BTG Kicks-Off Season with CHURCH & STATE

Berkshire Theatre Group presents celebrated Emmy Award-nominated Jason Odell Williams' provocative and humorous Church & State. Directed by Charlotte Cohn (founding producer of the New York Music Theatre Festival and Mainstreet Musicals), Church & State features Judy Jerome (Two By Tennessee) as Sara Whitmore; Keira Naughton (The Rivals; BTG: I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn't Even Smile) as Alex Klein; Graham Rowat (Meteor Shower; BTG: Arsenic and Old Lace) as Senator Charles Whitmore and Andy Talen (The Tempest) as Tom/Marshall/Reporter/Security Guy.Performances begin Thursday, June 14, 2018 for a limited run through Saturday, June 30, 2018at The Unicorn Theatre, The Larry Viber Stage (6 East Street) in Stockbridge, MA. Opening night is Saturday, June 16 at 8:00 p.m.

Hailed as "crackling, resonant, humorous" by NPR and written by Emmy Award-nominated Jason Odell Williams (Brain Games), Church & State is a fast-paced and witty look at the life of a politician, whose belief system gets shaken to the core...three days before his bid for re-election. Church & State will have you talking, and Tweeting, long after the curtain closes. Church & State is sponsored by: Lead Sponsor, Bobbie Hallig; Furlano and Arace, PC, Massachusetts Cultural Council, The Shubert Foundation.

Church & State premiered in Los Angeles in 2016 and received three Ovation Award nominations, including Best Playwriting for an Original Play and Best Production. For its Off-Broadway premiere in 2017 it received an Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Play.

Church & State will play the following performance schedule: Monday - Thursday at 7pm,Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm. Special Talkbacks will follow each performance.

Tickets for Church & State are $56, and $47 for Previews. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield or by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sundays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

A Talkback with will follow every performance. Names and dates of Guest Speakers are subject to change without notice. Special Talkback Guests are as follows:

• 6/16 - Charlotte Cohn (Church & State director) and Jason Odell Williams (Church & State playwright)
• 6/18 - Laurie Norton Moffatt (Director and CEO of Norman Rockwell Museum)
• 6/19 - Adam Hinds (Senator)
• 6/20 2pm - Dr. Alan Chartock (WAMC President/CEO)
• 6/20 7pm - Jennifer Goewey and Tess Lane (Elizabeth Freeman Center representatives)
• 6/21 - Jodi Faith Sherman (Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Alumna) and Charlotte Cohn (Church & State director)
• 6/22 - Philip R. McKnight (Constitutional Law Professor; B.A., Williams College, J.D., University of Chicago Law School)
• 6/23 2pm- Anne Thalheimer (Everytown Survivor Fellow)
• 6/23 8pm- Malcolm Nance (Author, Counterterrorism and Weapons expert, WAMC and MSNBC contributor) and Joe Donahue (WAMC Senior Director of News and Programming)
• 6/25 - Mark Barden (Sandy Hook Promise), his daughter, Natalie Barden, and Greg Gibson (Author of Gone Boy; Representative of Everytown for Gun Safety and Antiquarium book seller)
• 6/26 - Greg Gibson (Author of Gone Boy; Representative of Everytown for Gun Safety and Antiquarium book seller
• 6/27 2pm- Chris Haley (Director of MA Department of Mental Health)
• 6/27 7pm- TBA
• 6/28 - Josh Horwitz (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence)
• 6/29 - Jane Tillman (Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education and Research of the Austen Riggs Center)
• 6/30 2pm- Charlotte Cohn (Church & State director) and Jason Odell Williams(Church & State playwright)
• 6/30 8pm- Dr. Andrew Gerber (Director of Austen Riggs Center)

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

Need more Boston Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...