Jonathan Epstein News

The return of the performing arts across the region over the past few weeks has given Berkshire theatre goers much to celebrate.  With the opening production of KING LEAR, Shakespeare & Company increases the list of reasons, “when power to flattery bows”.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training has announced, alongside Asolo Repertory Theatre, their 2021-22 season today in a virtual event broadcast on asolorep.org and Facebook. The FSU/Asolo Conservatory opens its season with the play EVERYBODY (November 2-21, 2021) that was nominated for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize.

Shakespeare & Company is excited to announce its 2020 summer season, May 21 - October 18, 2020. Under the theme 'The Labyrinth of Love' the season includes Shakespeare titles: King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, and, in a special workshop production, Measure for Measure. The contemporary plays this season are The Lifespan of a Fact by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell; What Rhymes With America, by the Obie Award-winning playwright Melissa James Gibson; Row After Row by Jessica Dickey; Susan Smith Blackburn Award and Obie Award winner My Left Breast by Susan Miller; and Laurence Olivier Award winner Betrayal by Harold Pinter.

Shakespeare & Company presents Critics Circle and Susan Smith Blackburn Award-winning playwright Lucy Kirkwood's timely play The Children, directed by James Warwick, back for his second season with the Company after last season's acclaimed Mothers and Sons.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training concludes its season with Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy, As You Like It. The show, which features the entire class of second-years, is directed by Jonathan Epstein and performed outdoors in the stunning Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The production previews on Tuesday, April 9 at 8pm with a special pay-what-you-can show, offering tickets at whatever price patrons can afford when purchased the day of the performance, at a minimum of $3 per seat. The show officially opens on Wednesday, April 10 at 8pm, and runs through Saturday, April 27.  Performances will run Tuesday through Saturday.

Shakespeare & Company is thrilled to announce its 2019 summer season, May 23 - October 13, 2019.

At an SRO ceremony held at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented the Berkshire Theatre Awards on the evening of Monday, November 12, 2018. This was the third year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence and diversity of theatre in the greater Berkshire region.

This week the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association is voting on the final award list in preparation for the Third Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held on Monday, November 12 at 7 pm at the Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First Street (Route 7) in Pittsfield, MA.

By popular demand, Shakespeare & Company adds an additional performance of August Strindberg's dark comedy Creditors, adapted by playwright David Greig and directed by Nicole Ricciardi. In this production of what Strindberg calls his 'most mature work,' three characters must face their past, confronting love, debt, and deception. The added performance of this critically acclaimed hit will take place on August 8 at 3pm in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. Performances run through August 12.

Honoring Trustee Michael A. Miller for his twenty-five years of service, Shakespeare & Company held its 2018 Season Gala on Saturday, June 30th. The sold-out benefit, co-chaired by Rhea Werner and Suzanne Werner, was the most successful in Company history, raising more than $400,000 for Training, Education, and Performance programs.

Shakespeare & Company presents August Strindberg's dark comedy Creditors, adapted by critically acclaimed playwright David Greig and directed by Nicole Ricciardi of last season's hit show 4000 Miles. In this production of what Strindberg calls his 'most mature work,' three characters must face their past, confronting love, debt, and deception. Performances run from July 19 - August 12 in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre.

Shakespeare & Company announces its 2018 season casting. Under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows the Company's Summer Season includes a roster of audience beloved artists, critically acclaimed actors, and a host of newcomers joining the Company. The season opens Memorial Day Weekend with Carey Crim's New England Premiere of Morning After Grace, a comedic romance about second chances.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training concludes its 2017-18 season with William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: a classical comedy about two intellectual sparring partners, whose individual pride masks their true love. Much Ado About Nothing opens on Wednesday, April 18 and plays through May 5 at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. A special pay-what-you-can preview performance will be offered to the public on Tuesday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m. with a $3 minimum. Much Ado About Nothing is made possible with support from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Sarasota Observer, and WUSF Public Media.

Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce the return of Lovers' Spat, this year with a new twist. The popular performance will be hosted by internationally acclaimed comedienne Alison Larkin. Company actors and guest performers explore the complexities of love in staged readings featuring theatre's most notorious couples' loving, fighting, scheming and wooing. Lover's Spat is directed by Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and will be performed in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on Saturday, February 17 at 7:00pm and Sunday, February 18 at 2:00pm.

Shakespeare & Company announces its 2018 summer season. Exploring themes of Delight, Deceit, and Desire, the season includes three Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, As You Like It, and Love's Labor's Lost; plus the New England Premiere of Morning After Grace by Carey Crim; Creditors by August Strindberg adapted by David Greig; Heisenberg by Laurence Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens; Mothers and Sons by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally; and HIR by Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac.

In celebration of the Company's 40th Season, Shakespeare & Company presents a special August event series, Storytellers and Songwriters. 

In celebration of the Company's 40th Season, Shakespeare & Company presents a special August event series, Storytellers and Songwriters. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren and the rest of the Opening NIght Audience at Shakespeare & Co's production of Cymbeline didn't have to fill the suggestion box labeled 'Tell Us Why You LIke Shakespeare'  in the lobby of the Tina Packer Playhouse with answers to that question.  They did it with their many standing ovations for the 9 actors and director Tina Packer at the conclusion of a magnificent and energetic performance of the complex plot driven play by Shakespeare.   There are a lot of exciting things going on at Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox MA. and artistic director Allyn Burrows in his toast at the jubilant after party stated 'first to the unknown and to the road ahead'!

Shakespeare & Company presents Shakespeare's Cymbeline, directed by Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer. This tale of love and passion, produced for the first time on the Company's Mainstage, runs in the Tina Packer Playhouse now through August 6, 2017. The production also marks a personal milestone for Packer, who, after opening her production of Cymbeline, will have directed all 37 plays in the Shakespeare canon. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!