Michael F Toomey News

Elm Shakespeare Company brings magic to Edgerton Park for it's 21st summer season with Shakespeare's most beloved comedy, presenting 16 free outdoor performances of A Midsummer Nights Dream directed by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Company, Lennox, MA.

The OBIE Award winning play AN ILIAD comes to Shakespeare & Company with Michael F. Toomey starring as The Poet in this one-man tour-de-force. Award winning actor and director Jonathan Epstein takes the reins on this fresh take of a timeless classic that also features musician Gregory Boover. Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, this carefully crafted and expansive tale based on Homer's epic poem explores the topic of whether anything has really changed since the Trojan War. Previews began October 3 and performances run through November 1 in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

William Shakespeare's hilarious farce, The Comedy of Errors is playing at the Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Ma. and Broadwayworld attended a performance. Director Taibi Magar delivers a whirlwind of magic, music and mayhem in the rollicking production of Shakespeare's shortest comedy. Performances run through August 23.

A sweeping spectacle of bawdy buffoonery and bloody rebellion, director Jonathan Epstein's razor sharp and condensed adaptation of Henry IV delivers both parts in one dynamic evening of theatre at Shakespeare & Company. Performances run in the Tina Packer Playhouse today, August 2 - August 31. Press Opening is Friday, August 7, at 7:00pm. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

A sweeping spectacle of bawdy buffoonery and bloody rebellion, director Jonathan Epstein's razor sharp and condensed adaptation of Henry IV delivers both parts in one dynamic evening of theatre at Shakespeare & Company. Performances run in the Tina Packer Playhouse August 2 - August 31. Press Opening is Friday, August 7, at 7:00pm. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

A sweeping spectacle of bawdy buffoonery and bloody rebellion, director Jonathan Epstein's razor sharp and condensed adaptation of Henry IV delivers both parts in one dynamic evening of theatre. Performances run in the Tina Packer Playhouse August 2 - August 31. Press Opening is Friday, August 7, at 7:00pm. To RSVP or for interview opportunities contact Communications & Press Director Elizabeth Aspenlieder: aspenlieder@shakespeare.org.

No rural area has as many summer stages as the Berkshires of Massachusetts whose offerings overflow its borders.

Casting for Shakespeare & Company's upcoming Summer Performance Season was finalized last week which includes a roster of audience favorites, critics' top picks and a bevy of newcomers joining the Company's ranks in this celebratory season in honor of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. See play titles, casting, Press Openings and full schedules for each production listed below.

Shakespeare & Company is pleased to announce The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company's winter production of Julius Caesar, co-directed by two longtime Company artists, Andrew Borthwick-Leslie and Michael F. Toomey. Now in its seventh year, the Conservatory, a 13-week professional actor-training program includes 10-16 promising actors from across the country and around the globe. This year's program features a group of 10 who will expose Shakespeare's poetry-filled psychological drama Julius Caesar for three performances in the Tina Packer Playhouse.

In MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, Olympia Dukakis delivers a searing performance in its title role. Dukakis is more than just a masterful actor, she delivers a Mother Courage who is strong, sassy and simply astonishing in her complexity. The entire ensemble of sixteen actors raises the reputation of Shakespeare & Company - already renowned for its lush, intelligible renditions of the Bard's greatest works - to new heights.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN is set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century. The play follows the fate of Mother Courage, an artful canteen woman with the Swedish Army, intent on keeping her business and family alive amidst the destruction of war. Written by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Artistic Director Tony Simotes and starring Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis, this play still resonates today providing a profound insight into the moral implications of war. MOTHER COURAGE AND HER WOMEN runs tonight, July 26 - August 25, in S&Co.'s Tina Packer Playhouse.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN is set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century. The play follows the fate of Mother Courage, an artful canteen woman with the Swedish Army, intent on keeping her business and family alive amidst the destruction of war. Written by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Artistic Director Tony Simotes and starring Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis, this play still resonates today providing a profound insight into the moral implications of war. MOTHER COURAGE AND HER WOMEN runs July 26 - August 25, in S&Co.'s Tina Packer Playhouse.

Tickets for Shakespeare & Company's 35th Season go on sale today. The 2012-2013 season is set to include an appearance by Olympia Dukakis in an all-female version of 'The Tempest.' "From the perspective of someone who witnessed first hand the beginnings of our Company," says Artistic Director Tony Simotes. "It is astonishing to look back at what we've achieved. I am proud to say that we are at the forefront of actor training and education programs in terms of objective and scope. It is a tremendous privilege to be Shakespeare & Company's Artistic Director during this exciting time, and I feel that we've compiled a riveting and daring list of productions this season that not only reflect the best of what Shakespeare & Company has to offer, but will take us to the next level.

Shakespeare & Company has just announced their 35th Season with is set to include an appearance by Olypia Dukakis in an all-female version of 'The Tempest.' "From the perspective of someone who witnessed first hand the beginnings of our Company," says Artistic Director Tony Simotes. "It is astonishing to look back at what we've achieved. I am proud to say that we are at the forefront of actor training and education programs in terms of objective and scope. It is a tremendous privilege to be Shakespeare & Company's Artistic Director during this exciting time, and I feel that we've compiled a riveting and daring list of productions this season that not only reflect the best of what Shakespeare & Company has to offer, but will take us to the next level.

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm.

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm. Tickets are available online for $12 at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122006

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm.

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm. Tickets are available online for $12 at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122006

Office gymnastics meets daring Antarctic exploration in the unlikely setting of a Hartford insurance office in this inventive and funny piece. Masters of movement, Split Knuckle Theatre, have performed their original, fascinating works internationally and will bring the World Premiere of Endurance to The Tank November 4-7 at 7pm.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, continues its Nutmeg Summer Series with the Split Knuckle Theatre Production of Endurance, playing June 24-27 in the Nafe Katter Theatre.