
Once Provocative Play Is Rarely Revived
By: - Aug 20th, 2014While the play has relevance to today’s veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and sometimes resulting addictions, the material is dated. Too much information has been spread about war, its effects on families and society, to make these characters’ shock seem real.
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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Long and Short of the Bard
By: - Aug 20th, 2014With The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) there is a lot of farce crammed into an evening at the Tina Packer Playhouse of Shakespeare & Company. Based on a raucuous response of a near to packed house on a week night this is the run away comedy hit of the Berkshire season.
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Contemporary American Theater Festival
Production of Uncanny Valley Transferring to New York
By: - Aug 19th, 2014CATF has been invited to transfer its world premiere production of Uncanny Valley by Thomas Gibbons to New York City’s Off-Broadway venue 59E59 Theaters. Hailed as the Festival’s “most satisfying offering†by The Washington Post, Uncanny Valley will be presented by CATF for a four-week run beginning on October 2.
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The Mousetrap in Dorset, Vermont
Still Surprising Audiences After 62 Years
By: - Aug 17th, 2014The murders in Agatha Christie’s mysteries are almost incidental. Though there is suspense and intrigue, there is no pandering to mayhem and horror. A puzzle is introduced, enhanced with complications, and finally solved through clever reasoning. The well-acted production at The Dorset Theatre Festival is classic Christie at its best.
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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Durang Off the Hook at Shakespeare & Company
By: - Aug 16th, 2014Directed by our friend the late Nicholas Martin of Williamstown Theatre Festival Christopher Durang's serious comedy Vanya and Sonia and Macha and Spike won a Tony for Best Play. Since then it has been widely produced and now through September 14 by Shakespeare & Company. Matthew Penn has directed an awesome cast in this side splitting gonzo riff on Anton Chekhov. It's a fresh, fun, zinger that rounds off a top heavy summer of the Bard in Lenox.
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The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns
Fun and Frolics at Weston Theatre’s Second Stage
By: - Aug 16th, 2014For pure, unadulterated entertainment the juke box musical The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns can’t be beat. It’s polished and professional while retaining the freshness of youth and good-natured fun. It is basically a family-friendly burlesque, a humorous exaggeration of the teen years and loves of four young women.
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Reasons to Be Pretty at Geffen Playhouse
Neil LaBute Play Through August 31
By: - Aug 15th, 2014In his latest play “Reasons to be Prettyâ€, directed by artistic director Randall Arney, now playing on the Gil Cates stage of the Geffen Playhouse, Neil LaBute introduces us to four characters in their mid-twenties, who are what some might label as border-line losers. The younger generation come off as spoiled, self-indulgent, and suffering from a lack of parental oversight when they were growing up. And, they’re still not grownups when we catch up with them.
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Walldogs at Hatch Art Collective
An Economy of Means by New Pittsburgh Company
By: - Aug 15th, 2014Hatch Arts Collective is a relatively new enterprise (they are in their second year of existence), and in this production of Walldogs director Adil Mansoor has made the smart choice to embrace and make a virtue of the company’s poverty of resources. The scene design is simple and spare, foregrounding the play’s “third character,†the wall, and the costume and lighting design are equally pared down.
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Finding Neverland A Spectacular Journey
American Rep Wows With Broadway Bound Musical
By: - Aug 15th, 2014Based upon the story of the creation of the 1904 now classic play Peter Pan, Finding Neverland at the American Repertory Theatre is a wonderful theatrical multigenerational event. With spectacular performances, magnificent stagecraft and beautiful music, this is a sight and sound treat. Already set for Broadway in 2015, getting a ticket might be difficult, but well worth the effort. Bravo Diane Paulus and A.R. T.!
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A Chorus Line at The Weston Playhouse
Vermont Production Highlights Turmoil of Broadway's Gypsys
By: - Aug 15th, 2014Innovative when it was developed in 1975, time has stolen some of the sizzle from this intimate dance-centered musical. The dance and music are still entertaining and the heart and passion of the young characters carry the show. Weston’s production is solid and professional with a talented cast.
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Dancing Lessons by Mark St. Germain
Swept Off Our Feet at Barrington Stage
By: - Aug 14th, 2014Dancing Lessons is the ninth play and eighth world permiere by Mark St. Germain at Barrington Stage Company. As a signifier of their long standing relationship the new play is directed by Julianne Boyd the founder of the company. In recent years his plays have gone on to successful tours of regional companies. Starring the astonishing John Cariani with a stunning dancing partner in Paige Davis this play has the potential to be on the road for years.
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Breakfast with Playwright Mark St. Germain
Discussing Dancing Lessons for Barrington Stage
By: - Aug 11th, 2014Honoring his many contributions The Mark St. Germain Stage was named for him by Pittsfield's Barrington Stage Company. A number of his best known works- Freud's Last Sessions, Best of Enemies, Dr. Ruth- have premiered for the company of artistic director, Julianne Boyd. This week the latest Dancing Lessons will open. In what has become an annual ritual we met at Dottie's in Pittsfield for breakfast to discuss this new work as well as the challenges of a life in theatre.
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WAM Theatre Fresh Takes
reading of Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George
By: - Aug 11th, 2014WAM Theatre will present the reading on Sunday, August 17 at 3:00 p.m. at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA. Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England is the fourth presentation in the new Fresh Takes play reading series, which offers new and reimagined works that tell women’s stories. The series has proven popular with audiences and the first three readings sold out.
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Signature Magical Piece for Shakespeare & Company
By: - Aug 11th, 2014A delightful comedy of love combining the world of reality with the unseen world of spirits and faeries, all with a backdrop of the Jazz Age of New Orleans.
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Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 at Shakespeare & Company
Shorter and Sweeter in Jonathan Epstein's Adatation
By: - Aug 09th, 2014Sitting through Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 can be a long slog on Elizabethan inspired cruel on the bottom benches at Shakespeare & Company. In a brisk, rich and often hilarious reduction and conflation by Jonathan Epstein to two long acts with intermission, clocking at three hours, through this delicious production mind prevails over matter. One's sore bottom in this case. During his 450th year S&Co. has been presenting Shakespeare up the wazoo.
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Penny Arcade Returns to Joe's Pub
Longing Lasts Longer at NY's Public Theatre
By: - Aug 09th, 2014Though Longing Lasts Longer had a limited run in June, it is being brought back, to Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre this coming October and November. For the past number decades, Penny Arcade, who worked with Warhol at the tender age of 15, has been taking her act around the world. And wherever she performs people line up to hear what she has to say.
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The Old Man and the Old Moon
PigPen Theatre Co. Anchors WTF Season
By: - Aug 08th, 2014The original production of The Old Man and the Old Moon by PigPen Theatre Company ran for 100 performances Off Broadway. The company which was formed in 2008 twice won first prize for a new play during the annual NYC Fringe Festival. It arrives to end the Williamstown Theatre Festival's season on its Nikos Stage. This fairy tale for kids of all ages will primarily appeal to those under thirty.
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Design For Living at the Unicorn in Stockbridge
A Revival of Noel Coward by Berkshire Theatre Group
By: - Aug 08th, 2014Noel Coward wrote this play to be performed with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. They met in 1921 and became friends, often discussing their dreams of success. They made a pact that all three perform in one of Coward’s plays once they had all become successful.
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Kander Ebb's The Visit at Williamstown
Chita Rivera in Something Old with Something New
By: - Aug 07th, 2014When it opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago the Kander and Ebb Broadway bound musical The Visit got nipped in the bud by 9/11. After mixed reviews for a 2008 production, also starring Chita Rivera, it gathered dust. With a revised book by Terrence McNally and judicious cuts to one act by director John Doyle it is enjoying a strong run and mostly favorable reviews at the Williamstown Theatre Festival through August 17.
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Ronald Harwood’s Quartet at Old Globe
Charming Comedy In San Diego to August 24
By: - Aug 06th, 2014Ronald Harwood’s deliciously sly comedy features four meaty roles for actors of a “certain ageâ€, and those roles are filled by four actors who perform as though they were born for their parts: Old Globe favorite Robert Foxworth plays shy and introverted Reginald Paget, a fussy, classically trained singer, of the old school who bristles at the suggestive shenanigans and randy language of Wilfred Bond, portrayed by Roger Forbes who fancies himself as the retirement home lothario.
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Buyer and Cellar at Mark Taper Forum
Stars Michel Urie In Barbra Streisand Homage
By: - Jul 31st, 2014The wacky 90 minute satire, is pure fiction when it comes to the narrative, however, celebrity super-stars like Barbra Streisand often become the subjects of faux stories, books and plays. Playwright Jonathan Tolins’ pays his homage to Streisand throughout in a tender way but doesn’t let her off the hook completely.
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Julius Ceasar at Shakespeare & Company
Tina Packer Directs Seven Actors in Forty Roles
By: - Jul 31st, 2014Seven actors masterfully play a modern version of Shakespeare's timeless tale of Julius Caesar. Packer got the idea of seven actors from Shakespeare himself, who used that number of actors when he took his plays on tour.
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'Cedars' World Premier starring James Naughton
Berkshire Theater Festival hosts a World Premier
By: - Jul 30th, 2014A play with two characters, one comatose, that takes place in a hospital room. Though the setting is constricted, the play reveals the complexity of its main character, Gabe, and his relationships. James Naughton delivers a nuanced performance.
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