Jonathan Epstein News

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 from July 4 to 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 sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

Shakespeare & Company celebrates their 40th Anniversary Season today, July 1st at the 40th Season Ruby Gala. The event will honor the Company's 40-year tradition of bringing world class theatrical productions to Berkshire audiences, while eagerly anticipating future seasons with Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Managing Director Adam Davis.

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 from July 4 to 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 sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

Shakespeare & Company celebrates their 40th Anniversary Season on Saturday, July 1st at the 40th Season Ruby Gala. The event will honor the Company's 40-year tradition of bringing world class theatrical productions to Berkshire audiences, while eagerly anticipating future seasons with Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Managing Director Adam Davis.

Shakespeare & Company has announced casting for its upcoming summer performance season, under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Managing Director Adam Davis. The Company's 40th Anniversary Season includes a roster of audience favorite artists, critics' top pick actors and a multitude of newcomers joining the Company. The season opens Memorial Day Weekend with Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles.

Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce casting for its upcoming summer performance season, under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Managing Director Adam Davis. The Company's 40th Anniversary Season includes a roster of audience favorite artists, critics' top pick actors and a multitude of newcomers joining the Company. The season opens Memorial Day Weekend with Amy Herzog's 4000 Miles.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training caps its 2016-17 season with William Shakespeare's whimsical classic A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, performed outdoors on the stunning grounds of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Directed by Jonathan Epstein, the production previews on Tuesday, April 11 at 8pm with a special 'Pay What You Can Performance,' 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 12 at 8pm, and runs through Saturday, April 29. Performances will run Tuesday through Saturday.

Shakespeare & Company announces its lineup for the 2017 summer season, which 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.

The winners of the First Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards have been announced. Seventeen arts journalists voted on 120 nominees in 25 categories chosen from artists in the 75 live theatre productions mounted in Berkshire County and adjacent areas between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016.

In the last twelve months, more than 300,000 people attended a live theatre production in or around Berkshire County. With 75 stage productions employing hundreds of professionals, making theatre is an important cog in the area's cultural economy. In fact, many consider the region a hot spot for Broadway bound shows, and a popular summer destination for theatre-goers from around the nation.

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training today announced that it is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.

Shakespeare & Company will present a staged reading of William Shakespeare's masterpiece, Hamlet,  on Saturday, October 8th at 7pm. Featuring Finn Wittrock of American Horror Story and The Big Short, and other special guests, the reading will be presented in the Tina Packer Playhouse, and will be directed by Kevin G. Coleman, Shakespeare & Company's Director of Education and a 2016 Tony Award nominee.

The award-winning series MetroFocus premieres new episodes in the New York and tri-state region weeknights at 5 p.m. on WLIW21, 5:30 p.m. on NJTV and 6 p.m. on THIRTEEN. All episodes are available at metrofocus.org following the broadcast.

The magic of Venice was in the air at Shakespeare & Company last night.   After a stirring performance of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Tina Packer in the Tina Packer Playhouse, it was cocktails, dinner, and dancing under the stars on the beautiful campus of Shakespeare & Company.   Guests mingled with actors and dignitaries at the annual Gala and BroadwayWorld was there.  The play runs through August 21st. Check out the photos below.

Shakespeare & Company will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard during this 39th performance season with a newly configured theatre, and will debut its first production in-the-round with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Founder Tina Packer and featuring Jonathan Epstein as Shylock. This controversial and poignant play opens the Tina Packer Playhouse on July 1, and runs through August 21. 

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training continues its 2015-16 season with Shakespeare's iconic MACBETH. An electrifyingly potent tale rife with passion, betrayal, and shadows of the supernatural, MACBETH is esteemed worldwide as a masterpiece of linguistic genius and dramatic brilliance. Since 1849 it has had nearly 50 Broadway runs and over 10 adaptations for film and television in the U.S. and around the world. It has been adapted into numerous books, has had dozens of performances on the radio, and has influenced artistic pieces by Henry Fuseli, Johann Zoffany, and others. Directed by Shakespeare expert Jonathan Epstein, MACBETH previews in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday, February 23 at 7:30pm with a special 'Pay What You Can Performance,' officially opens on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30pm, and runs through Sunday, March 13.

Shakespeare & Company has announced its lineup for the 2016 summer season, which includes three Shakespeare plays: The Merchant of Venice, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Twelfth Night, plus the Regional Premieres of Or, by Liz Duffy Adams, and Lauren Gunderson's The Taming. Additional titles include Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino a bracing drama fresh from an acclaimed Off-Broadway production, Sotto Voce by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, and the return of Stephan Wolfert in Cry 'Havoc!'

Today, March 16, 2015, Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training announced their highly anticipated 2015-16 seasons with a special presentation in the Mertz Theatre.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF invites audiences to take a risk on new plays at PlayFest this week, November 5 - 8, 2015.

'Eric Bentley's Brecht-Eisler Songbook,' the debut CD from soprano actress Karyn Levitt, will be available from Roven Records today, October 30.