Berkshire Theatre Festival Announces 80th Season

Berkshire Theatre Festival Artistic Director Kate Maguire is pleased to announce the company's 2008 80th anniversary season, which will extend from May 22 through December 30 and be the longest-running season in the company's history. 

Berkshire Theatre Festival Main Stage performances are Monday through Saturday evenings at 8pm with 2pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Tickets range from $23 to $68.

Candida by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Anders Cato
Previews: June 17, 18, 19
Opens: June 20
Closes: July 5

The Main Stage opens its 80th season with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's fast-paced, thought-provoking 1894 comedy, Candida, which was first performed in Stockbridge in 1928 during the Berkshire Playhouse's inaugural season.  Set in London's East End during the Victorian era, Candida is about the domestic turmoil that ensues when a dashing and sensitive young poet comes between a socially progressive minister and his charismatic wife. Though the play revolves around a classic romantic triangle, the questions it raises about love, fidelity, and the imagination of the artist are as relevant today as ever.

The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarías
With Tom Story
Previews: July 8, 9, 10
Opens: July 11
Closes: July 19
Northeast Premiere

A workshop production of Karen Zacarías's The Book Club Play was the surprise hit of the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference last summer. This sparkling new comedy is about people who read books, people who say they read books, and people who prefer books to other people. The play examines the popular phenomena of book clubs: the intricate rules, the intricate friendships, and the intricate need for food.  Hilarious and heartbreaking, it reveals the impact of literature on our lives and friendships.

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
Directed by Richard Corley
With Tara Franklin, Eric Hill, and Walter Hudson
Previews: July 22, 23, 24
Opens: July 25
Closes: August 9

Robert Bolt's stirring drama, A Man for All Seasons, explores the uneasy interplay of church and state during the reign of King Henry VIII. The play is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, a revered scholar, lawyer, and churchman, whose eloquence and endurance in the face of escalating threats to his beliefs and family make him one of modern drama's greatest tragic heroes. The play won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1962 and went on to garner multiple Academy Awards when it was adapted to film in 1966.

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Directed by Martin A. Rabbett
With Richard Chamberlain and Jan Maxwell
Previews: August 12, 13, 14
Opens: August 15
Closes: September 6

Berkshire Theatre Festival isn't the only 80th birthday we're celebrating this season…Legendary playwright Edward Albee also enters his ninth decade this year. Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was his first major success, winning Tony and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards when it premiered in 1963. Jan Maxwell and Richard Chamberlain will play the battling George and Martha in this scathing, scalding, revealing, and wickedly funny drama.

Berkshire Theatre Festival Unicorn performances are Monday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with 2pm matinees on Saturdays for most shows.  The opening and closing productions have slightly different schedules — please see details below.  Prices range from $19.50 to $44.

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
Directed by Eric Hill
With James Barry and Jonathan Epstein
Previews: May 22, 23
Opens: May 24
Closes: June 28

Playing Thursday through Saturday at 8pm.  In addition there will be 2pm matinees on May 25, June 1, June 8, June 21, and June 28; Monday through Wednesday performances at 8pm on June 16 – 18 and June 23 – 25. Note: No evening performance on June 21.

Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter's The Caretaker is an enigmatic and sinister comedy about the struggle for power.  The fragile relationship of two brothers, Aston and Mick, is turned upside down when Davies, a homeless man, enters their lives. Since its premiere in 1960, this play has been recognized as a landmark in 20th century drama.

Pageant Play by Matthew Wilkas and Mark Setlock
With Daiva Deupree, Jenn Harris, Mark Setlock, and Matthew Wilkas
Previews: July 1, 2, 3, 4
Opens: July 5
Closes: July 26
World Premiere

Actor-playwright Mark Setlock of the international hit, Fully Committed, joins Matthew Wilkas to create Pageant Play, an outrageous new satiric comedy about the twisted world of child pageants. Two ruthless stage mothers with rival pageant coaches go on a desperate quest to turn their daughters into beauty queens.

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Anders Cato
With David Adkins, Randy Harrison, and David Schramm
Previews: July 29, 30, 31, August 1
Opens: August 2
Closes: August 23

Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, changed the course of modern theatre when it opened in Paris in 1953. The play is at once a vaudevillian farce and a heartrending expression of our very existence. Upon seeing the innovative production for the first time, playwright William Saroyan commented, "It will make it easier for me and everyone else to write freely in the theatre."

Eleanor:  Her Secret Journey by Rhoda Lerman
Directed by Stephen Temperley
Previews: August 26
Opens: August 27
Closes: November 9

Playing August 26 – 30, September 25 – 27, October 2 – 4, October 9 – 11, October 16 – 18, October 23 – 25, October 30 – November 1, and November 6 – 8 at 8pm.  2pm Matinees August 30, September 28, October 5, October 19, October 26, November 2, and November 9.

Eleanor: Her Secret Journey is a poignant and thoughtful one-woman play about Eleanor Roosevelt. This intimate portrait of the First Lady reveals her private struggles and offers a distinctly feminine look at politics, power, and war. She and her husband changed America forever. They lifted our society at a time when all appeared hopeless. It seems fitting to add her voice to the conversation during election season.

Theatre for Young Audiences
Note: The following productions are not part of the subscription series.

Hercules by E. Gray Simons III
Directed by E. Gray Simons III
June 25 – July 26 at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield
$7 children, $10 adult (discount for museum members)
For ticket information, call the Berkshire Museum at 413-443-7171
Playing Wednesday through Saturday 11am, with no show on July 4th

Stories of heroes have been told for as long as people could give voice to thought, but none has ever matched the excitement and inspiration of the Greek myth of Hercules. In this play, the hero undertakes twelve impossible tasks, including battling beastly boars and bulls, rerouting rivers, slaying multi-headed monsters, and traveling into the Underworld.

Around the World in 80 Days adapted by E. Gray Simons III from the Jules Verne novel
Directed by Amy Brentano
August 6 – August 23 at the Unicorn Theatre
Playing Monday through Saturday 11am
$7 child/student, $15 adult

Phileas Fogg (a very English gentleman) takes a bet that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. The ensuing whirlwind escapade involves galloping horses, runaway trains, and a lumbering elephant, moving from sacred Hindu temples in Bombay to the American Wild West, and meeting Japanese acrobats, an Indian princess, and Mormon wives along the way, but will he beat the clock? Not if a relentless Scotland Yard detective has anything to say about it.

Oliver!
Book, Music and Lyrics by Lionel Bart
Based on Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist
Directed by E. Gray Simons III
With a cast of children and adults drawn from the local Berkshire community
September 11– 13 at 7:30pm, with 2pm matinees on September 13 – 14 at the Main Stage
$10 students, $25 adults

Proceeds to benefit Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation's Berkshire County Educational Enrichment Initiative and BTF PLAYS!, Berkshire Theatre Festival's Year-Round Education Program.  One of the favorite musicals of all time, Oliver! tells the rough and tumble tale of a sweet orphan boy who falls in with a gang of pickpockets in London's underworld.  This musical treat for the whole family features classics such as "Food, Glorious Food," "I'd Do Anything," and "Consider Yourself."

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill
Directed by Eric Hill and E. Gray Simons III
December  11 – December 30 at the Unicorn Theatre
Playing December 11 – 15, December 17 – 22, and December 26 – 30 at 7pm.  There will be 2pm matinee performances on December 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, and 28.  A 10am matinee will be held on December 18.  There will be no performances on December 24 and 25.
$20 child/student, $36 - $39 adult

BTF's third annual production of the classic story about the redemptive power of kindness and generosity.

BTF 80th Birthday Party Celebration
Saturday, June 21

A festive Main Stage opening weekend celebration for BTF alumnae and friends, featuring pre-show dinners at private homes, pre-show cocktails and hors d'oeuvres under the Main Stage tent, and birthday cake and champagne after the performance, followed by dancing in the Paint Shop. Please call the Development Department for details: 413-298-5536 ext. 13.

BTF Community Festival Day
Friday, August 15th 11am – 3pm

On Community Festival Day, the BTF grounds will abound with actors, clowns, magicians, musicians, children's games, and a kid-friendly auction. There will also be a costume shop tag sale, an 11am performance of Around the World in 80 Days, and a 2pm lecture about the history of BTF.

A Very Special Evening with Judy Kaye and David Green
Sunday, October 12th

This elegant evening will begin with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the Unicorn Theatre.  Husband and wife Judy Kaye and David Green will sing their favorite Broadway songs.  BTF audiences will be familiar with Ms. Kay from her performance in Souvenir and with Mr. Green from last season's Mornings at Seven. Dinner at Wheatleigh in Lenox will follow the performance. Please call the Development Department for details: 413-298-5536 ext. 13.

Full-time Berkshire Residents receive half-price tickets to Saturday matinee performances during the subscription series. (Copy of local driver's license or winter heating bill required.)

Half-price tickets are available to students to all regular performances during the subscription series. (Copy of high school or college ID required.)

Contact the BTF Box Office at 413-298-5536 ext. 33 or visit www.berkshiretheatre.org. All plays, schedules, and prices are subject to change.

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