Great Barrington Public Theater Announces WET INK Event Series

Great Barrington Public Theater adds Wet Ink live stage readings and outdoor storytellers to season, plus a special presentation of Mr. Fullerton at The Mount, with playwright talkback, on July 14.

While currently performing a six-week season in the Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great Barrington Public Theater now adds the inventive Wet Ink series to the summer lineup. "Wet Ink gives us greater opportunity to present new talent, stories and plays to audiences, to get reactions and feedback for future possibility," explains the Public's Artistic Director Jim Frangione. "We look forward to hearing from people after they see what we're incubating in the wings."

This summer's Wet Ink kicks off on July 10 at 4pm with live storytelling by Bard College at Simon's Rock faculty member and award-winning fiction writer Brendan Mathews, whose recent short story collection debut, This Is Not a Love Song, was described in The New York Times as "admirably fearless" and whom critics have compared to Michael Chabon, E.L. Doctorow, and Dennis Lehane. He will be joined by the Public's own playwright, poet and fiction writer, Elizabeth Nelson, whose dark and lyrical storytelling can be read in Canyon Voices Magazine and in the forthcoming summer issues of Heartland Society of Women Writers, Second Chance Lit, and Rhodora Magazine, among others. They appear together on July 10, in the Great Barrington Town Hall Park, and will be joined by Berkshire Busk, a mix of musicians and performers who are entertaining on the streets of Great Barrington all summer long.

On Monday, July 12, 7:30pm, the always imaginative Berkshire playwright Michael Brady will present a reading of his new play, Queen of the Sea, in the Daniel Arts Center Liebowitz Black Box Theater. In Queen of the Sea, three strangers meet on a cruise ship for 'the voyage of a lifetime'. Nothing in their lifetimes has prepared them for what is to come. Queen of the Sea will be directed by Michelle Joyner and feature performances by Elizabeth Aspenlieder, David Joseph and Jessica Provenz.

On Monday and Tuesday August 2nd and 3rd at 7:30pm, in the McConnell Theater, audiences are in for a rare treat when familiar and diverse stage, film and TV actor Treat Williams gives them a first look at his new play, Grant. It's an intimate exploration into the life, spirit, character and candor of iconic Ulysess S. Grant, performed by Williams in the persona of Grant himself. The Public hopes to further develop Grant and encourages early reservations to this special presentation of the new work.

August 4, 7:30pm, the McConnell stage comes entrancingly to life with The Queen of Fenway Court, a new play written and performed by superbly accomplished and creative actor-writer Leigh Strimbeck, directed by Joshua Briggs. The Queen of Fenway Court brings to life what drove the Gilded Age historical personality Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston to build and fill one of the most extraordinary museums in the world. The reading will be accompanied with live music composed by Jan Jurchak.

Not actually part of the Wet Ink series, but a special add-on to the scheduled stage season, on July 14, at 4pm, playwright Anne Undeland, director Judy Braha and members of the cast of Undeland's delightful new play Mr. Fullerton, about the romantic and sexual awakening of Edith Wharton, will present a special afternoon reading of selections from the play and a talkback at Edith Wharton's beloved estate, The Mount, in Lenox. This partnering of The Mount and The Public is a ticketed event, available through The Mount's website.

More information and updates on Wet Ink and Mr. Fullerton visits The Mount can be found on the company's website, GreatBarringtonPublicTheater.org.

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