Edith Wharton News

Idealism, ambition, conspiracy, honor, greed, betrayal and the lust for power-echoes of our own modern politics-are all on tap in Shakespeare's potent and bloody Julius Caesar. Last performed at the Company in 1993, Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer delivers audiences her 'bare-Bard' production of Caesar, marking its final leg of a three city tour-Orlando, Florida, Prague in the Czech Republic, and now at home in Lenox, with Shakespeare & Company. With 7 actors playing multiple roles this poetry-filled psychological and political thriller follows the conspiracy and assassination of the omnipotent Roman leader, and the consequences that ensue from his brutal murder. Performances run in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre today, June 27 - August 30.Press Opening is Friday, July 4 at 8:00pm.

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO, Kate Maguire have announced the Summer 2014 Theatre Season offering classic works coupled with contemporary plays.

Fresh off its recent Tchaikovsky production at BAM Fisher, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents another fully staged theatrical concert interweaving drama and music about one of the most famous trials of the 19th century. Delivered by a top-caliber cast in an intimate setting, The Trial of Oscar Wilde focuses on the tragic shackling, public scrutiny, and subsequent imprisonment of the homosexual playwright/writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). A script based on Wilde's correspondence, plays, and short stories (performed by Broadway's Michael Halling as Oscar Wilde and esteemed Robert Ian Mackenzie as Lord Queensbury) provides a dramatic backdrop for chamber music by French and English composers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries including Chausson's masterful Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet, and works by Satie, Elgar, Faure and Franck in performances by the dynamic Amphion String Quartet, violinist Susie Park, pianist Max Barros and a romping barbershop quartet.

Idealism, ambition, conspiracy, honor, greed, betrayal and the lust for power-echoes of our own modern politics-are all on tap in Shakespeare's potent and bloody Julius Caesar. Last performed at the Company in 1993, Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer delivers audiences her 'bare-Bard' production of Caesar, marking its final leg of a three city tour-Orlando, Florida, Prague in the Czech Republic, and now at home in Lenox, with Shakespeare & Company. With 7 actors playing multiple roles this poetry-filled psychological and political thriller follows the conspiracy and assassination of the omnipotent Roman leader, and the consequences that ensue from his brutal murder. Performances run in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre June 27 - August 30.Press Opening is Friday, July 4 at 8:00pm.

No rural area has as many summer stages as the Berkshires of Massachusetts whose offerings overflow its borders.

The organization myFace recently reached out to us to share a personal response to the musical Violet by journalist and blogger Jeryl Brunner.

Restless Books is thrilled to be launching a new series of classic and contemporary travel narratives written by women, Restless Women Travelers:

Casting for Shakespeare & Company's upcoming Summer Performance Season was finalized last week which includes a roster of audience favorites, critics' top picks and a bevy of newcomers joining the Company's ranks in this celebratory season in honor of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. See play titles, casting, Press Openings and full schedules for each production listed below.

Fresh off its recent Tchaikovsky production at BAM Fisher, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents another fully staged theatrical concert interweaving drama and music about one of the most famous trials of the 19th century. Delivered by a top-caliber cast in an intimate setting, The Trial of Oscar Wilde focuses on the tragic shackling, public scrutiny, and subsequent imprisonment of the homosexual playwright/writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). A script based on Wilde's correspondence, plays, and short stories (performed by Broadway's Michael Halling as Oscar Wilde and esteemed Robert Ian Mackenzie as Lord Queensbury) provides a dramatic backdrop for chamber music by French and English composers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries including Chausson's masterful Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet, and works by Satie, Elgar, Faure and Franck in performances by the dynamic Amphion String Quartet, violinist Susie Park, pianist Max Barros and a romping barbershop quartet.

A trailblazer among American women at the turn of the century, Edith Wharton set out in the newly invented 'motor-car' to explore the cities and countryside of France. As the Whartons embark on three separate journeys through the country in 1906 and 1907, accompanied first by Edith's brother, Harry Jones, and then by Henry James, Edith is enamored by the freedom that this new form of transport has given her. With a keen eye for architecture and art, and the engrossing style that would later earn her a Pulitzer Prize in fiction, Wharton writes about places that she previously “yearned for from the windows of the train.'

The Old Globe today announced it will present Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas ("The Waltons," Fifth of July, "The Americans") starring in A Distant Country Called Youth, an intimate look at the making of an artist, adapted by Steve Lawson from early letters Tennessee Williams sent to his family, friends, and professional associates. This one-night-only engagement takes place on Monday, June 9 at 7:00 p.m.

The Virginia Arts Festival presents a rare evening of period music conducted by one of the most revered names in early music performance, William Christie, tonight, April 15 at 7:30pm, at Norfolk's First Lutheran Church. Mr. Christie will lead the musicians of Juilliard415, the principal period-instrument ensemble of The Juilliard School, and singers from Juilliard Opera in Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 18th-century treasure, Acteon.

While this winter may have filled us with discontent, before we know it we'll be making our summer travel plans. In preparation, Restless Books is pleased to announce a new series called Restless Women Travelers. The series brings you new and old classics of the genre, complemented with fresh introductions by some of our best contemporary travel writers. The first four titles will be available this spring/summer:

Juliet Stevenson returns to the Young Vic in February 2015 to reprise her mesmerising performance as Winnie in Natalie Abrahami's acclaimed production of Happy Days which sold out its first run in the Main House. David Beames returns to play Willie in a limited five-week run of Samuel Beckett's existential masterpiece.

Ford's Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault today announced that the Ford's Theatre 2014-2015 season will include mainstage productions of Driving Miss Daisy, headlined by Nancy Robinette and Craig Wallace, the return of Edward Gero as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, the world premiere of The Widow Lincoln by James Still, and a new musical, Freedom's Song, still in development, inspired by the words of Lincoln and those who lived through the Civil War.

The Virginia Arts Festival presents a rare evening of period music conducted by one of the most revered names in early music performance, William Christie, on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30pm, at Norfolk's First Lutheran Church. Mr. Christie will lead the musicians of Juilliard415, the principal period-instrument ensemble of The Juilliard School, and singers from Juilliard Opera in Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 18th-century treasure, Acteon.

Ripe Time, the Brooklyn-based company led by Rachel Dickstein, has garnered acclaim for creating physically charged, visually powerful adaptations of classic and contemporary stories by authors raging from Edith Wharton to Jhumpa Lahiri. Conceived, written and directed by Dickstein, the play The World is Round epitomizes the company's work, creating from Gertrude Stein's book a fable (for grownups and mature children) full of original, live music by Heather Christian and aerial movement choreographed by Nicki Miller. Ripe Time's first new show since its celebrated Mrs. Dalloway adaptation Septimus and Clarissa (2011), The World is Round makes its world premiere April 17 - 30 at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn).

Celebrating its 13th season, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at The Fishman Space in the new BAM Fisher. A fully staged theatrical concert blending striking music, powerful language and biography, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart delves into the unconventional 16-year long relationship between one of the great composers of the 19th century and his patroness, Madame von Meck. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this evening-length production seamlessly interweaves a dramatic script performed by actor Simon Fortin (Tchaikovsky) and actress Ariel Bock (Madame von Meck) of Shakespeare & Company with live chamber and vocal music performed by violinist Rachel Lee Priday, cellist Adrian Daurov, pianist Eve Wolf and tenor Blake Friedman. Featuring some of Tchaikovsky's epic pieces including Piano Trio in A Minor, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart represents some of the composer's balletic works through dance both choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theatre dancer Daniel Mantei.

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO, Kate Maguire have announced the Summer 2014 Theatre Season offering classic works coupled with contemporary plays.