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!
In this article from the Albany Times-Union, Twelfth Night director Jonathan Croy speaks about his time at Shakespeare & Company and the challenges and delights of directing comedy.
“It’s an astonishing work. It sounds like such hyperbole but I honestly believe this is the greatest comedy ever written. It has the broadest comic vocabulary of any show that I’ve ever come across. There’s satire, there’s parody, there’s wit and there’s good old fashioned silliness.”
Read the complete article here. Click here to learn more and buy tickets to Twelfth Night.
Shakespeare’s tipsy-turvy comedy of misrule, madness and gender-bending comic fantasy is now playing in the Founders’ Theatre. Twelfth Night, or What You Will is directed by Jonathan Croy, with lighting design by Les Dickert, costumes by Govane Lohbauer and scenery by Jonathan Croy. Featuring your favorite actors from Hamlet and Othello and more.
Did you know that with our new Groundlings Tickets, you can get front-row seats to any Founders’ Theatre performance this summer for just $15? No restrictions—you can even buy ahead of time. Learn more »
Check out the photos below, and buy tickets now.
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’
