Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Video Preview: Othello

If you haven’t seen Othello yet, you have only three chances left before it closes Sunday afternoon. Ben Brantley of the New York Times said “A rare Olympian music — forceful, beautiful and inaudible to ordinary ears — seems to dictate the rhythms of John Douglas Thompson’s performance… From the moment he sets foot on the stage of the Founders’ Theater here, this truly commanding Venetian general is a figure of monumental poise but also of instinctive, exotic poetry.”

 

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Video may take a moment to load. Download the video here (Right-click and choose “Save target as…”). Or subscribe to the Shakespeare & Company Podcast via iTunes (no iPod or mp3 player needed!).

Othello is written by William Shakespeare and directed by Tony Simotes, featuring John Douglas Thompson and Michael Hammond, and with music by Scott Killian, costumes by Gail Brassard, sets by Yoshi Tanokura and lights by Les Dickert. Buy tickets now.

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 28, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, Othello and S&Co Video
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7 Questions with Alexander Sovronsky

alexsovronsky.jpg Alexander Sovronsky makes his Shakespeare & Company debut as Dumaine Soldat and a musician (and assistant music director) in All’s Well That Ends Well this summer. He’ll be heading out on the road this fall as Rosencrantz/Fortinbras in Shakespeare & Company’s National Tour of Hamlet.

1. What was your first experience with Shakespeare & Company?

In 2003, I was a sophomore double major at SUNY Geneseo studying theatre and violin performance.  I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life yet but I knew that before I decided, I wanted to get more training in classical theatre. I wanted to study Shakespeare and there wasn’t much of a classical program at Geneseo. I was hungry for it so I decided to spend my summer at the Summer Training Institute at Shakespeare & Company. The production of King Lear that I saw here in 2003, directed by Tina Packer, changed my life. I had no idea that I could feel that connected to a classical play.  I laughed, I cried, I was entertained and I was transfixed.  I snuck out of my room in Larry Hall nightly to catch the final hour or so of almost every performance of King Lear that summer.  The following season, I returned to Lenox as a participant in the Month-Long Intensive.  I made sure to keep in touch with Tina, Dennis [Krausnick, Director of Training] and Dave [Demke, Associate Director of Training]. (Continue reading »)

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 26, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, All's Well That Ends Well and Hamlet (Tour)
. 4 CommentsPrint Print

14th Annual Studio Festival of Plays

ToPayThePrice806SCOKSPRA.12.jpg As part of Shakespeare & Company’s commitment to nurturing new voices in theatre and presenting cutting edge works, the 14th annual Studio Festival of Plays (one day only: Monday, September 1) is an annual vehicle for exploring new plays and plays that may receive full productions in a future season. The five selected plays are presented as workshop performances, with varying degrees of staging and production elements.

“I’ve tried to include plays that embody very distinct voices,” associate artistic director Michael Hammond says. “The stories and characters in these plays inhabit very different worlds, but what they have in common is passion and intensity laced with humor.”

Over the past fourteen years, the Festival has presented many works that subsequently were given full productions in the Company’s regular season, including Mrs. Klein, Fortune and Misfortune, Laughing Wild, Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet, The Turn of the Screw, Brief Lives, Betrayal, The Mistress, Wit, Summer, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), A Tanglewood Tale, The Scarlet Letter, Ice Glen, Hamlet, Martha Mitchell Calling, No Background Music and last year’s hit of the Festival The Goatwoman of Corvis County—which is currently receiving a full production in the new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre.

“The Studio Festival is important to us because it gives us an opportunity to explore plays together,” Hammond continues.  “I look at dozens and dozens of scripts and script synopses over the course of a year, but the Studio Festival is an opportunity for the Company and audience to have a look, as well.”

This year’s titles are White People by J.T. Rogers, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow by John Patrick Shanley, The Children by Michael Elyanow, Through the Leaves by Franz Xaver Kroetz and The Holocaust Kid by Sonia Pilcer. (Click here for more info on these titles.)

Tickets for Festival productions are a $15 suggested donation per show, or a $60 suggested donation for a Festival Pass which gives admittance to all performances. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353 or purchase online.

Have you seen this year’s Studio Festival readings? Leave us a comment and share what you thought about the plays!
Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 21, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season and Special Events
. 1 CommentPrint Print

Video Preview: The Goatwoman of Corvis County

The Goatwoman of Corvis County, written by Christine Whitley, is now on stage at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, directed by Robert Walsh. Christine and Robert sat down for a chat about the play as they began rehearsals; check out the video, which also includes rehearsal footage and production photos. Buy tickets now.

 

Download (right-click and choose 'Save as')

Video may take a moment to load. Download the video here (Right-click and choose “Save target as…”). Or subscribe to the Shakespeare & Company Podcast via iTunes (no iPod or mp3 player needed!).

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 14, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, Director's Vision, S&Co Video and The Goatwoman of Corvis County
. 0 CommentsPrint Print

7 Questions With Kristin Villanueva

a_008.jpg Kristin Villanueva steps onto the Shakespeare & Company stage for the first time this summer as Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well (Buy tickets now). Kristin was born and raised in the Philippines and has worked in New York and as far away as the Czech Republic. She is a graduate of SUNY Purchase.

1. How did you come to be with Shakespeare & Company? What did you come in from?

I first heard about the company from my voice teacher of three years, Craig Bacon. Then, last March, I went to their open call [audition] in New York. (Continue reading »)

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 11, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season and All's Well That Ends Well
. 2 CommentsPrint Print

Play Review: The New York Times

OthelloSCO08KSRPA_594.sized.jpgBen Brantley of The New York Times raved about our production of Othello, writing

While it’s rare in the 15 years I’ve been coming here that I’ve left a Shakespearean production feeling dazzled, it’s equally rare that I’ve left without feeling the satisfaction and illumination that comes with hearing a familiar, interpretation-crusted story told so clearly that you see it with fresh eyes.

Click here to read the full review.

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 9, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season and Reviews
. 2 CommentsPrint Print

August Play Days are here!

AllsWellSCO08KSPRA_330.sized.jpg

August Play Days are here, and time to make hey nonny, nonny while the sun shines!  Now’s the time to enjoy all the fun, enrichment and discovery that Shakespeare & Company offers at the height of summer. And this year we’re making a special effort to help you save every way we can.

Learn all the details right here about discounts and packages. And don’t forget about all the special events: Dennis Krausnick’s The Lear Project, The Actors Rehearse the Story of Charlotte Salomon, Riotous Youth and Young Company performances, plus Café &  Croissant performances of The Ladies Man one morning each weekend.

So take a ‘Daycation’ with your family or a few friends, pack a picnic, or let us prepare one for you, and enjoy top-tier theatre at a price that will keep you grinning for the rest of the year! Choose your discount below and plan your August Play Day now. Your seat is waiting for you!

(Continue reading »)

Published
by
Shakespeare & Company
on August 8, 2008
in 2008-2009 Season, All's Well That Ends Well, Othello, The Goatwoman of Corvis County, The Ladies Man and The Mad Pirate and the Mermaid
. 0 CommentsPrint Print