The 2013 summer season at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox features such plays as Love’s Labour’s Lost and Richard II by William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, Terrence McNally’s Master Class, which a portrays Maria Callas, Heroes, a comedy by Gérald Sibleyras, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh.

TINA PACKER PLAYHOUSE:
Love’s Labour’s Lost
June 22 though September 1. Press opening: June 29
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Lisa Wolpe
Featuring Mark Bedard and Jonathan Croy

“They have been at a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps.”

Love’s Labour’s Lost is a delightful comedy serving up a feast of language, clowning, dance, and romance. The beautiful Ladies of France meet the Lords of Navarre, and disguises and deception lead to marriage proposals in a whirlwind of good intentions and broken promises. How can you create a lasting relationship while pursuing personal perfection and power? How do you educate the heart as well as the head? These ancient struggles are the stuff of constant confusion in this contemporary exploration of the labyrinth of love.

Love’s Labour’s Lost will feature Mark Bedard (Berowne) making his Shakespeare & Company debut. Bedard recently played Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers, capping five seasons as a top comedian at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is currently starring as Vladimir in Waiting for Godot at San Francisco Bay area Marin Theater. Bedard will be joined by Company favorite Jonathan Croy (King Lear), celebrating his 28th season with Shakespeare & Company. Bedard and Croy will be under the direction of Lisa Wolpe, Producing Artistic Director and Founder of the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company, an all-female Shakespeare company. She will also play Hamlet for that company’s twentieth anniversary later this year, directed by Timothy Douglas (director of Richard II).

Richard II
July 5 through July 21. Press opening: July 12
(Special Limited Run)
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Timothy Douglas
Featuring Rocco Sisto and Tom O’Keefe

“Mine honour is my life; both grow in one.”

How does a state contend with a barbarous ruler who is perceived to be appointed by God? King Richard II has designed the murder of his uncle, wasted public funds, and used the influence of his crown to misrule a nation. Not until Richard banishes Henry Bolingbroke does he create an enemy skeptical of his divine mandate who is intent on constructing his demise.

The production features founding Company member and three-time OBIE Award winner Rocco Sisto in the title role. Sisto was last seen as Caliban in The Tempest, a role he’s performed twice at the Company to critical acclaim. He will be joined by Tom O’Keefe as Henry Bolingbroke, reteaming the duo after a appearing together in the world premiere of Joan Ackerman’s The Taster at Shakespeare & Company in 2010. After appearing in both Shakespeare productions last summer, Timothy Douglas returns to direct Richard II. Douglas last directed at Shakespeare & Company in 2007 with Joe Penhall’s psychoanalytic drama, Blue/Orange, a highlight of the Company’s 30th Season.

Mother Courage and Her Children
July 26 through August 25. Press opening: August 2
By Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Tony Simotes
Featuring Olympia Dukakis, Apollo Dukakis, and John Douglas Thompson

“I won’t let you spoil my war for me. Destroys the weak, does it? Well, what does peace do for’em, huh? War feeds its people better.”

Considered by many to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th Century, Mother Courage and Her Children is set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years War and follows the fate of Mother Courage, an artful canteen woman with the Swedish Army, intent on keeping her business and family alive amid the destruction of war. Mother Courage and Her Children still resonates today as a profound insight into the moral implications of war.

Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis, Apollo Dukakis, and Artistic Director Tony Simotes reteam after the critically acclaimed, sold out run of The Tempest during Shakespeare & Company’s 35th Season. “I had a terrific time last summer exploring The Tempest with Tony and the amazing cast and crew,” Olympia Dukakis said when Mother Courage and Her Children was announced in the fall. “I consider Shakespeare & Company one of my artistic homes – a place of artistic support and enthusiasm. I jumped at the chance to get in the room with Tony and my brother again.”

OBIE Award winner John Douglas Thompson joins the cast in the role of The Cook. Thompson last appeared at Shakespeare & Company as Louis Armstrong in Satchmo at the Waldorf, a role he continued to play to critical and audience acclaim at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT and the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia, PA.

ELAYNE P. BERNSTEIN THEATRE:

Master Class
May 24 through August 18. Press opening: May 31
By Terrence McNally
Directed by Daniel Gidron
Featuring Annette Miller and Deborah Grausman

“A performance is a struggle. You have to win.”

A master class with famed opera singer Maria Callas is an intimidating affair. Just ask Sophie, her first “victim” in Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning Master Class. McNally takes us inside Callas’ infamous sessions, which she conducted late in her career. Callas regales us with the details of her illustrious and controversial professional life, encouraging her pupils (and the audience) to take notes. Master Class prompts the question so often posed by artists: What is the price of fame?

Elliot Norton and IRNE Award winner Annette Miller will embody Callas in a true tour de force performance. Miller was last seen at Shakespeare & Company as the irrepressible Marjorie Taub in the Company’s 35th Season hit, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife. Joining Miller will be Deborah Grausman, producer of Shakespeare & Company’s Broadway in the Berkshires benefit, the Company’s main fundraiser this year. Gausman’s acting credits include Wendy in Peter Pan, which garnered her a Philadelphia Theater Critic Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, Seama in the Off-Broadway production of A Stoop on Orchard Street, and Chava in a national tour of Fiddler on the Roof. Daniel Gidron, who directed Miller in her Elliot Norton Award-winning performance as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony, returns to direct Master Class.

Heroes
June 13 through September 1. Press opening: June 14
By Gérald Sibleyras
Translated by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Kevin G. Coleman
Featuring Jonathan Epstein, Malcolm Ingram, and Robert Lohbauer

“Nothing revolts me more than a picnic!”

Winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Heroes is the irreverent and poignant story of three World War I veterans confined to a retirement home in their twilight years. The year is 1953, and Gustave, Philippe and Henri have seen more exciting days. They amuse themselves with nostalgic anecdotes, provocative gossip, and generally irritating one another. But life in the French countryside proves to be a bit too calm, and the three war veterans begin to plot their escape. Together, they contrive what might be their last epic adventure.

Heroes will feature longtime Company members Jonathan Epstein (The Tempest, King Lear), Malcolm Ingram (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife), and Robert Lohbauer (Mengelberg and Mahler). Kevin G. Coleman returns to the director’s chair, a role he’s currently performing for the Company’s winter production of The Liar. Coleman last directed Epstein in the Company’s acclaimed production of The Winter’s Tale in 2010.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane
August 8 through September 15. Press opening: August 9
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Matthew Penn
Featuring Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer and Elizabeth Aspenlieder

Irish writer Martin McDonagh has become one of the most powerful voices writing for stage and screen, and his critically acclaimed career began with a Tony Award-winning debut, The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Described by The Wall Street Journal as “the cleverest, most cunningly constructed and assured play in years,” The Beauty Queen of Leenane, steeped with Irish humor and razor sharp wit, quickly unfolds into a darkly comic thriller certain to leave you breathless.

Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer portrays the formidable, aging and manipulative Mag. Longtime Company actor Elizabeth Aspenlieder plays her middle-aged virginal daughter, Maureen. Both of whom are locked in a dance of mutual loathing, which may prove more durable than any love. Matthew Penn, a veteran director of stage and screen, joins the artistic team for his first production at Shakespeare & Company, taking on this award winning and heartbreaking play.

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENTS:

Broadway in the Berkshires – Special Benefit Performance
July 8 in the Tina Packer Playhouse
On the heels of the hugely successful inaugural Broadway in the Berkshires benefit event in 2011, Producer and Company member Deborah Grausman is bringing together a dazzling array of guest stars, some of whom were previously featured in Broadway in the Berkshires, paired with a new group of performers from both on and off Broadway, and beyond. This special benefit event will include a brief live auction and all proceeds will benefit Shakespeare & Company’s internationally acclaimed Education and Training Programs.

For more information on the Broadway in the Berkshires special benefit event, contact Ariel Bock, Manager of Institutional Giving and Event Coordinator at 413-637-1199 ext. 117 or abock@shakespeare.org.

Pearl
August 5 at 7:30 PM in the Tina Packer Playhouse
The new opera Pearl (offered in a very popular workshop version last year) will be presented at Shakespeare & Company as a special one-night engagement. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Actor Training Scholarship Program.

A modern retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s timeless novel The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is told from the viewpoint of the daughter of Hester Prynne. The libretto was written by feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan (together with her son Jonathan Gilligan) who also penned a stage adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, which was produced by Shakespeare & Company in 2002.

The project of Pearl was initiated by Grammy-nominated conductor Sara Jobin, a Berkshire County resident, who was the first woman to conduct the San Francisco Opera. The composer is Amy Scurria, who has had pieces commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, among others. Performers in the opera include Maureen O’Flynn and John Cheek, both regulars on the Metropolitan Opera stage.

25th Fall Festival of Shakespeare
Saturday, October 12 in the Tina Packer Playhouse
A special 25th Fall Festival Gala on Saturday, October 12th will kick off a weekend of celebration and reunion of participants and artists alike. The Gala will look back on Shakespeare & Company’s most widely acclaimed arts-education program through film / photos / short performance scenes and more. The evening will include an auction. All proceeds will benefit the Education Program and the Fall Festival of Shakespeare.

Guided by Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman and Associate Director of Education Jenna Ware, the Education Program received the Commonwealth Award in 2005, the highest award for excellence in the arts, sciences, and humanities given by the state of Massachusetts. It was also the subject of the two-year study by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education (Project Zero), which recommended national replication. The Education program has been identified by the Arts Education Partnership and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities as a Champion of Change.

BANKSIDE FESTIVAL:

The Declaration of Independence
July 4 on the Bankside Meadow
Our free, ever-popular reading of the Declaration of Independence features some of the most stirring words of political rhetoric ever written, spoken out loud by Shakespeare & Company actors and special guests from the community. Filled with music, barbeque, sweets and treats, this jubilant summer event is always a huge hit, drawing over 1,000 patrons last summer.

Shakespeare & Young Company
August 15 & 16 in the Rose Footprint Theatre at 5 PM
No writer has captured the powerful emotions of adolescence better than Shakespeare. In his words, youth spring eternal. Join our Young Company actors as they perform Shakespeare’s works with a fierce and fiery temperament, exploring their passion for friendship, love, justice, and hope.

Riotous Youth
July 12, July 26, August 9, and August 23 at 9 AM, 10 AM, and 11 AM
Now in its 14th year, Riotous Youth is a two-week program for multiple age groups, designed to introduce young actors to Shakespeare through a series of fun and creative workshops, including exercises involving voice, movement, and acting. Participants play theatre games, create craft projects, and explore Shakespeare’s words through scenes and monologues, either at Shakespeare & Company’s campus in Lenox, MA or down the road in Lenox Memorial High School’s state-of-the-art theatre. At the end of each two-week session, Riotous Youth participants create a performance piece based on scenes from a play, which they share with family, friends, Shakespeare & Company members, and the general public at the outdoor, tented Rose Footprint Theatre.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

The Studio Series
July 31 through August 28. Wednesdays at 5 PM in Bernstein Studio One
The Studio Series returns to Shakespeare & Company giving a stage to new and unique works. This weekly series of staged readings features many popular Company actors and directors who delve into the work of provocative contemporary voices. Many of these plays will be under consideration for future seasons. Last year, Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane featuring Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer and Elizabeth Aspenlieder wowed audiences in The Studio Series, and will now receive a full production in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre later this summer.

Author! Author!
July 14 through September 1. Sundays at 10:30 AM in the Tina Packer Playhouse
The 2013 Summer Season will also see the return of Author! Author!, Shakespeare & Company’s popular series of talks with bestselling and award-winning authors. Author! Author! showcases authors both local and national and covers a wide array of literary expertise. These lively and informal discussions are sure to entertain and enlighten. Tasty light breakfast items are available at Josie’s Place before and after the discussion, and book signings with the authors always follow the discussion.

Tuesday Talks
July 2 through August 13
Josie’s Place in the Tina Packer Playhouse & Mike’s Place in The Iredale Lobby of the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre
Join the actors, directors, designers, and scholars of Shakespeare & Company for an intimate discussion of the process behind creating this season’s productions and the key themes of these thought-provoking plays. All talks take place in the lobby of their respective theaters.

Wednesday Q & A’s
July 10 through August 14 in the Tina Packer Playhouse and Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre
The productions have you talking, so why not include Company actors, directors, and designers in your conversation? Wednesday Q & A’s take place after select performances.

Behind the Scenes Tour
July 3 through August 31. Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:30 AM
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at Shakespeare & Company? Peek around the curtain with this in-depth tour, which takes visitors to the costume shop, scene shop, backstage areas, weapons storage, and more. An interesting and informative two-hour adventure not to be missed!

But wait, there’s more!
Don’t forget to visit our bustling concessions stands and gift shops before and after the show. Open six days a week during the summer season, they are stocked full of homemade treats and fabulous Shakespeare & Company memorabilia! We have everything from comfy hoodies to stunning posters and greeting cards to naughty tees that make great keepsakes and gifts. You can also purchase selected merchandise online at www.shakespeare.org.

Our Midsummer Night Meals, buffet style dining will return between matinee and evening performances every Saturday in July and August to serve up some scrumptious fare as guests rub elbows with Company actors and rising stars. And don’t forget, our incredible food service crew is ready to make your group visit or special event a memorable one! Keep an eye out for special tastings, brunches, and feasts all season long.

Shakespeare & Company will announce additional programing and casting in the coming weeks, including the popular Bankside show, which is always free for kids, Studio Series titles, Author! Author! guests, and more!

Note: All casts, titles, dates and times are subject to change.

Shakespeare & Company tickets contact information

• 70 Kemble Street
• Lenox, MA 01240
• phone: 413-637-1199
• www.shakespeare.org

Shakespeare & Company directions

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