Shakespeare & Company and Zion Lutheran Church Present ROMEO AND JULIET

Shakespeare & Company will stage a free, community presentation of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m., featuring the cast of the Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare and directed by Kevin G. Coleman.

Romeo and Juliet will be staged at the Zion Lutheran Church of Pittsfield, featuring Travis Ascione, Cameron Davis, Ptah Garvin, JoJo McDonald, Stephanie Neuerburg, Savanna Padilla, and Naire Poole, with costume design by Shakespeare & Company Costume Director Govane Lohbauer and production design by Devon Drohan.

Joel Bergeland, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, said the performance will be held at The Common Room at Zion - an already bustling community space ideal for a wide range of events.

"The Common Room at Zion is delighted to host to Shakespeare & Company's production of Romeo and Juliet," he said. "Our flexible, beautiful community space has hosted farmers markets, yoga classes, craft fairs, and dance recitals, but this will be the first theater production at the Common Room. We're glad to join the mission of offering free, quality art to the community."

Allyn Burrows, artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, said the Company is thrilled to be able to offer this classic tale of star-crossed lovers to the Pittsfield community from a "wonderfully flexible venue."

"Furthering these connections with this powerful story and this vibrant poetry is very gratifying, and we hope it continues," he said.

Additionally, Jeffrey Konowitch, vice chair of Shakespeare & Company's Board of Trustees and co-chair of S&Co's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee, said "It is a great opportunity to bring the Company's work to a new venue."

"These community performances will help us continue a key goal of our IDEA committee: to connect with and learn more about new audiences, and to bring those diverse audiences to theater in the Berkshires."

The Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare has introduced Shakespeare to schools, colleges, community centers, and other venues since 1982, sending touring productions of Shakespeare's plays along with a variety of related workshops across the Northeast U.S., and beyond. These performances reach more than 20,000 students, teachers, and audience members each year.