The New York Times‘ Ben Brantley visited Shakespeare & Company this week to weigh in on Twelfth Night and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow. What follows are just a couple of the wonderful things he had to say:
“Even theatergoers who caught the Public Theater’s star-powered “Twelfth Night” in Central Park this summer should consider revisiting the play in Lenox, though there’s not a celebrity in sight. Mr. Croy and company have ingeniously made this comedy of lost and found identities a vicarious voyage into the light…” Read the full review
And also, regarding John Douglas Thompson:
“Repertory is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? It allows an actor like Mr. Thompson the relief of moving from the in-the-moment passion of Othello to the recollected passion of Dreamer. And it allows theatergoers the treat of seeing an admirable performer confidently shift keys from blazing fury to quiet contemplation…” Read the full review
And did you see the fantastic New York Times article about Tina Packer earlier this month?
“No summer drama festival in America is more consistently satisfying than Shakespeare & Company, and ‘Twelfth Night’ is a prime example of what makes it so good.”
So says Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal in his review of Twelfth Night published this weekend. Additionally, he says:
No tricky directorial concepts are sprayed over the text—Mr. Croy is content to let Shakespeare be Shakespeare—and the actors respond by giving of their best, with results that are not merely funny but also emotionally true. Ms. Janson [as Viola], for instance, is at once heartfelt and touchingly clueless, an innocent flung willy-nilly into the midst of roiling comic chaos.
Read the full review at WSJ.com. But we’ve got more to share! Following the magnificent review in last week’s Berkshire Eagle, the Albany Times Union followed suit:
“the best thing worth seeing in the Berkshires yet this season…Randolph’s cast is beyond impressive. They inhabit this play, making the bare Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre come alive.“
Read the full review at the Albany Times Union website. We hope you’ll join us this August as Shakespeare & Company rounds out its summer season—everything wraps up September 7 with the Studio Festival of Plays!
The Berkshire Eagle yesterday published their review of The Dreamer Examines His Pillow.
They’ve located that power surge some of you may have felt over the weekend in Lenox. It came from Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on Kemble Street where John Patrick Shanley’s “The Dreamer Examines His Pillow” opened Saturday night.
For 90 or so intermissionless minutes, Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre crackles with the pain and promise of love; life — intense, vibrant, gushing, knowing, unknowing.
Read the full review at the Berkshire Eagle online. Written by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Company member Tod Randolph in her directorial debut, Dreamer plays through September 6 in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. It features John Douglas Thompson, Miriam Hyman and Bowman Wright. Buy tickets now.
John Patrick Shanley’s magnificent early work The Dreamer Examines His Pillow begins previews tonight in the Bernstein Theatre. The play is directed by long-time Company member Tod Randolph (in her directing debut) and features OBIE Award-winning John Douglas Thompson alongside Miriam Hyman and Bowman Wright.
Check out the photos from the production below! Learn more.
John Douglas Thompson, who returns to play Othello this year after winning an OBIE Award for playing the role in New York, spoke at length about his relationship to the character with Charles Giuliano of BerkshireFineArts.com. In the interview, they discuss Othello, August Wilson, and Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones (find out why).
This provides the opportunity to compare and contrast roles in Shakespeare as well as a contemporary drama. It is evident to Berkshire audiences that Thompson has the talent to be one of the most renowned actors of his generation. Othello is the most dense and complex of all of Shakespeare’s male roles and Thompson is among its most compelling contemporary interpreters. It is a matter of time and opportunity before he emerges as a major artist in contemporary theatre.
Join John Douglas Thompson for My Year with the Moor on July 28 as the actor discusses his experience playing Othello for an entire year—and answers your questions.
If you’re looking for something to tide you over before the new season begins, have a listen to this Roundtable interview with Artistic Director Tina Packer and Company actor Elizabeth Aspenlieder which aired a few weeks ago.
Tina and Elizabeth discuss the upcoming season titles, returning to Shakespeare & Company’s creative roots and Joe Donahue’s wish to be Tina Packer when he grows up. Listen below or visit WAMC’s website.
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Dear Friends,
You will love what we have in store for 2009/2010. After planning 32 seasons, I can positively say this is the most daring, powerful, impassioned line up that we have ever brought to stage. I turn the Artistic Director reins (or is it a whip?) over to Tony Simotes at the close of 2009, so I am especially keen in making this a thunderous season.
In the face of today’s economic climate, I am especially proud to say that Shakespeare & Company is standing firm and fast on our mission to bring the raw power of Shakespeare’s language and important modern voices to more audiences and keep tickets affordable to everyone.
EDIT: Tickets are now available for purchase online! The Box Office will begin taking phone orders Thursdays and Fridays from 11am-5pm, beginning March 12th. Stay tuned to our website for further Box Office Hours.
(Shakespeare & Company Members may purchase tickets over the phone this week—Thursday & Friday only—by calling 413-637-1199 ext 305).
This will be a season of ‘life laid bare’ and costs kept spare. Our shows will be simple, stripped down and sparingly beautiful, but we are doing more, performing more, playing more than ever before. Shakespeare & Company is not shrinking back. We will play on! I hope you’ll be play on with us. Join us for Shakespeare, and new voices. Music, clowning and spontaneity across our meadow and stages. More dialogue, discovery and delight for all!
Tina Packer
Founding Artistic Director
Our 2009-2010 brochure will be hitting your mailbox within the next several weeks. Make sure your mailing address is up to date by logging into OvationTix and clicking on “My Account”.
Continue reading ‘Play On! The 2009-2010 Season Announced’
