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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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.
