Great Barrington Public Theater Kicks Off 2024 With A Conversation With Jeff Zinn January 29

Great Barrington Public Theater kicks off 2024 with the first in a series of FREE public interviews with industry influencers on Monday, January 29th, 6pm, with a sit-down Conversation With Jeff Zinn, accomplished director, writer, actor, producer and founder of Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater. GBPT

Artistic Director Jim Frangione will talk with Zinn on stage at St. James Place, Great Barrington about Zinn's illuminating podcast GURUS: The Story of Acting, from Stanislavsky to Succession, and to get Zinn's take on trends in American theater today. 

This is a FREE live event, with a $10 suggested donation, but space is limited. Reservations can be made now by emailing Tristan.GreatBarringtonPublic@gmail.com

Jeff Zinn has enjoyed a remarkable history on stage and screen, from his beginnings as a singer-songwriter in the Boston club scene, to roles in on- and off-Broadway productions, including To Be Young Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry and Sexual Perversity in Chicago by David Mamet at the Cherry Lane Theater.

As his onstage career unfolded, Zinn gravitated to writing, directing and producing, became Founder and Director of the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) and Managing Director at the Gloucester Stage Company. He has produced over 200 productions of new plays, many of which he also directed, including The Beauty Queen of Leenane starring Julie Harris. 

Jeff Zinn is the author of The Existential Actor: Life and Death, Onstage and Off. He produces the podcast GURUS: The Story of Acting, from Stanislavsky to Succession, that explores the foundations of theater and technique and personal artistic discoveries with artists like Alfre Woodard, Cherry Jones, Alan Ruck, David Patrick Kelly, BD Wong, and many others.

Jim Frangione shares his enthusiasm about this new series: “We have fantastic presentation space in St. James Place for community events and conversation. Our Conversation With series invites everyone to join in the discussion about how to create theater, from a good idea to a great play. This promises to be a memorable talk with Jeff.”

“I'm looking forward to this evening with Jim and Berkshire theater lovers and artists,” Zinn says. “Jim and I always enjoy getting into the weeds of what theater is, and how and what makes it grab you. The topic interests all of us. Practitioners or not, we're all aficionados of film and theater. We watch, we attend, we binge! and we all love digging into the Story of Acting. Everyone will enjoy this talk session.”

LOOKING AHEAD:

• Monday, February 26th, 6pm, Jim Frangione will have a Conversation With Neil Pepe, Artistic Director of the Atlantic Theater Company. They'll talk about new currents in NYC theater and what happens behind the scenes when a theater company like Atlantic moves a play to Broadway.
• Monday, March 18th, 6pm GBPT Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha will join Jim Frangione to host a Conversation With Berkshire Theater Artists' Forum, several well-known local artists talk about their journeys as playwrights, directors and designers, and the benefits and joy of creating stage works with fellow Berkshire residents.

Great Barrington Public Theater was founded by Artistic Director Jim Frangione and Executive Director Deann Simmons Halper to create opportunities for theater artists in the Berkshires and neighboring regions. Great Barrington Public Theater recognizes the many excellent playwrights, actors, directors, designers, administrators and technicians living in the Berkshires and surrounding areas. Our objective is to bring a mix of new and contemporary plays to the stage in a variety of formats; to generate and foster creative and rigorous opportunity for local theater artists, while engaging our theatergoing public with new and contemporary readings, workshops, and fully staged productions, involving local talent as often as possible, and always keeping ticket prices affordable.

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