BWW PREVIEW: 6 Shows Not To Miss This Summer In The Berkshires

The bad news first: the 2016/2017 Boston theater season is coming to a close. Now that we got that out of the way let's spin this into a positive because it doesn't mean our theater options suddenly run dry for the next few months! Right now, companies located in a Western Massachusetts region called the Berkshires are preparing to deliver full-length seasons of theater compacted into just a few months.

I always look forward to visiting this bastion of culture and enjoy taking in some of the best theater Massachusetts has to offer. It is where I saw Marin Mazzie play Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and the place that gave us such world premier's as 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE and Dominique Morisseau's PARADISE BLUE. The programming selection offered each year is enough to make any seasoned theatre-goer salivate with excitement.

Here are the six shows I'm looking forward to the most this summer.

1) MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW by Halley Feiffer and directed by Trip Cullman at Williamstown Theatre Festival

Trip Cullman returns after directing last season's revival of Tennessee Williams' THE ROSE TATTOO to lead Rebecca Henderson (THE WAYSIDE MOTOR INN), Cristin Milioti (ONCE), Jeanine Serralles (GLORIA) plus many other great actors in Halley Feiffer's modern riff on Chekhov's THREE SISTERS. Little information is revealed about this adaptation but judging from the synopsis and the art direction; it's looking like it'll fit well into the Feiffer's milieu.

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW runs at Williamstown Theatre Festival from July 26 to August 6 on the Nikos Stage. Tickets go on sale June 1st. Visit their website for more information

2) THE ROOMMATE by Jen Silverman and directed by Mike Donahue at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

After noticing a disparate of roles for middle-aged women, playwright Jen Silverman was inspired, "to write a play for badass women in their 50s." Silverman gained notoriety when THE ROOMMATE, a two-hander comedy about transformation and midlife crisis, had its world premier at the 2015 Humana Festival. The Kilroy's List, an organization devoted to recognizing unproduced plays by female and trans authors, featured THE ROOMMATE in 2015. As if that wasn't enough to excite, casting couldn't be stronger. S. Epatha Merkerson (COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA) and Jane Kaczmarek (TV's MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE) play the rivaling duo. Mike Donahue who directed the world premiere returns to helm the Williamstown production.

THE ROOMMATE runs at the Williamstown Theatre Festival from June 27 to July 16 on their Main Stage. Tickets go on sale June 1st. Visit their website for more information.

3) ACTUALLY by Anna Ziegler and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz at Williamstown Theatre Festival

Anna Ziegler and Lileana Blain-Cruz working together on a world premiere play should be more than enough to get onboard for the final production of Williamstown's 2017 season, but in case you're the stubborn type, I'll elaborate. Alexandra Socha (FUN HOME) and Joshua Boone (HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME) are Princeton first-year students who become caught up in each other and quickly learn about the blurred line of consent in this play that addresses gender politics. This production is co-produced by Manhattan Theatre Club where it'll transfer to in the fall for a New York debut. Coincidentally, Anna Ziegler's THE LAST MATCH also holds a fall off-Broadway premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company.

ACTUALLY runs at the Williamstown Theatre Festival from August 9 to August 20 on the Nikos Stage. Tickets go on sale June 1st. Visit their website for more information.

4) WHERE STORMS ARE BORN by Harrison David Rivers and directed by Saheem Ali at Williamstown Theatre Festival

Harrison David Rivers's play about the American prison system told through the perspective of one family's fight was a finalist at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's 2015 National Playwrights Conference and is now receiving its world premiere production directed by Saheem Ali. Myra Lucretia Taylor (FAMILIAR) plays Bethea, the mother struggling to care for one son while being haunted by the actions of her other.

WHERE STORMS ARE BORN runs at Williamstown Theatre Festival from July 12 to July 23 on the Nikos Stage. Tickets go on sale June 1st. Visit their website for more information

5) RAGTIME book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Aherns, music by Stephen Flaherty and directed by Joe Calarco at Barrington Stage Company

The musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's novel depicting societal changes born out of the turn of the 20th century received its only Broadway revival in the same year as our nation elected its first African-American President. How will RAGTIME look in 2017 when the thought of social progress seems to dim with each new headline appearing to be the crime of the century? We are about to find out.

RAGTIME runs at Barrington Stage Company's Boyd-Quinson Mainstage from June 21 to July 15. Visit their website for more information.

6) CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD by Mark Medoff and directed by Kenny Leon at the Berkshire Theatre Group

In 2014, producer Hal Luftig announced a revival of Mark Medoff's Tony-winning play to be directed by Kenny Leon (FENCES) for the 2015/2016 Broadway season, but the project never materialized. Now, Berkshire Theatre Group has announced a Kenny Leon-helmed revival, and Playbill confirmed Luftig's continued involvement.

Luftig made a statement back in 2014 with his intentions "to reflect society today." Medoff's play addresses how we communicate through barriers by focusing on a relationship between a speech therapist (Joshua Jackson) and a student who is deaf (Lauren Ridloff).

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD runs from June 22 to July 22 on the Fitzpatrick Main Stage. Visit their website for more information.

To post a comment, you must register and login.