by Barbara Waldinger The second most important announcement by the Berkshire Theatre Group, after its decision to produce THE WEIR, an exquisite play by Conor McPherson, was the name of the director: Eric Hill. Once that was established, we knew this delicate play would be in capable hands and the…
by Paula Kaplan-Reiss We are all familiar with the iconic musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein. We have seen them on the stage and screen, and many of us saw them performed at our high schools. Likely, we have never heard of Pipe Dream, originally performed on Broadway in 1955 and…
by Emily Edelman Berkshire Theatre Group’s “Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein,” being staged at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is as delightfully funny as you’d expect while also being perfectly acted and produced. Based on the classic 1974 Mel Brooks film, the plot follows the activities of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein…
by Barbara Waldinger How does a director in 2024 attempt to update a 1938 Pulitzer-winning play–ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS by Robert E. Sherwood—so that it will speak to today’s audience? And why choose to take on this project when the play was turned into an Oscar-nominated film in 1940 (with…
by Paula Kaplan-Reiss The beauty of being a resident of the Berkshires is having to travel less than 15 miles to see excellent theater, as in Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles at the Berkshire Theatre Group‘s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A Tony nominated playwright, Herzog’s 4000 Miles ran Off-Broadway in…
by Emily Edelman Barrington Stage Company’s 10X10 New Play Festival is a welcome break in the doldrums of winter in the Berkshires, and this year’s 13th annual edition continued the tradition of ten 10-minute plays by diverse writers in a fast-paced evening of bite-sized vignettes. The opening number, a lively…
by Roseann Cane In 1941, the German atomic physicist Werner Heisenberg met with his former mentor, Danish physicist Neils Bohr, and Bohr’s wife Margrethe, in their home in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen. Both men were to give conflicting reports of what happened during the meeting, and this has long been the subject…
by Macey Levin The unofficial kickoff for the Berkshire Theatre season is Barrington Stage Company’s 10×10 New Play Festival – 10 short plays by 10 different authors running approximately 10 minutes each. The opening has the 10×10 cast singing and dancing to a clever lyric by cast member Matt Neely…
