The Winter’s Tale is Shakespeare’s magical story of love, forgiveness, and the ties that bind, now on stage in Founders’ Theatre in a production directed by Kevin G. Coleman and featuring Jonathan Esptein and Elizabeth Aspenlieder alongside seasoned Shakespeare & Company actors including Corinna May, Johnny Lee Davenport, Jason Asprey, Malcolm Ingram, Ryan Winkles, Josh Aaron McCabe and many more.
Check out the photos from the production, which takes us from the kingdom of Sicilia to Bohemia and spans sixteen years. Set design by Patrick Brennan, lighting design by Les Dickert, costumes by Kara D. Midlam.
Two of our favorite actors—John Douglas Thompson and Elizabeth Aspenlieder, both on stage in Founders’ Theatre this summer—were each the subject of their own delightful interview this week.
John Douglas Thompson, who plays the title role in Richard III, spoke with Berkshire On Stage about his history and his recent critical acclaim.
It is a given that he is an extremely intelligent man, very witty, and powerful. On that I am trying to layer those three psychological underpinnings to make him more real. I want to know why he does what he does, and it’s all there in the language, and I know I will find it.”
Read the whole story »
Actor and Communications Director Elizabeth Aspenlieder was the subject of a Q&A in the Albany Times Union, discussing her Canadian roots and role as an artist/manager at Shakespeare & Company. She’s currently in rehearsals for The Winter’s Tale, in which she plays Hermione, the good Queen of Sicilia.
Q: What does Shakespeare mean to you?
A: It means an opportunity to be alive, to say good things, to say bad things and to move people in a way I wouldn’t normally be able to do day to day; to push people to communicate and to speak, which is so important to me; to speak with conviction and passion and to not shy away from anything.”
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WAMC’s Roundtable invited Shakespeare & Company to help them celebrate Shakespeare this past Friday. Tina Packer, Elizabeth Aspenlieder and Jeremy Goodwin spent an entire hour with host Joe Donahue—even performing a bit of Shakespeare for the listening audience! Take a listen below, or at WAMC’s website.
Joe chats with Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Tina Packer and Jeremy Goodwin about this summer (13:20):
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Joe talks with Tina Packer (20:22):
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Finally, Joe, Tina Packer and Elizabeth Aspenlieder perform some Shakespeare from this Summer’s season (8:29):
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In December we announced our Founders’ Theatre shows for Summer 2010. Now we are proud to announce the rest of our Summer 2010 Season, titled “Greet the Glorious Summer!” A brief note from Artistic Director Tony Simotes:
It is with great humility as well as unbridled excitement that I launch my first season as Shakespeare & Company’s Artistic Director, taking over the reins from the indomitable Tina Packer. She began her mission 33 years ago, along with a merry band of theatrical revolutionaries that I was very pleased to be a part of. Our quest has been to bring the transformative power of theatre alive for our audiences through Shakespeare’s plays as well as ground-breaking new works. My mission is to build upon this priceless legacy while helping to bring us to exciting new places.
Read the rest of Tony’s Welcome Letter here, or in our 2010 Summer Season brochure—which is on its way to your mailbox now. (Or if you just can’t wait, click here to check it out online).
Check out the full Summer 2010 Season after the jump! Continue reading ‘Greet the Glorious Summer! (Full Summer Season Announced)’
Working behind the scenes, Shakespeare & Company Costume Director Govane Lohbauer “has saved seemingly every belt, buckle, blouse, coat, hat, petticoat, shoe and trouser that has ever been worn on stage at S&Co” since 1980.
Now she enters the spotlight in this article from Rural Intelligence about her work as Costume Designer for the current production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses:
One of the challenges of designing Liaisons was its location in the smaller Bernstein Theatre where the actors are literally inches away from the audience, so there could be no sleight of hand. “I couldn’t use zippers, for instance, because they’re not period,” she says…Indeed, authenticity is key to Lohbauer’s philosophy. “Lizzie Aspenlieder wears a full corset,” she says. “The actors wore panniers [the wire contraptions that create exaggerated hips] since day one of rehearsal.”
Read the full article: Rural Intelligence – Les Costumes Magnifiques!
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) is written by Christopher Hampton and directed by Tina Packer. Featuring Elizabeth Aspenlieder and Josh Aaron McCabe. Costumes by Govane Lohbauer. Lighting by Stephen Ball. Scenic design by Carl Sprague. Photos by Kevin Sprague.
On stage through March 21. Buy tickets now.
Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer (now on stage as Gertrude in Hamlet) is the subject of a profile that aired today on WBUR (Boston’s NPR station). Andrea Shea speaks with Tina about her roots in England, her intentions for starting Shakespeare & Company and her future plans. Artistic Director Tony Simotes and Company actress Elizabeth Aspenlieder also speak about Tina and her impact.
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Listen to the story above, or check out the story at WBUR.org.
At the time she was obsessed with Shakespeare, but she wanted to approach his texts her own way. This ran against the genteel delivery style most teachers and directors embraced.
“Enunciating, pushing the vowels to the front of the mouth — especially for the women,” Packer says. “It’s all nonsense; Shakespeare’s dirty as hell and full of life and full of vivacity.”
So Packer abandoned her career as an actor in England, raised some money in the U.S., and founded her own company in the Berkshires. She was one of the first women to direct Shakespeare professionally. Packer says it’s a natural fit.
