Berkshire Theatre Group to Present Noel Coward's DESIGN FOR LIVING at the Unicorn Theatre, 7/30-8/16

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Nöel Coward's Design for Living at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. Opening Night is August 2 at 8pm. Preview performances begin on July 30 at 7pm and the production closes August 16 at 8pm.

Tickets to Design for Living are $48, all preview tickets are $42. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield; at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage Ticket Office at 83 East Main Street, Stockbridge; by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

Lovers and friends, friends and lovers, what's the difference when it comes to interior designer Gilda playwright Leo, and artist Otto? That's the same question they ask themselves in Nöel Coward's sophisticated dark romantic comedy.

Tom Story, who began his acting career on BTF's Unicorn stage, now makes his directorial debut with Design for Living on the same stage. He has performed with BTG for nine seasons including productions: The Glass Menagerie, Camelot, and The Heidi Chronicles.

Set in the carefree 1930s, the freewheeling, amoral, modish trio of characters (Ariana Venturi, Chris Geary, and Tom Pecinka all cast in BTG's 2013 hit, The Cat and the Canary) fall in and out of love with each other and with others while their mutual friend, Ernest tries to be the moral voice of reason.

"Design for Living is a play I have had a relationship with for many years," said director Tom Story. "I have studied it, seen it many times, and acted in a successful production of it at The Shakespeare Theatre Company directed by my friend Michael Kahn. Now, I will direct it on the stage where I made my professional acting debut after graduating from Juilliard sixteen years ago. It is a hilarious and very human play about artists, how they deal with success, and how they ultimately choose to live and love on their own terms."

Themes of self-destruction, celebrity, success, and outcomes of romantic machinations are explored through this wicked ménage à trois. Muddled relationships and blurred lines make for a provocative and lively comedy in true Nöel Coward fashion.

Design for Living
by Nöel Coward
directed by Tom Story
at The Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge
The Larry Vaber Stage
Previews July 30-August 1
Press Opening/Opening Night: August 2 at 8pm
Talkback: August 4
Closes August 23
Tickets: Preview: $42; A: $48

ABOUT THE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:

Tom Story (Director) has appeared in over sixty plays in New York, Washington DC and in cities throughout America. He made his professional directorial debut at The Studio Theatre in Washington DC with the American premiere of Moth by Declan Greene. He is a graduate of Duke University and the Juilliard School where he studied with Michael Kahn. He studied directing at The Studio Theatre in Washington DC under Joy Zinoman.

Madeline Calandrillo (Helen Carver) is thrilled to be back at BTG for another summer! Madeline has worked at the Festival as an Artist-In-Residence with the BTG! School Residency Program for both in school and after school playwriting programs. Other credits include A Christmas Carol, Finian's Rainbow, Nine, and A Clean House. All her love to her family and friends.

Paul Cooper (Ernest Friedman) is thrilled to join BTF for Design for Living. He is a first year MFA candidate at the Yale School of Drama. At YSD he recently appeared as Skank in the Spring Production of In Arabia We'd All Be Kings. Regional credits include: Blood Brothers (Labute New Theatre Festival), King Lear (St. Louis Actor's Studio), Psycho Beach Party (Stray Dog Theater), Julius Caesar (The Black Repertory of St. Louis), Facing the Shadow (The Black Repertory of St. Louis), and Good (St. Louis Actor's Studio). Paul has a BS in Biology and Public Policy from Brown University.

Christopher Geary (Otto) is pleased to be returning to BTG after performing in last The Cat and the Canary. Christopher is an MFA candidate at the Yale School of Drama, where he was seen in These Paper Bullets! (Yale Repertory Theatre), Peter Pan, The Visit, and Sagittarius Ponderosa. His other credits include The Small Things (Yale Cabaret), We Know Edie La Minx Had a Gun (Yale Cabaret) Losing Tom Pecinka (HERE Arts), and Elephant in the Room (New York International Fringe Festival). Christopher received his BA in theatre performance from Fordham College at Lincoln Center. He is a graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and has also studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Christopher is a founding member of the NYC based theatre company Morgan Gould and Friends.

Tom Pecinka (Leo) New York: The Germ Project (New Georges) Losing Tom Pecinka (HERE Arts) Exquisite Corpse (Clubbed Thumb) There Will Be Snacks and The Watermelon Wars (Incubator Arts Project), Dar and Matey's Christmas Spectacularghhh (Vampire Cowboys), Richard 3 (NYC Fringe 2010) and The Martian Chronicles (Fordham Alumni Company). Regional: As You Like It (Shakespeare on the Sound). Tom is a graduate of the Fordham Theatre Program and is currently enrolled in the MFA Acting program at the Yale School of Drama.

Ariana Venturi (Gilda) is thrilled to return to BTG, where she appeared last summer as creepy undertaker Mrs. Underwood in The Cat and the Canary. Regional:These Paper Bullets! and In a Year with 13 Moons (Yale Repertory Theatre), Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards (Actor's Theatre Louisville, 2012 Humana Festival), and Sousepaw: A Baseball Story (US Fringe Tour). New York: Dance Dance Revolution (d. Alex Timbers, Les Freres Corbusier), Vendetta Chrone (Clubbed Thumb), The Great Recession (The Flea Theatre). She has a BA in English from Vassar College and is entering her third year as an MFA candidate at the Yale School of Drama.

About Berkshire Theatre Group - The Colonial Theatre, founded in 1903, and Berkshire Theatre Festival, founded in 1928, are two of the oldest cultural organizations in the Berkshires. Having united in November of 2010 under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, these two institutions are providing the Berkshires and beyond with the finest in live theatre, music, dance and the visual arts on five stages in Stockbridge, MA and Pittsfield, MA. The Fitzpatrick Main Stage (400 seats), cataloged by the National Register of Historic Places, was originally designed and built by Stanford White as the Stockbridge Casino in 1888. The intimate Unicorn Theatre (122 seats) is a home for emerging artists and new theatrical ideas. The Colonial in Pittsfield (780 seats) re-opened in August of 2006, following a $21 million restoration, and boasts pristine acoustics, classic gilded age architecture and state-of-the-art technical systems. BTG also performs at the outdoor Neil Ellenoff stage, located on the grounds of BTF in Stockbridge, and at The Garage, a music venue located in the lobby of The Colonial. BTG serves over 100,000 patrons per year and reaches over 17,000 students through its educational and outreach programs.

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