Photo Coverage: Shakespeare & Company Announces 2017 Summer Performance Season

Shakespeare & Company's newly appointed Artistic Director Allyn Burrows announced the famed (and larges)t Shakespeare Festivals in the country lineup for the 2017 Berkshire summer season at at a press event at Chez Josephine in New York City and BroadwayWorld was there. This season includes three Shakespeare plays: Cymbeline, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night's Dream; plus two Edith Wharton comedies, Roman Fever and the newly adapted The Fullness of Life. Additional titles include the Obie Award winning 4,000 Miles by Amy Herzog; New York Drama Critics Circle and the Outer Critics Circle Recipient, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage; and Tony Award Winner, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza.

"Marking this 40th Season at Shakespeare & Company represents a thrilling opportunity for us to celebrate our company's legacy, to take stock of where we are, and to look forward to an exciting future," said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. "Our robust 2017 programming highlighting the Bard is expanded to include special musical guests and contemporary women writers. We heartily invite people to make our grounds a destination to picnic, and enjoy a true Berkshire theatrical experience, including our new outdoor theatre in the Shakespeare's Garden."

The new Garden Theatre, located directly across from the Tina Packer Playhouse, is an intimate outdoor performance space with comfortable seating. This summer the space will be home to the Tempest, performed in-the-round at dusk. The Company will also present a 90-minute production of A Midsummer's Night Dream outdoors in the Dell at The Mount, Edith Wharton's Home. The popular Fourth of July Community Event, featuring the reading of the Declaration of Independence, will return this summer.

In celebration of the Company's 40th Season the summer program will include a special August event series, Storytellers and Songwriters. Each event will explore various characters through solo performances by Company artists. These stories will be interwoven with live music from extraordinary musicians and songwriters who have a deep appreciation of poetry reminiscent of Shakespeare. Special musical guests include Kris Delmhorst, Michi Wiancko, and Bobby Sweet.

Photo Credit: Stephen Sorokoff