Shakespeare & Company

The intensity of this production is so overwhelming it's hard to believe that it's been trimmed by an hour for modern audiences. Despite the simple setting and smaller cast Shakespeare & Company's Hamlet has more heart and guts than most. If you didn't see this groundbreaking Hamlet last time 'round it's time to get thee to Lenox.

The nonsensical patter between Edward and Flora in Pinter's "A Slight Ache" recalls the tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, arguing over carrots and turnips in Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." Here the futile, absurdist desperation is acted out in a seemingly bucolic but actually barren and desperate English cottage garden, over tea, during the gorgeous longest day of the year. Not. How Pinteresque.

"Romeo oh Romeo wherefore art though Romeo?" Well, at Shakespeare & Company, actually, to start a busy season of 18 productions in Lenox, Mass. This version of Romeo and Juliet has been on the road since January with more than 70 performances by a group of seven talented young actors in 14 different roles.

Shakespeare & Company is a $5.6 million dollar theatrical operation employing more than 200 people each year in the Berkshires. When the economy took its dip, the company and its Board got into action, readying the survival plans and donning the life preservers for the stormy economic seas in the months ahead.

For her final season as Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Tina Packer has pulled out all the stops for a dense and intense 2009/ 2010 season. Mostly Packer aspired to fully book the first season of the new Evelyn P. Bernstein Theatre. Tony Simotes takes over day to day operation on June 1 and Packer informed the media that "I can't wait." She anticipates a new phase of her career as an actor, writer, teacher and director.

Tony Simotes co-founded Shakespeare & Company with Tina Packer and other dedicated artists in 1978. Packer has led the noted company for thirty years as Artistic Director, and now he will take the helm. Packer will continue to guide the company's long term growth, which includes building a reproduction of the Elizabethan-era Rose Theatre in Lenox.

Not to be missed is this one-waman show showcasing the extraordiary talents of Elizabeth Aspenlieder. The rollicking comedy about dating is directed by Adrianne Krstansky and plays at Shakespeare & Company's Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre through March 8.

Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck examines the subject of relationships with humor and irony. Elizabeth Aspenlieder stars and Adrienne Krstansky directs. This second look examines the timeless themes underlying a bittersweet comedy.

Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost (1897) has served as the foundation for at least six film and television adaptations (1944-1996), several ballets (2006 and others) and even an opera (1966). The classic Oscar Wilde story is wonderfully suited to the theater as well, having been presented on stage by theatre companies throughout the world. With such a rich creative history, why then did Shakespeare & Company decide to start over from scratch?

What we have here is a wonderful new theatre and fresh playwright to celebrate. The family in this new play is deeply flawed. The only reason you would invite them to your family's Thanksgiving dinner would be to relieve the boredom.

John Douglas Thompson is phenomenal as "Othello" in a production by Shakesepeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. A bit of the Bard is always a welcome treat in the Berkshires.

French farce at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox consists of slamming doors, ridiculous plot twists, and pratfalls that first delighted Paris audiences in the 1890's. This updated treatment is destined to be the Berkshires biggest Summer hit as Shakespeare & Company launches its 31st season.

For the past 30 years Tina Packard has brought Shakespeare to the Berkshires. Now Shakespeare & Company is gradually building out the campus it has moved to and is working toward year round programming. Tickets go on sale in January for a season that will be launched on Memorial Day Weekend. Let the games begin.