Media Notice:
A memorial celebration for Karen Beaumont, Professor of Theater at Bard College at Simon’s Rock for 30 years and a well-known actress, will be held in the McConnell Theater in the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock on Saturday April 27 at 4pm.
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Karen studied acting, mime and movement in Montreal, Paris and London as well as working as a professional actress at Stratford Festival, Ontario before moving to the Berkshires in 1981. She became a core member of Shakespeare and Company in 1983 and continued her affiliation with them until her death in January. Leading roles with the company include Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor, and Emilia in Othello. She joined the Bard College at Simon’s Rock faculty in 1989 and has directed over 80 plays at the school as well as continuing an active professional career.
As Associate Director of the mulit-media performance of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind up Bird Chronicles, she was involved with the international tour to Edinburgh and Singapore. Karen also participated in the development of Carol Gilligan’s stage adaptation of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, playing the role of Mistress Hibbins.
Karen was a beloved teacher to generations of theater students at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and her classes in Clown, Movement and Mime were a distinctive part of their theater training. She also taught in the Training program at Shakespeare and Company as well as serving as Movement Director on productions. In recent years, she has focused her teaching on Somatic movement training.
The community at Bard College at Simon’s Rock welcomes anyone who knew or was touched by Karen to come and celebrate her generous creative life and work with us.
