Berkshire Summer Arts Festival- July Preview
Extensive Guide to Theater, Music and Dance
By: Larry Murray - Jun 25, 2008
Theater. Music. Dance. Old favorites and new delights. It's all here, in the glorious Berkshires ready for you to enjoy in the coming weeks. Our guide to the summer's best offerings.
Barrington Stage Company
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" - to July 12
Barrington's Tony Award winning Bee has returned and is a surefire way to have a fun evening of musical theater. Six young spellers learn that winning isn't everything, and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser.
Directed by Jeremy Dobrish and with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, concept by Rebecca Feldman, additional material by Jay Reiss and choreographed by Dan Knechtges At the Main stage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.
"The Violet Hour" - July 17 to August 2
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg, The Violet Hour, set in 1919, tells the story of young, up-and-coming New York publisher, John Pace Seavering, who has just enough capital to print only one book.
John finds himself 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. 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 everyone's plans into turmoil.
If you are fond of life, love and the joys of reading, this show is likely to please. At the Main stage at 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.
Stage II - "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" to July 5
Take a plunge into the world of the unknown. From the same team that brought you the summer 2006 hit musical, The Burnt Part Boys. Featuring a fresh musical score, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick tells the story of a writer who left a series of unusual sketches at a publisher's office. Instead of returning as promised with the accompanying stories, he vanishes. Inspired by Chris Van Allsburg's famous book, the musical offers one explanation for the man's disappearance, taking the audience on a personal voyage through hope, fear, and the imagination. Developed in the Barrington Music Lab under the watchful eye of Bill Finn.
Book for Harris Burdick is by Joe Calarco, lyrics by Nathan Tysen, music by Chris Miller, based on the novel by Chris Van Allsburg and directed by Joe Calarco
Stage II - "My Scary Girl" - July 10-16
This is a musical in development based on the book (and Korean Film) by Kyoung-ae Kang and Mark St. Germain, lyrics by Kyoung-ae Kang. music by Will Aronson.
Think Little Shop of Horrors meets So I Married an Axe Murderer meets (a Korean) Gertrude Stein. A romance/comedy/horror story set in Seoul, Korea, with a sensational contemporary musical theatre score—laugh-out-loud funny.
Stage II performances at take place at the VFW Hall, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield with adjacent free parking.
Quick Link to Barrington Stage Company
Berkshire Theatre Festival
Main Stage - "Candida" - to July 5
George Bernard Shaw's charming Candida continues on the BTF main stage until July 5 with an extraordinary cast. It is about the domestic turmoil that ensues when a dashing and sensitive young poet comes between a socially progressive minister and his charismatic wife.
Main Stage - "The Book Club Play" - July 8-19
The Northeast Premiere of Karen Zacarias' comedy is directed by Nick Olcott, and is about people who read books, people who say they read books, and people who prefer books to other people. The play examines the popular phenomena of book clubs: the intricate rules, the intricate friendships, and the intricate need for food. With Cherise Booth, Keira Naughton, Bhavesh Patel, Tom Story, C.J. Wilson, and Anne Louise Zachry.
Main Stage - "A Man for All Seasons" - opens July 22
This stirring drama by Robert Bolt explores the uneasy interplay of church and state during the reign of King Henry VIII. The play is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, a revered scholar, lawyer, and churchman, whose eloquence and endurance in the face of escalating threats to his beliefs and family make him one of modern drama's greatest tragic heroes.
This play runs through August 9 and won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1962 and went on to garner multiple Academy Awards when it was adapted to film in 1966.
Unicorn Theatre - "Pageant Play" July 1-26
The world premiere of a new play by actor-playwright Mark Setlock of the international hit, Fully Committed. (Barrington Stage presented it last year with Vince Gatton.) Setlock joins co-author and actor Matthew Wilkas in this outrageous new satiric comedy about the twisted world of child pageants. Two ruthless stage mothers with rival pageant coaches go on a desperate quest to turn their daughters into beauty queens. Starring Daiva Deupree and Jenn Harris. This event has great promise and happily, a decent run in the intimate Unicorn Theatre, probably the most comfortable place to see plays in the Berkshires.
Unicorn Theatre - "Waiting for Godot" - Starts July 29
This much anticipated production will be covered more fully in the next edition of previews.
Quick Link to Berkshire Theatre Festival
MacHaydn Theater - "Hairspray" and "Phantom"
Across the state line in Chatham, New York, it's "Hairspray" from July 3-20. See Tracy become a Teen Idol, Seaweed and Dy-no-mites dance on national TV, Edna and Wilbur Turnblat reaffirm their love, and Velma and Amber get what they deserve in this non-stop fun show filled with the sounds of the 60's.
From July 24 to August 3 the company will present the popular Phantom of the Opera. This modest and energetic company performs in the round with minimal live musical accompaniment.
Quick Link to MacHayden Theatre (NY)
Shakespeare & Company
"The Ladies Man" and "All's Well That Ends Well"
The hilarious French Farce "The Ladies Man" with the incredible Elizabeth Aspenlieder and a gutsy cast continue throughout the month of July and into August. If you enjoy real belly laughs, ridiculous situations gone awry, this is the show that delivers.
Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" shares the Founder's Theatre stage with the farce, and is a wonderful revisit to one of Shakespeare's lesser know works. As directed by company founder Tina Packer, and with new music and dance added, it promises to be fresh and exciting.
"Othello" in Repertory July 18 to August 31
This season, for the first time fully produced on their mainstage, is Shakespeare's magnificent allegory Othello. It has some of theatre's most resounding language, and a story as startling, chilling and timely today as when it was written over 400 years ago.
This full prduction is to be directed by Tony Simotes with John Douglas Thompson as Othello and Michael Hammond as Iago.
The plot: He was a foreign warrior on their shores to protect their homeland from invading forces. She was her father's chaste and cherished "jewel". He told her of his past, of the exotic and sensual life he knew. She fell in love with him, chose to stand with him, and lie with him against all the rules.
But the laws of "men and nature" cannot allow love outside of race, class, age and gender. Malice and jealousy must deceive, betray and suffocate defiant love.
Bankside Preludes and other free events
The free events at Shakespeare & Company are far too numerous to list individually. Free performances of the two-part "The Mad Pirate and the Mermaid" take place each Wednesday and Friday at 6:15.
There are also the Bankside Preludes which take place at 7:15 pm, prior to most Founders' Theatre evening performances. Enjoy a variety of period dances, combat displays, Shakespearean recitations, Elizabethan music and verse, and other impromptu delights to prepare your senses for the evening's show.
And of course there is the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the afternoon of July 4th.
Quick Link to Shakespeare & Company
Weston, VT, Playhouse
"The Light in the Piazza" - July 10-26
The New England premiere of a gorgeous musical by Adam Guettel with book by Craig Lucas in a more intimate "chamber" production.
Hailed by the New York Times as "the most romantic score since West Side Story," this winner of six Tony Awards sold out when performed in concert on the Playhouse stage in 2005. Now the musical makes its New England premiere in a new production in the middle of Vermont.
The story takes place on a trip to Florence, when an innocent American girl finds love with a handsome young Italian. An anxious mother must reveal the truth that will test her daughter's relationship – and her own heart's willingness to find love again.
Jonathan Raviv and David Bonanno from the Goodman Theatre and Broadway productions of Piazza will play Giuseppe and Signor Naccarelli. Michelle Rios (Broadway's The Capeman, Off Broadway's In the Heights) will play Signora Naccarelli, and Michael Berry (Broadway's Les Misérables) will play Roy.
The Weston production employs a total cast of 8 and a new 5-player orchestration by the show's Tony Award-winning composer/orchestrator, Adam Guettel. Weston Producing Director Steve Stettler will direct, with music direction by Andy Einhorn, musical staging by Jennifer Turey, sets by Russell Metheny, costumes by Mara Blumenfeld, lights by Kendall Smith, and sound by Nathaniel Hare.
"When we contacted Adam to say that we envisioned a more intimate production of The Light in the Piazza that would emphasize its journey of the heart, he embraced the idea, welcoming the chance to rediscover a show that had begun with a small ensemble," commented Stettler. "Because the musical never needs more than 8 voices and is openly theatrical in its storytelling, we haven't had to change a word or a note."
The company will also present "Les Misérables" starting July 31. If you have not seen this professional company's work, you owe it to yourself to make the discovery. If you make the trip, be sure to allow time to visit the famed Vermont Country Store while you are there. And to unwind after the drive on the theatre's back porch overlooking the waterfall and river.
Quick Link to Weston, VT Playhouse
Williamstown Theatre Festival
"She Loves Me" - Continues to July 12
Directed by Nicholas Martin, this musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick is a total joy. An irresistible tale of two unlikely sweethearts and the quirky coworkers who surround them, Georg and Amalia work together during the day and are unaware they are writing to each other anonymously at night. Hailed by many as one of the most charming musicals ever written, She Loves Me's quixotic mix of wit and romanticism timelessly invokes the old-world glamour of days gone by.
"Three Sisters" - July 16-27
The great Anton Chekhov play as translated by Paul Schmidt, directed by Michael Greif and with original music by Michael Friedman is revisited.
Craving a life that is more satisfying than their own, three sisters yearn for the passion and excitement of a future in Moscow. The naiveté of unrequited love and the inherent passage of time compel Chekhov's masterpiece to grapple with the delicate question: are the choices made in life always the choices most desired?
Nikos Stage - "The Athiest" - Continues to July 6
Starring Campbell Scott and directed by Justin Waldman, The Athiest is written by Ronan Noone. Augustine Early is a reporter who will do anything to get his next front-page story. When shady political dealings whet his appetite for success, the consequences could be much more than he anticipated, deterring his quest to catch a pitch-perfect headline.
Nikos Stage - "Broke-ology" July 9-20
The King family has weathered the hardships of life and survived with their love for each other intact. But when two brothers are called home to take care of their ailing father, one of them must choose to follow the life he dreams of or honor the unspoken promise of loyalty to his family.
Written by Nathan Louis Jackson, and starring Francois Battiste, Gaius Charles, Wendell Pierce, April Yvette Thompson. Directed by Thomas Kail.
Nikos Stage - "The Understudy" - July 23 - August 3
Box office heroes and washed-up has-beens take heed: the play's almost the thing. In this bitingly witty and entertaining world-premiere comedy by Theresa Rebeck (she also wrote "The Water's Edge"), the lights of Broadway cast an unbecoming glow over this look at one of the most notorious roles in the theatre: the understudy. Directed by Scott Ellis and with Bradley Cooper, Kristen Johnston and Reg Rogers.
Quick Link to Williamstown Theatre Festival
Jacob's Pillow
There's always something exciting and unexpected happening at the Pillow.Here's just a sampling. Visit their website for a complete schedule.
July 2 - 6 Lar Lubovitch and Bill T. Jones
Lar Lubovitch Dance Company is known for its intelligent and tasteful works. A new piece will be featured along with several of their classics, plus guest artist Rasta Thomas will perform. In the Ted Shawn Theatre.
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company finishes its two week engagement in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre where they present, in the round, the intimate and riveting Chapel/Chapter, with live music by Daniel Bernard Roumain.
July 9-13 Hofesh Schechter, Natural Dance Theatre, Ko & Edge
From London, the Hofesh Schechter Company makes its US debut in the Ted Shawn Theatre. They will present Uprising and In Your Rooms for which their is live musical accompaniment.
Two premieres will mark the appearance of the Natural Dance Theatre and Ko & Edge Company in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre from July 10 to 13. An evening that demonstrates the range, diversity and and inventiveness of dance in Japan today.
July 16-20 Ballet Boyz and TPO
The Ballet Boyz founded by former Royal Ballet stars Michael Nunn and William Trevitt present three US premieres and a brilliant company of dancers in the Ted Shawn Theatre.
Teatri du Ouazza o d'Occasione (TPO) arrive from Italy for a week of visual wonders and creative exploration in the Doris Duke Theatre, July 17-20
From 10 AM to 1 PM on July 20th, it is also the free Community Day at the Pillow, with many happenings all over the campus, for free.
July 23-27 Alonzo King's Lines Ballet & Conny Janssen Danst
Alonzo King's Lines Ballet takes up residency at the Ted Shawn Theatre in this exclusive East Coast engagement. On the slate are Migration, with music by Pharoah Sanders and a brand new work, RASA, with music by Zakir Hussain.
Take three padded white walls, a trampoline, and a company of athletic dancers and you have Conny Janssen Danst from the Netherlands at the Doris Duck Studio Theatre. As they interact, Janssen's dancers are athletic, technically exquisite, funny, and real. This promises to be a witty, surprising and rewarding evening.
Quick Link to Jacobs Pillow website
Tanglewood Music Festival
Leading into the opening of the official Tanglewood season are appearances by Mark Morris, James Taylor and the annual broadcast of Garrison Keiler and Prarie Home Companion.
Then, on July 5 at 8:30 PM the Tanglewood official season begins with James Levine conducting the Berlioz masterpiece, "The Trojans" Part One. It is a monumental undertaking with orchestra, soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
Part Two of "The Trojans" follows on Sunday, at 2:30 PM. The work will be sung in French with English subtitles.
Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops will perform a tribute to Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" with Christine Ebersole, Ron Raines and Mary Louise Wilson on Tuesday, July 8 at 8:30.
Conductor Bernard Haitink conducts an all Beethoven program on Friday, June 11, and the Mahler 2nd "Resurrection" on Saturday night.
James Levine returns to the podium on July 13 with pianist Peter Serkin, long a Tanglewood favorite, for the Haydn "London" Symphony, Schubert's" Tragic" Symphony, Bach's Piano Concerto No.1 and Mozart's Concert Rondo in D, K. 382.
Cabaret artist extraordinaire Barbara Cook does a concert in Ozawa Hall on Sunday July 13.
Also at Ozawa Hall on July 17, the Emerson String Quartet presents an all Brahms program.
On Friday July 18, Music Director James Levine pairs the Harbison 5th with Mahler's First. Kate Lindsey and Thomas Meglioranza are soloists.
Saturday evening July 19, Leonard Slatkin will present a program of Vaughan Williams, the Tchaikovsky violin Concerto in D, and the Copland Third, with Midori as soloist.
On Sunday, Maestro Levine kicks off the BSO's Festival of Contemporary Music Week with an all-Carter program.
The Elliott Carter Centennial
The salute to the long lived composer Elliott Carter and his 100th birthday continues all week in various venues. Even so, only a small portion of the prolific composer's body of work will be performed. He is perhaps best known for his atonal, polyrhyhmic works which can be mystifying to the average concert goer. Carter is far from retired, and rumored to be working on a concerto for flute. His recently completed "Sound Fields" was commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center and will receive its premiere On Sunday July 20 at 8:00 PM.
It is back to the old masters on Friday July 25 with an all-Brahms program which includes his Symphony No. 3 and the Piano Concerto with Yefim Bronfman as soloist.
John Williams returns to the shed on Saturday night July 26 with the Boston Pops Orchestra for Film Night at Tanglewood.
On Sunday afternoon, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Roberto Abbado conducting, takes the stage in the Shed. They will perform Tower's "In Memory", the Beethoven 7th, and Mendelssohn's Violin concerto, Sarah Chang, soloist.
Ozawa Hall hosts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in an All-Mozart program on July 30th , and the choral group Chanticleer on the 31st, with the Shanghai String Quartet in an exotic program of rarely heard works.
Quick Link to Tanglewood Information
The Aston Magna 2008 Summer Festival
The Aston Magna series is devoted to Early Music and specializes in period instruments and performance practices that replicate an earlier time. These programs emphasize and illuminate the important influences and interrelationships among the visual and performing arts which flourished during the periods represented by the music.
The concerts are held at three venues:
- The Daniel Arts Center, Simon's Rock College, Great Barrington, MA
- The Olin Auditorium, Bard College, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY
- The Sterling And Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
The programs are as follows:
- The Young Mendelssohn - July 27-29
- Fourth of July Celebration - July 4-6
- J.S. Bach: The Art of the Fugue, Complete - July 11-13
- "Awake, Sweet Love" - July 18-19
- Music From the Russian Baroque - July 25-26
- The Art of Monteverdi's Madrigals - August 1-2
Quick Link to Aston Magna Festival
Bang on a Can Music Festival at Mass MoCA July 10-26
vs.
Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood July 20-24
vs.
Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood July 20-24
With so much attention focused on the Berkshire's powerhouse of music, Tanglewood, it is possible that you are not even aware of a second music celebration taking place at the other end of the Berkshires - the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at Mass MoCA.
And between the two there is a world of difference. The BSO-Tanglewood world of contemporary music still struggles to get symphony attendees to listen to the work of composers from the 20th Century, many of whom are now long dead. Bang on a Can tries to lure audiences to hear works composed in the past few years, months or even days. The music is decidedly alive.The differences are obvious. The BSO celebrates Elliott Carter who is 100 this year and still alive and composing. Bang on a Can just passed 20 years as an organization and is still in its musical youth.
At Tanglewood they will be celebrating Carter's centennial with five days of performances dedicated to his huge body of work, the output of a true genius. But for many, it is difficult, highly intellectual music, ruled by various, strange, changeable and self imposed rules. One rule for example says you can not repeat any of the twelve tones in an octave until all have been used, another sets up random poly-rhythms that rarely intersect. Some concert goers like this challenging music, especially the accountants and nuclear physicists among us who thrive on the emotionally barren and melody-less compositions. They understand the rules and find great genius in adhering to them.
At Mass MoCA things are quite different with the Bang on a Can Festival. As the host of this annual event, they have seen audiences grow each year. That's because the music they perform is neither classical, nor rock or jazz for that matter, but draws from all of music's roots and branches. A devotee of jazz will find much to like, but so will someone who admires the Balinese Gamelon. It's world, fusion, classical, experimental, and best of all, fun.
As Vanity Fair wrote: "Imagine Lollapalooza advised by the ghost of John Cage. There are other places to hear new contemporary music, but it is seldom offered with such a potent blend of intensity, authority, and abandon."
Quick Link to Bang on a Can Marathon
There are two main performances which bracket a continual festival of live music in the MoCA galleries. It is played by students from around the world, plus more than a dozen faculty members who comprise the teaching staff.
Recitals take place each day at 1:30 and 4:30, though only the late afternoon ones have been announced so far. Here is how it looks:
- Thurs July 10, Evan Ziporyn, composer and clarinets
- Fri July 11, Vicki Ray, pianist, performs works by Shaun Naidoo and more
- Sat July 12, Todd Reynolds, violin
- Sun July 13, no recitals
- Mon July 14, Brad Lubman, composer and electronics with ensemble
- Tues July 15, Sqwonk, the San Francisco-based bass clarinet duo, makes their debut at MASS MoCA performing their commission of Ken Thomson's Undo(2008). Summer fellows Derek Johnson and Andrea Hemmenway star in Thomson's Throw Back (2006) for solo electric guitar and amplified viola with string quintet and six people playing drumsticks on the gallery floor! And then new compositions for jazz quintet featuring Ken Thomson (alto saxophone, bass clarinet) alongside fellows Andy Kozar (trumpet) and Derek Johnson (guitar), along with faculty members Gregg August (bass) and David Cossin (drums).
- Weds July 16, Gregg August, bass
- Thurs July 17, TBA
- Fri July 18, world premieres of 4 new works written and performed by festival fellows
- Sat July 19, Balinese Gamelan led by Christine Southworth
- Sun July 20, no recitals
- Mon July 21, world premieres of 4 new works written and performed by festival fellows
- Tues July 22, festival improvisation ensembles perform
- Weds July 23, TBA
- Thurs July 24, Festival ensemble performs works by Phil Kline, Lou Harrison and more
- Fri July 25, festival composers improvise
BOAC All-Stars, July 19
There are two major performances during the BOAC Festival, starting with the annual reunion of the All-Stars on July 19 at 8:00 with special guest Lee Ranaldo. The Bang on a Can All-Stars, are a high-energy electric chamber ensemble, performing an impossibly diverse concert of music by some of today's most innovative artists, all of it commissioned by Bang on a Can. New music by jazz giant Ornette Coleman, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Lukas Ligeti, Todd Reynolds, Julia Wolfe, and Evan Ziporyn.
BOAC Marathon, July 26
The Marathon is a collision of musical styles and ideas. The Bang on a Can Marathon begins on Saturday, July 26 at 4:00 PM and runs well into the evening, with virtually nonstop music. Highlights of this signature event of the Festival include special guest Terry Riley, music by Frank Zappa, and and the mixed media oratorio "Shelter", a visually stunning collaboration from Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Ridge Theater.
30+ musicians and composers of the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival join for 6-hours of non-stop, boundary smashing music highlighted by rarely performed works of the late-great Frank Zappa. Come and go as you please, grab a drink or a snack, or stroll through the exhibitions. As someone who has attended quite a few of these marathons, there is rarely a dull moment.
MoCA offers individual tickets for these events (the gallery concerts are included in the regular musuem admission ticket) but you can also opt for a Festival Pass which is sold at the MoCA lobby ticket desk only.
Quick Link to Bang on a Can at Mass MoCA
Other MoCA Music Events - Beth Orton - July 5
This maverick UK singer-songwriter practically reinvented folk music on her groundbreaking 1996 debut Trailer Park, blending acoustic arrangements with trip hop beats to create a wholly new sound. More than a decade on, her style remains as unclassifiable as ever, and her voice, one of the most instantly recognizable in all of popular music, has developed from a formidable instrument into an unforgettable combination of raw emotion and effortless cool. She's comes to North Adams joined by just her guitarist for an intimate acoustic evening.
Quick Link to Beth Orton at Mass MoCA
MoCA Club B-10 - Abena Komson - July 12
Slam poetess and soul singer Abena Komson unleashes a heavy dose of acappella funk -- calling it a one woman show is misleading, because she inevitably inspires audiences to get out of their seats to sing and clap along. In verse and song, this Brooklynite of African extraction "unites her ancestral worlds of Ghana and America." (New York Times)
Quick Link to Abena Komson at Mass MoCA
The Berkshire Fringe Festival 2008 - July 16 to August 4
Yes the Berkshires has its own Fringe Festival. They present truly original works of theater, dance and music by emerging artists from across the United States. It takes place in the Daniel Arts Center on the campus of Simon's Rock.
"Miracle Tomato" - July 16-20
Kicking off the 2008 festival is Miracle Tomato. Hundreds of tomatoes fall from the sky in this traveling story of love, bioengineering and the search for home. Performer/Creator Jessica Cerullo recounts the rich and prolific history of the tomato in a comedy that examines cultivation, mass consumption, and the changing dynamics of food and family.
"US" - July 17-21
Hailed as "Strong, deft, emotionally resonant theater" by The New York Times, "US" is a provocative and politically charged performance marrying text, song and virtuosic dance. Using rich theatricality and vigorous physicality, award winning creator/performer Alexandra Beller (former member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company) explores the relationship between a country and its citizens. The performance questions issues of morality, humanity, dissention and forgiveness. Post show discussion with the artist is optional.
"Obscure Equivocal Definite Meaning to Everything" - July 23-26
Emerging choreographer Alexandria Yalj presents The Obscure Equivocal Definite Meaning to Everything which explores the distance and connections between people as seen through the topography created by two shifting doorways. Six powerhouse dancers open and close the doors, offering different vantage points that illuminate the patterns of behavior in which we are all confined.
"The Only Friends We Have" - July 25-28
Under The Table Theater returns to The Berkshire Fringe to offer a new comedy, The Only Friends We Have. Despite creative and sometimes violent efforts, dysfunctional friends Norma, Jonathon and Claudia are suffering from an unfortunate bed bug infestation. With lightning speed banter and a signature brand of outlandish shenanigans, the trio is both united and torn apart by their elusive enemy. As dreams are revealed and tension builds, the trio discovers that while they might have made their bed, they just can't seem to sleep in it!
Lynxx Ensemble offers "StellYY" July 30- August 3
Dedicated to challenging the nature of identity, the New York based Lynx Ensemble presents StellYY: the heartbreaking and optimistic story of Estella Rose Simone Rochester, the first child created from the genetic material of two men. When Stelly falls ill at the age of 12, she and her fathers become the focal point of a contentious culture war. A darkly comic and moving allegory, StellYY reveals not only the bonds that unite this family but what ultimately unifies all parents when faced with the uncertainty of the world beyond home.
The Missoula Oblongata - July 31-August 4
Straight from Northampton, MA emerges the aggressively inventive and fabulously experimental company, The Missoula Oblongata. With a dozen eggs, an original musical score by the Seattle band TV Coahran, and an aquarium full of white yarn, "The Last Hurrah of the Clementines" is an unpredictable evening of crafted madness, eerie melodies and homegrown delights.
Quick Link to Berkshire Fringe Festival
Our August Preview will appear the last week in July.