Barrington Stage Company will be the new home of the Berkshire Comedy Festival, produced by the Long Island Comedy Festival in partnership with BSC. The company will also present special preview performances of Alison Larkin: Grief… A Comedy, written and performed by Berkshire resident, writer, and comedian Alison Larkin, prior to its UK premiere and world tour this summer
Now in its sixth season, the Berkshire Comedy Festival will take place May 23-25, 2024 across BSC’s three stages, with stand-up performances at the Boyd-Quinson Stage (30 Union Street), and the St. Germain Stage and Mr. Finn’s Cabaret (36 Linden Street). It is the first time in BSC’s history that all three stages will be in use for a festival of this kind.
Returning to the Berkshires for the first time since the summer of 2019, the Berkshire Comedy Festival will celebrate the art of live stand-up comedy over Memorial Day weekend. Each show features a diverse lineup of riotous talent from the New England area, NYC comedy scene and beyond, including comedians who’ve appeared on Comedy Central, late night, and top venues around the country. Performances are approximately 90 minutes in length, for audiences 18+, and will feature 4-6 comedians each night. Tickets range from $25-$45, available at barringtonstageco.org/Tickets and by calling the BSC Box Office at 413-236-8888
Berkshires resident, writer and performer Alison Larkin has been called “hugely entertaining… marvelously light-footed” by The Times. Now, BSC audiences will get the only stateside opportunity to experience her newest work, Alison Larkin: Grief… A Comedy prior to its world premiere July 31 at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival, presented by London’s famous Soho Theatre. Alison Larkin: Grief… A Comedy, written and performed by Alison Larkin with music by Gary Schreiner, will be presented June 6-9, 2024 at the St. Germain Stage.
Alison found true love for the first time in her 50s, with an Indian climate scientist who lived in Bennington, VT. A week after they decided to marry, he died. Then, something wildly unexpected happened. When Archbishop Desmond Tutu found out about it, he insisted she write this show. So, if you don’t like it, you can blame him. Join us for this “Bright bauble of a piece. An improbably funny and life-affirming show about love, loss, and hope.”
Tickets are $45 and are available at barringtonstageco.org/Tickets and by calling the BSC Box Office at 413-236-8888.
THE 6TH ANNUAL BERKSHIRE COMEDY FESTIVAL
Thursday, May 23 at 8pm
Mr. Finn’s Cabaret
All seats $25
Friday, May 24 at 8pm
St. Germain Stage
All seats $35
Saturday, May 25 at 8pm
Boyd-Quinson Stage
Seats from $35
Alison Larkin: GRIEF… A COMEDY
Thursday, June 6 at 8 PM
Friday, June 7 at 8pm
Saturday June 8 at 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, June 9 at 3pm
St. Germain Stage
All seats $45
Barrington Stage Company’s 30th Anniversary Season will open on the Boyd-Quinson Stage with a new production of the Tony Award-winning musical La Cage aux Folles (June 11-July 6), directed by Mike Donahue and choreographed by Paul McGill. BSC’s production marks the company’s first Jerry Herman musical since Mame (2006) and its first work written by actor-playwright and Broadway icon, Harvey Fierstein. Next up will be a revival of Boeing Boeing (July 17-August 3) by Marc Camoletti, translated by Beverley Cross & Francis Evans. The hilarious French sex farce will be helmed by Founding Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and will star BSC Associate Artists Mark H. Dold, Christopher Innvar, and Debra Jo Rupp. Finally, BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul will direct the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal (August 13-September 8), featuring music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. Next to Normal is a co-production with Round House Theatre in Washington, DC, where it was hailed as an “impeccable, vibrant musical revival” by the Washington Post.
The St. Germain Stage season opens with the regional premiere of A Tender Thing (June 25-July 20), a charming and elegiac two-character play that imagines what would have happened if Romeo and Juliet had lived to old age. Written by Ben Power, who wrote the celebrated adaptation of Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy, A Tender Thing will be directed by Alan Paul. Next will be the world premiere of Forgiveness (July 30-August 25) by Mark St. Germain, directed by Ron Lagomarsino. In this interactive production set in Minnesota, where prisoners are allowed to plead their case in front of the Governor, audiences will help determine who is worthy of returning to society. The St. Germain Stage season will conclude with the regional premiere of actress and playwright Eboni Booth’s new play Primary Trust (September 18-October 13), about a bookstore worker who must find a new way forward after losing his job.
TICKET INFORMATION
For tickets to the Berkshire Comedy Festival, Alison Larkin: Grief… A Comedy, or the BSC Season, please call the BSC Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.BarringtonStageCo.org/Tickets.
ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul, is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022.
BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.
BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden & Adolph Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).
BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 45 new works, 22 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres.
BSC is the recipient of 15 Berkshire Theatre Awards for the 2023 season, including Outstanding Production of a Musical for its production of Cabaret, directed by Alan Paul, and the Sally And Robert Sugarman Award for a world premiere of a New Play or Musical for The Happiest Man on Earth, by Mark St. Germain.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
The 6th Annual Berkshire Comedy Festival
May 23-25, 2024
Thursday, May 23 at 8pm: An evening of emerging comics.
Friday, May 24 at 8pm: An evening of up-and-coming comics.
Saturday, May 25 at 8pm: An evening of headlining comics.
Barrington Stage Company:
Mr. Finn’s Cabaret and St. Germain Stage (36 Linden Street)
Boyd-Quinson Stage (30 Union Street)
Pittsfield, MA. 01201
Alison Larkin: Grief…A Comedy
June 6-9, 2024
Thursday, June 6 at 8 PM
Friday, June 7 at 8pm
Saturday June 8 at 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, June 9 at 3pm
St. Germain Stage (36 Linden Street)
Pittsfield, MA. 01201
Ticket Information: Barringtonstageco.org/Tickets