2011 BTF Season

The 2011 BTF/Colonial season has been announced! This year’s lineup will be headlined by a production of The Who’s Tommy, featuring Randy Harrison as Tommy and James Barry (of Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson) as Colonel Walker. It will be produced by BTF and staged at the Colonial from July 7-16. In addition, we’ll be producing three world premieres, classic plays by A.R. Gurney, Michael Weller and Tennessee Williams and another classic musical presented by our pre-professional Unicorn Company of actors.

Subscribers can select their seats exclusively through March 13. Single tickets go on sale March 14 at 10am.

BTF/Colonial Season Kick-off

The Who’s Tommy music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff
Additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon
Featuring James Barry (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and Randy Harrison (Boq in Wicked, TV’s Queer as Folk)
Produced by Berkshire Theatre Festival, Presented at The Colonial Theatre
Directed by Eric Hill
Previews July 7, 8, 9 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night July 9 @ 8pm
Closes July 16

Tickets A: $49 • B: $40 • C: $20
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday and Saturday at 2pm

The original rock opera, The Who’s Tommy is at once a show-stopping rock concert and a cautionary tale of the power and perils of celebrity. We witness Tommy Walker from his birth, through the shocking episodes of his childhood that render him deaf, mute and blind, as he conquers the world with his stardom, and finally after the crowds have turned on him. Featuring legendary songs by the Who, including “Pinball Wizard,” “See Me, Feel Me” and “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” and with a cast including James Barry of Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson as Captain Walker and Randy Harrison from Wicked and Queer as Folk as Tommy, this promises to be the event of the summer in the Berkshires.

At the Fitzpatrick Main Stage (83 E. Main St, Stockbridge)

Ticket prices for all events $15-$49 unless otherwise noted.

Performance schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday and Saturday at 2pm unless otherwise noted.

Sylvia by A. R. Gurney
Directed by Anders Cato
Featuring David Adkins and Jurian Hughes
Previews July 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night July 16 @ 8pm
Closes July 30

Kate and Greg, empty-nesters living in Manhattan, have a comfortable life. Their static world is turned upside down when Sylvia jumps in Greg’s lap one day in the park. Part-lab, part-poodle and 100% woman, Sylvia forces the pair to come to terms with who they are as individuals and as a couple. A. R. Gurney’s most improbable love-triangle will have you laughing out loud. The New York Times called it “so full of theatrical intelligence and writerly skill that it consistently pleases.”

In the Mood by Kathleen Clark
Director TBD
Previews August 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night August 6 @ 8pm
Closes August 13
World Premiere

The World Premiere of a romantic comedy in which a couple rides the roller coaster of love and marriage. As Perri Rubin makes final preparations for the perfect surprise party in their penthouse apartment, the situation starts to spin out of control. In the best traditions of Wilde and Coward, In The Mood sings with sharp repartee and biting humor.

Period of Adjustment by Tennessee Williams
Directed by David Auburn
Previews August 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night August 20 @ 8pm
Closes September 3

Ralph Bates is a Korean War hero facing problems with his in-laws. His former comrade George has just married the beautiful but naïve Isabel, but he’s suffering with “the shakes.” They meet up on a snowy Christmas Eve in Tennessee where all of their problems come to a head. A self-described “serious comedy,” Williams has once again filled the stage with compelling characters dealing with the most difficult of problems in real ways.

At the Unicorn Theatre (6 East St, Stockbridge)

Ticket prices for all events $15-$39 unless otherwise noted.

Performance schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday and Saturday at 2pm unless otherwise noted.

Moonchildren by Michael Weller
Directed by Karen Allen
Previews June 28, 29, 30, July 1, 2 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night July 2 @ 8pm
Closes July 16

Often cited as the definitive play about young adults of the 1960’s, Michael Weller’s show is a stunning picture of a turbulent time. Set over the course of the 1965-1966 school year in an unnamed college town, eight students embark on their final year of study against the backdrop of a world enmeshed in struggles over feminism, civil rights and the Vietnam war. As the pressures and pains of the “real world” touch upon the friends, their coming-of-age provides a mirror of the sea change occurring throughout the country. Gripping, funny, and fully realized, Moonchildren is an under-appreciated masterwork by one of our great writers.

Dutch Masters by Greg Keller
Directed by TBA
Previews July 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 @ 2pm
Opening Night/Press Night July 23 @ 8pm
Closes August 6
World Premiere!

In the summer of 1992, two young adult men find themselves on the same subway car headed uptown. One white, one black, the two will discover over the course of one afternoon exactly what it is that unites and divides them. A dramatic comedy that continually surprises and defies expectation, Dutch Masters is a shocking examination of race relations in our time. This production is part of Lift Ev’ry Voice, Celebrating African-American Culture & Heritage in the Berkshires.

Finian’s Rainbow Book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, Music by Burton Lane
Directed by Kyle Fabel
Previews August 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 @ 2pm
Opening Night August 13 @ 8pm (this production is not open for review)
Closes August 27
A production of the Unicorn Company (BTF’s pre-professional acting troupe)

Tickets $15-$34

BTF’s pre-professional Unicorn Company will once again be filling the Berkshires with song in this classic comedic tale. Finian and his daughter Sharon have come to Missitucky from Ireland with a stolen pot of gold which Finian believes he can make grow by burying it near Fort Knox. When the wronged leprechaun catches up with them, hijinks ensue. This musical, in a lovely two-piano arrangement, is full of comedy, political satire and some of the best tunes in the American Musical songbook. Following in the footsteps of Babes in Arms and Candide, this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Birthday Boy by Chris Newbound
Directed by Wes Grantom
Preview August 30
Opening Night/Press Night Wednesday,  August 31 @ 7pm
Runs Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm
1^st Closing September 3
Reopens September 29 (runs Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday & Sunday at 2pm)
Final Closing October 16
World Premiere!

Part of the Made in the Berkshires festival

As Matt nears his fortieth birthday, he finds himself at a crossroads in his life. His wife Arianne wants to take a mud season vacation to Vermont. His job is safe, though far from stimulating. When he begins a flirtation with a comely colleague he finds himself discovering just how absurd everyday life can be. This world premiere work provides a comic look at marriage, life and growing older.

Talk with the Dramaturg for Macbeth- William Flesch

Tell us about your work at Brandeis.

I teach literature and film at Brandeis.  I’ve been teaching the Shakespeare lecture there (trading off with the other Shakespearean) since the late eighties. I also teach courses on the history of poetry and on the theory of narrative; on film, both American and world-wide; and on philosophical aspects of literary and aesthetic thought. Basically, I try to teach a new course pretty much every year or two, but the one course that I’ve taught pretty consistently for over two decades is Shakespeare.

Tell us about your relationship with Eric. How did you get to know him?

I first met Eric in a faculty seminar I was directing at Brandeis. It was a seminar designed to get artists, humanists, social scientists and scientists talking to each other and seeing what was similar about their work and what differences were productive — what unexpected insights our different ways of thinking could provide. Eric was a member of that seminar, and one of the things we studied was King Lear, which we both had a lot to say about. After that he asked me to talk to the players in the wonderful King Lear he did at Brandeis, and he sat in on a bunch of my courses: one entirely on Lear, one on Macbeth. And of course I’ve gone to a lot of his productions, including The Faith Healer at BTF last summer.

What have your discussions with Eric been like about Macbeth?

One of the things I’ve most learned from Eric is how to think about Shakespeare’s skill in thinking about actors. We’ve been talking about Shakespeare in general for a long time and Macbeth in particular for about two years. Most debates about whether Shakespeare was writing “literature” or “popular entertainment” proceed on the assumption that he was either very practical or very other worldly. I think that Shakespeare was a literary genius who also had almost unparalleled skills in the craft of theater — a craft that includes being able to see what actors could and would do with the scripts he gave them, how they would respond and interact to each other and to the audience, and how the audience would respond to their interactions. Macbeth, for example, is a person we hear about well before we see him — there’s no way he can live up to his press. But he’s not supposed to: Shakespeare knows we won’t see what we’ve been told to expect, and he knows the actor playing Macbeth, as well as the character, will have to deal with this fact. Anyhow Eric is amazingly literary in his understanding of Shakespeare’s language, thinking, and ambitions, and being able to talk to him about the philosophical and thematic and poetic aspects of Shakespeare means being able to see how all these things work together with the highly practical, theatrical, material, human-management aspects of Shakespeare as well. They all go together, and discussions with Eric always helped remind me the extent to which what Shakespeare wrote about and talked about and thought about were human beings, and that Shakespeare talked for and wrote for and thought for human beings as well — the real people in the theater, on stage and off, as well as the almost equally real characters on stage. Anyhow we’ve been talking about the human dynamics in Macbeth for years now, in both philosophical terms and practical terms. For example: What is the nature of time? How are two hours experienced in the theater? Or: Why are the witches so malevolent? Should Lady Macbeth be played by the same actor as one of the witches, and should her costume echo theirs?

How do you look at Macbeth in the canon from a dramaturgical point of view?

I think Shakespeare is a radical experimentalist, by the time you get to this point in his career, and his experiments consist of seeing how far he can go in stripping away conventional aspects of sympathetic characters to get down to the core of what makes a human human, despite all the inhumanity he or she shows. Can a conventional villain be made the hero of a play? How? What would it take for us to feel for Macbeth? What’s the difference between acknowledging that Macbeth has great speeches (which all readers can tell) and acknowledging that somehow he has greatness of experience despite his selfishness — that he has greatness of devastation. I think that all thoughtful actors who play Macbeth have to see this. But it requires thought. And the fact that it requires thought is something that audiences will see, and so they will see in Macbeth a character who is really thinking, just as the actor is. I think the characters to compare Macbeth to are Hamlet and Antony. Hamlet thinks as hard as Macbeth, but with less legitimate anxiety. He’s afraid to do evil but he isn’t evil. As for Antony, Shakespeare was writing Antony and Cleopatra simultaneously with Macbeth and treats a similar political dynamic there, and a similar spectacular loss of power. They are pendant plays, and each character shows the human possibility foreclosed to the other.

How has your work for Comeuppance impacted your talks with Eric about Macbeth?

Well, this would be a very long answer so I’ll have to give you a very short one. Eric is very kind about the book, and again I think this is because of his deep literary and philosophical interests. Comeuppance is about how and why we want to see villains punished. The why is partly that we want to teach them a lesson — not to annihilate them, or not just to annihilate them but to make them see the wrong they’ve done. Macbeth does see the wrong he’s done, and in that way he becomes both more and less open to the punishment that Macduff and Malcolm aim at. Well, at the end of the play punishment is over, at any rate, which is a bit like Aristotlean catharsis. My sense is that Eric and I agree pretty deeply on this. I don’t really talk about Macbeth in Comeuppance, but I would love it if some of my ideas affected this production.

Sit down with Kate Maguire and Eric Hill to talk about Macbeth!

We sat down with Kate Maguire, Artistic Director/CEO, and Eric Hill, Director, to talk about BTF’s upcoming production of Macbeth. Here’s what they had to say!

Why Macbeth? Why now?

Kate Maguire, Artistic Director/CEO: We’ve wanted to do Macbeth for years. We have this fantastic Shakespeare director in our company, it makes sense to do it. What is really interesting about Macbeth is the theme of the struggle for power in a culture of violence. This play deals with that theme directly and swiftly. All signs pointed to yes for this show – we have these two great actors I wanted to play Lord and Lady Macbeth. CJ Wilson and Keira Naughton are incredible artists and I was excited to get them on board for the show. Eric has also done the show before.

Eric Hill, Director: Knowing the play so well means that I get to work more quickly on it. We only have a three week rehearsal process, so an in-depth knowledge of the show is good. In addition, I’m working with these actors I know very well and the company is so unified that the rehearsal process isn’t just actors learning lines. Any director will tell you that they want to spend all their time in rehearsals with actors who already know their lines. These guys come into the process already invested – they know all their lines and they’re ready to go. We can delve more into the text and the play itself when we start from that advanced point. So I’ve done the show before, yes. It all helps to expedite the memorization and groundwork and lets us get into the good stuff.

Tell us about the company of actors and how that affects the show.

Kate: When I came to Stockbridge 16 years ago, I wanted to build a creative company that could work on theatre together and create their own artistic language and family. I believed that kind of company would be the most successful at producing great theatre in a short rehearsal period. We started gathering talented directors that have stayed with us year to year – Anders Cato, Eric Hill, John Rando. Next we brought in designers, then actors. It’s not just the same actors year to year, though. It’s important to bring in new actors as well as keeping the veterans. We’re a summer theatre – everyone leaves during the year and discovers new things, only to come back to BTF and pump that excitement back into their work here. We are lucky enough to be here at this point with a team that trusts each other and works efficiently.

Eric: The most important part to their camaraderie, however, is not lines, blocking, or costumes. Everyone is really involved with BTF. They come here ready to work, and because of that we have fun. We delve into the show right away without wasting time and make sure we have a good time. Another good part about having this group of actors in Macbeth that I’ve worked with before is something Kate was talking about – we have an artistic language. The actors know what I’m talking about when I explain something, so we share a lexicon of words to use while we work. We work together, we’re not separate artists who happen to be in the same rehearsal space.

Eric, what about your training background are you bringing to Macbeth?

Eric: Well, I always use Tadashi Suzuki’s teachings without specifically meaning to. They are such a part of what I do that my work will always be influenced by him. We’re experimenting with Butoh in this show, a Japanese dance form. Butoh means “dance of darkness” and it has witch-like elements that will serve as a vocabulary for the three witches’ movement. Then the language will create a structure around the Butoh. It’s like an East-West infusion.

Sutton Foster to appear at BTF!

Tony^® award winner Sutton Foster will be bringing her cabaret performance An Evening with Sutton Foster to Berkshire Theatre Festival on August 22 at 7pm on the historic Main Stage.  Tickets for the evening are $25 and $45, with a limited number of VIP tickets at $70.  VIP tickets feature prime seating locations and admission to an exclusive post-show reception featuring the artists.  This evening of song and laughter, presented with her Musical Director Michael Rafter accompanying, is fueled by Ms. Foster’s sparkling wit and incredible voice.  Songs for the evening are drawn from her critically-acclaimed debut solo album Wish and from the stage roles that have helped make her famous, such as Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Drowsy Chaperone.

Sutton Foster recently starred on Broadway as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical, for which she was honored with Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award.  Prior to that, Sutton was Inga in the Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, Janet Van De Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, LA Ovation Award) and Jo March in Little Women: The Musical (2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations).  She is the recipient of the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Awards for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a role she created in the 2000 La Jolla Playhouse premiere.  Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Grease!.   Her debut solo CD, Wish (Ghostlight Records), was recently released to critical acclaim and is now available in stores.  In April 2010, she will star in the highly-anticipated City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle.  Visit her website: www.suttonfoster.com.

Michael Rafter recently returned from Melbourne, Australia where he supervised the music for the hit Broadway show, Jersey Boys. Sutton Foster and Michael collaborated on her first solo cd, Wish, that was released in February and performed it live at the Lincoln Center American Songbook series. The New York Times wrote: “Michael Rafter’s subtle, glowing arrangements for ten musicians … created a softened 1920s sound, at once lilting and refined.” He also co-produced Norm Lewis’s solo cd, This Is The Life, and the recording of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Broadway show, Caroline, Or Change. Michael conducted Gypsy on Broadway, as well as the TV movie starring Bette Midler, and won an Emmy award for his music direction of the movie.  His recent movie credits include two movies with Hugh Grant: Music And Lyrics (piano/vocal coach, produced vocals) and Did You Hear About The Morgans? (produced vocal and instrumental tracks).

Now Announcing the 2010 Season!

Berkshire Theatre Festival is proud to announce its 82nd season, featuring an exciting mix of new work and celebrated classics. Full of laughter and romance, provocative drama and exhilarating action, and a healthy dose of great music, 2010 promises to be a summer that won’t be forgotten.

Tickets for the 2010  season go on sale online February 14 and in person or over the phone February 15. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 413-298-5576 ext. 33 or visit the BTF website at www.berkshiretheatre.org. Click on a show’s title for more information.

Main Stage Shows

Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

Directed by Anders Cato

June 22- July 10

A twist in time gives fresh perspective to the classic boy-meets-girl tale in Jason Robert Brown’s bittersweet musical romance. Fueled by the energy, passion, and humor of Brown’s unique melodies, The Last Five Years is a moving story of a modern relationship.

By Ferenc Molnár

Directed by John Rando

With Jayne Atkinson, Richard Easton, and Michel Gill

July 13- July 31

Terrified that his wife is bound for infidelity, an actor decides to test her loyalty by doing what he does best: putting on a character. And so begins The Guardsman, a hilarious tale of treachery, deception, and assumed identities packed with twists from beginning to end.

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Eric Hill

With Brandy Caldwell, Jeremy Davidson, Keira Naughton, and C.J. Wilson

August 3- August 14

One man’s struggle with his own blind ambition sparks a firestorm of blood and betrayal in William Shakespeare’s cautionary masterpiece.

By Edward Albee

Directed by David Auburn

August 17- September 4

An alcoholic sister, a daughter going through her fourth divorce, and a pair of friends running from an unnamed fear converge on the home of a married couple in Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The result is a breathtakingly insightful study of relationships and their infinite complexities.

Unicorn Theatre Shows

By Patrick Meyers

Directed by Wes Grantom

June 17- July 3

Trapped on a mountain ledge beyond hope of rescue, two men fight time, the elements, and faltering hope in a gripping tale of survival with a deep emotional core.

By Samuel Beckett

Directed by Eric Hill

With David Chandler and Randy Harrison

July 6- July 24

Following the success of BTF’s 2008 production of Waiting for Godot, Endgame presents an absurdist’s vision of a future where time and reason are little more than suggestions, with characters as memorable as they are miserable.

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Book by George Oppenheimer

Directed by E. Gray Simons III

Presented by the Unicorn Company

July 27- August 28

Featuring the hit songs “The Lady Is A Tramp” and “My Funny Valentine”, the original “let’s put on a musical” musical tells the story of a few determined teens and their fight to keep their independence by producing their own show.

By William Donnelly

Directed by Kyle Fabel

September 1- October 24

World Premiere!

When an unexpected tragedy brings them back together, an estranged couple is forced to navigate a web of grief and guilt that leads to tears, laughter, and ultimately hope in William Donnelly’s world premiere play.

Check out our review in The Boston Globe!

Check out our new review of Sick in the Boston Globe!

Click here to read the review in its entirety.

You only have a few days left to see what Globe Correspondent Sandy MacDonald calls “a brillant…script, and the cast is spectacular.

Final performances of Sick running Wednesday, September 2 through Sunday, September 6

Buy Tickets!

Sick now showing on Unicorn Stage

Sick

Written by Zayd Dhorn

Directed by David Auburn

Featuring Rebecca Brooksher, Lisa Emery, Michel Gill, Greg Keller, and Ryan Spahn

August 18-September 6

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Rebecca Brooksher, Ryan Spahn, Michel Gill, Lisa Emery, and Greg Keller in BTF's 2009 production of Sick. Photo by Jaime Davidson.

New Ghosts video on You Tube!

Check out the new Ghosts video on You Tube!

If you haven’t already seen this fantastic drama in a new adaptation by Anders Cato and James Leverett, you have until August 29th!

Buy Tickets!

Only in the Berkshires!

Check out the latest Only in the Berkshires webisode featuring Berkshire Theatre Festival!

Berkshire Theatre Festival’s year-round education program, BTF PLAYS! serves area students from kindergarten through high school. At the heart of BTF PLAYS! is a passionate commitment to bring live theatre and all its inherent excitement and creativity to children in our region. Since its inception in 1984, the program has reached more than 50,000 students in underserved rural and inner city schools throughout Berkshire Country.

Ghosts to open on the Main Stage!

Opening Saturday, August 15th at 8pm on the Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Main Stage:

Ghosts

By Henrik Ibsen

In a new translation by Anders Cato and James Leverett

Directed by Anders Cato

Featuring David Adkins, Mia Dillon, Jonathan Epstein, Tara Franklin and Randy Harrison

August 12-29

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Randy Harrison, David Adkins, and Mia Dillon in BTF's production of Ghosts. Photo by Jaime Davidson.