Barrington Stage Company's Season
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Returns to Berkshires
By: Charles Giuliano - Jan 20, 2008
The Barrington Stage Company season begins on February 14, Valentine's Day, here's looking at you sweetheart, with a timely drama given the current national climate "Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted." The play is the work of Christopher Trumbo, the son of Dalton Trumbo one of the famous Hollywood Ten.
In 1947 Trumbo was one of ten Hollywood screen writers and movie professionals who refused to offer testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) which was headed by Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) Republican Senator of Wisconsin. During the dark era in American politics known as McCarthyism there was a witch hunt to identify and remove members of the Communist Party of America (CPA) from making the kind of liberal films that would potentially poison the minds of an American audience.
It was a time when school teachers were required to take loyalty oaths. During HUAC proceedings McCarthy's famous question to those testifying before Congress was "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" To which the reply of the Hollywood Ten was "I refuse to answer on the grounds of the Fifth Amendment" otherwise known as "Taking the Fifth."
Although many of the leading screen writers were blacklisted from working on movies it was also true that a number did so subversively under pseudonyms. Woody Allen made a film about this phenomenon "The Front" in which his character posed as a ghost writer for the banned authors.
During a time of ever eroding constitutional protections of its citizens under the guise of Homeland Security the BSC company production of "Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted" on its Main Stage from February 14 through 24 will take on a particular and chilling relevance. The drama has been constructed around notes and letters in Trumbo's estate. This will be a much anticipated kickoff to the coming season for Barrington Stage Company.
This will be followed by another one person drama with a strongly political theme "I Am My Own Wife" by Douglas Wright which runs from May 21 through June 8. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play conveys the true story of the East German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf who managed to survive both the Nazi and later East German regimes under harrowing and controversial circumstances including the possibility that he/she may have served as a double agent. I had the opportunity to attend the original Broadway production which proved to be absolutely riveting.
These taut dramas set the table for the season's main event and most anticipated production. From June 11 through July 12 the BSC's greatest smash hit "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" returns to the Berkshires. The play by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, based on a concept by Rebecca Feldman, originated as a Barrington Stage Company production before the BSC moved to its current home in Pittsfield. It went on to win Tony Awards on Broadway then embarked a national tour which now brings the charming production back to where it all started. It occupies the same slot that last season featured the boffo, anniversary staging of "West Side Story" and "Spelling Bee" is sure to be this summer's hottest ticket.
There will be a Stage 11 production "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen runs from June 18 through July 5. Another Second Stage production will be "Seussical: The Musical" by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty from July 16 through August 10.
"The Violet Hour" by Richard Greenberg will be featured on the Main Stage from July 16 through August 3. Set in 1919 at the dawn of the Jazz Age "The Violet Hour" tells the story of young, up-and-coming New York publisher, John Pace Seavering, who has enough money to print only one book. John is caught between his old friend, Denny -- a talented writer with an epic manuscript -- and his secret lover Jessie, a popular black jazz singer who has written her memoirs. Both have what they think are life-altering reasons to see their novels in print. Adding to John's dilemma is the arrival of a strange machine which spews pages from books written in the future, books that contain information that throws all plans into turmoil.
The every witty and popular "Private Lives" by Noel Coward will be presented on the Main Stage from August 7 through 24. During the Shoulder Season which extends into the early fall BSC will stage "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Christopher Sergel adapted for the stage from the novel by Harper Lee. It will be on view from October 8 through 26.
So let the games begin.
http://www.barringtonstageco.org/