Keira Naughton Opens Up About Directing Father James Naughton in CEDARS at Berkshire Theatre Festival

One could say that the Naughton family has dabbled in the theatre. The father, James, is a two-time Tony Award-winning actor-director who starred in Broadway's City of Angels and the rivival of Chicago. Daughter Keira is an actor-singer/songwriter who recently appeared in Yale Repertory Theatre's production of These Paper Bullets. And Greg, James' son, founded off-Broadway's Obie Award-winning Blue Light Theater in addition to acting, directing, and singing himself. To top it all off, Greg is married to five-time Tony-Award nominated actress Kelli O'Hara.

The Naughtons grew up spending their summers in the Berkshires and this summer is no different. Except it is a little bit different. Instead of participating in the "family summer camp environment" that the Berkshires provided them with in their formative years, the family will be putting on productions of its own.

Keira is actually directing her father in the world premiere of Cedars, a solo show that makes its world preimere at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA on July 23rd. Meanwhile, Greg is working at the same theatre, staging a revival of A Hatful of Rain that opens on August 13th.

"It's a very seductive place to grow up and it was a dream place to be in the summer," Keira told CTnow. "I've been coming to the Berkshires for many years," says Keira, "and it does feel like coming home to family. [Berkshire Theatre Festival artistic director] Kate Maguire is my other mother or older sister: a loyal, maternal, tough, cool lady who I really admire and who's been a bit of a mentor and a real pal."

Greg also opened up to CTnow about his inevitable involvement in the arts. "I guess it was pre-ordained. The world in which my father worked was such a happy and appealing one for him - as well as for us. It was seductive right from the beginning. I know other kids of actors and they didn't have that experience but my father was pretty happy [with his life and career], especially around Williamstown."

While James was always destined for the stage, Keira was not always so sure that she wanted to perform for a living. According to CTnow, it wasn't until graduate school that she decided to apply to NYU and realize the family profession. "My father said, 'Is this something I should be supporting?' And I said, 'If I don't try this I'll regret it.' And he said, 'OK,' and that was basically out whole conversation," she said.

Overall, the Naughton family's intimate relationship with the theater and the people involved with it is what keeps them hooked." I still feel I could never leave the theater because I don't really know how to relate to other people," Keira said. "You can say anything in front of actors and no one's judging you. Maybe that's why I started a family of my own late because I had all these other families and never felt isolated and never had that much of a need. That's what's so great about the theater. You really feel this familial bond with the people you work with. The last couple of shows I did - The Dining Room at the Westport Playhouse and These Paper Bullets - I wanted to move in with the people involved and live in a big commune."

Read the original article here at CTnow.

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