Venues
Events
VideoTheater
The 2009 Berkshire Theater Festival
Four fresh productions for summer
Berkshire Theatre’s Main Stage, built in 1888
With over 550 productions in its 80-year history, the Berkshire Theater Festival is an established institution of American theater. Every summer, it guarantees a combination of cultural experience and relaxing country escape. A visit to Western Massachusetts can also include anything from an afternoon of horseback riding to a relaxing weekend at Canyon Ranch.
The Berkshire Theater’s Main Stage is housed in an historic former casino dating from 1888. This summer’s Main Stage productions are highlighted below. Berkshire Theater Director Kate Maguire says, “This season represents a wonderful mix of plays that both deal with the issues we face, individually as well as a society, while also providing an entertaining respite from our daily grind.” Also, be sure to check out the cutting edge offerings at the smaller Unicorn Theater.
Broadway by the Year®: Jun 18–27
Presented by special arrangement with The Town Hall in New York City. Seasoned theater critic Scott Siegel picks the best of Broadway by the year, be it 1933 or 1964. With singing and dancing from a stunning array of performers, you could hear “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” from George White’s Scandals of 1931, “I’m Not At All In Love” from The Pajama Game, “Now I Have Everything” from Fiddler On the Roof or “The Sound of Music.” The show is a must for any musical lover.
The Einstein Project: Jun 30 – Jul 18
Directed by Eric Hill with Tommy Schrider as Albert Einstein. Graduating from the experimental test tube of the Berkshire Unicorn Stage to the Main Stage, this play captures the actual man behind the mythical bushy-haired icon. The relativity inventor was not such a good relative, a pushy father and unfaithful husband. As he muddles his way through the ethics of atomics in conversations with colleagues, we get a picture of the man behind the theory.
The Prisoner of Second Avenue: Jul 21 – Aug 8
Directed by Warner Shook with Stephen DeRosa as Mel Edison. Escape the heat wave in the city for a play about a heat wave in the city. Set in the Upper East Side, hit play penman Neil Simon assaults the couple at the center of the story with New York’s worst: sweltering heat, a garbage strike, street noise, bad neighbors, a break-in, and a layoff. A breakdown ensues, and family members attempt to come to the rescue. The comedic angle to the dark drama is sure to get a laugh at hardships that may be all too familiar these days.
Ghosts: Aug 11–29
Directed by Anders Cato with Randy Harrison as Oswald. Ghosts is one of Ibsen’s classic cautionary tales in which Victorian values go very wrong. A woman, struggling against her and her family’s dark secrets, finds herself in an impossible situation caused by the very moral code that should have prevented the mess. Dark and scathingly contentious, Ghosts stimulates examination of even the most modern of value systems for latent hypocrisies.
For more information, visit the Berkshire Theater Festival.