2024
Conversation With series
Judy Braha
Jim Frangione
A FREE Conversation with Berkshire Theater Artists' Forum
In our third conversation with theater professionals, GBPT Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha sat down with top artists who reside locally and, often working together, create nationally acclaimed theater right here in the Berkshires. The accomplished group included GBPT Artistic Director/Playwright Jim Frangione; Director James Warwick, Playwrights Mark St. Germain, Jessica Provenz and Anne Undeland; Actor Peggy Pharr Wilson; Costume Designer Brittney Belz; and Lighting Designer Matthew Adelson. The onstage discussion explored how their combined talents, creative skills, shared aesthetics and industry know-how come together to bring passion, tension, themes of comedy and drama to life, and what makes living and working professionally in the Berkshires possible.
James Warwick
Jessica Provenz
Anne Undeland
Matthew Adelson
Peggy Pharr Wilson
Brittney Belz
Mark St. Germain
Neil Pepe, Artistic Director, Atlantic Theater Company
Conversation with Neil Pepe
Jim sat down with Neil Pepe, the respected Artistic Director of New York City's venerable, perennially successful Atlantic Theater Company. They talked about challenges facing theater today, how to navigate them, and what happens behind the scenes when a company like the Atlantic moves a play to Broadway.
Actor, director, producer Neil Pepe joined the Atlantic Theater Company in 1987 and has been Artistic Director since 1992. He’s had a defining role In bringing American theater to contemporary audiences and has been recognized by peers with a Drama Desk Special Award for Artistic Excellence. In 2022 he received a Tony Nomination for Best Director for the Broadway revival of American Buffalo with Sam Rockwell, Laurence Fishburne and Darren Criss. You can learn more about his long list of Broadway and Off-Broadway credits on the Atlantic Theater Company website.
See video of Conversation with Neil Pepe.
All photos by Edward Acker
Atlantic Theater Artistic Director Neil Pepe and Jim Frangione talk production insights.
Jam Frangione, Neil Pepe & playwright Mark St. Germain at the conversational gathering.
St. James Place filled with theater lovers at the free event, 'Conversation With Neil Pepe'
The post-event chat time gave playwright Leigh Strimbeck and actor Raya Malcolm time to catch up
Neil Pepe shows off his GBPT hoodie swag!
Neil Pepe, Jim Frangione & GBPT Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha.
Our Conversation With series kicked off with Jim Frangione’s onstage talk with actor, director, writer, theater guru and podcast producer Jeff Zinn. It was a fantastic night of theater insider backstories, and a wonderful history of how a century of methodologies moved the art of acting ahead to what we see on stage and screen today. Tune in to Jeff Zinn’s 21 part podcast to hear more.
Jeff Zinn reviews history of acting methodologies.
Jim Frangione and Jeff Zinn had a great onstage talk. (All photos by edwardackerphotographer.com)
Jeff Zinn kicks off GBPT’s Conversation With series
Plays 2023-2019
2023 PRODUCTIONS
Representation and How to Get It (Aug. 25-27)
A Special Event, Three Performances Only. Fri. Aug. 25, 7pm; Sat. Aug. 26, 11am; Sun. Aug. 27, 2pm
Presented at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate, in Lenox, MA
Representation and How to Get It is a new solo show presented by GBPT in partnership with The Mount, created collaboratively by playwright Joyce Van Dyke, actor Elaine Vaan Hogue, and GBPT Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha.
Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic, was also a famous poet and human rights activist. It’s early dawn, and we find her rehearsing a lecture she’s about to give to the Boston Radical Club on political representation for women. She delivers a passionate, moving call-to-arms for our time. The creators of Representation and How to Get It say, “We want her words and this play to charge the audience with agency, hope, and a collective sense of the need to take action now.
Director, Judy Braha, talks about the play.
Actress Elaine Vaan Hogue's thoughts on the play
Just Another Day (Aug. 3-Aug. 13)
A comic and poetic reaffirmation of endless love
McConnell Theater | Thurs.-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat. & Sun., 3pm
The summer peaks with a premiere in partnership with Shadowland Stages, Ellenville, NY. In a heart-stirring new drama written by well-known and familiar actor Dan Lauria, an aging comedy writer and poet meet daily on a bench to find out how, why and whether they were ever actually married, and if so, what magic held them together besides a mutual love of old movies. There are no children, no doctors, no nurses, just two people trading wit and nostalgia about old movies, all the while, trying to remember who they are and how they connect, at least that day. A joyous, powerful love story about the lasting gifts of comedy and laughter, even at the end of the world, it stars Dan Lauria and Jodi Long, as originally directed by James Glossman.
Dan Lauria and Jodi Long co-star as an anonymous couple searching their memories for the love and laughter that holds them together. Credit GBPT/Kat Humes
“A poignant and powerful new play”
”Masterfully directed”
“memory loss is leavened by laughter”
”a play that is both tender and uplifting”
”Lauria delivers with practiced ease...a luminous Jodi Long.”
“The play has wit, and it has chops. It has a sense of danger and a depth of romance.”
”a remarkable performance”
”leaves its audience with hope...A theater experience can’t give you much more than that.”
Off Peak (July 6-July 23)
A love smart comedy
McConnell Theater | Thurs.-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat. & Sun., 3pm
Next stop, love smart laughter, when Off Peak arrives at the McConnell Theater main stage. It’s a funny, poignant new script by Brenda Withers about a pair of long-lost lovers who meet on a delayed Metro North train. It premiered last year at the Hudson Stage Company in Armonk, NY, before a brief run Off-Broadway where it picked up positive notice. The playwright calls it, “A delightful new play about forgiving, forgetting, and the healing power of a good delay.” The New Yorker called it “sly, smart, often very funny. Withers’ script provides an abundance of emotional and intellectual twists and turns” and The New York Times said it’s “so close to life that you expect a conductor to come in at any second.”
Off Peak stars Peggy Pharr Wilson and Kevin O’Rourke, and is directed by James Warwick.
“Peggy Pharr Wilson and Kevin O’Rourke are giving a clinic in the fine art of their craft..under James Warwick’s clean, lucid direction... their work is seamless, smooth, perceptive and keenly sensitive.”
“It is a play not a sit-com. It is a very good play...just perfectly cast.”
“A nifty production...undeniably impressive...”
“A rare theatrical experience ...Under the direction of James Warwick, Peggy Pharr Wilson and Kevin O’Rourke are natural, relaxed, and comfortable... fully developed, rich, and multi-layered with impeccable dialogue...all superlatively executed...Do not miss it! ”
Seventeen years after breaking up, Peggy Pharr Wilson as Sarita and Kevin O'Rourke as Martin find themselves stuck on the tracks together.
Photo GBPT/Kat Humes
The moment you bump into the one who got away.
Photo GBPT/Kat Humes
The Stones (June 15 to July 2)
A mind-twisting gothic mystery
Liebowitz Theater | Thurs.-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat. & Sun., 3pm
The ten-week season opens in the intimate Liebowitz black box theater with the American premiere of a hypnotic, solo-performer, contemporary gothic story by award-winning, London playwright/director Kit Brookman. The Stones was an audience favorite at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
When a chance encounter with an old friend leads Nick, a recently unemployed teacher, to take a new job as a tutor to two children, the job, kids and family are too good to be true…until the mysterious stones begin to arrive. A fascinating mystery unfolds. Reality splinters into historical illusions that question whom among us is delusional and who is guilty for humankind’s collective past, present, and murky future.
Kit Brookman is a daring writer making a name in British theater circles. Learn more on his website. The Stones features Ryan Winkles in the solo role, directed by consummate actor-director-writer Michelle Joyner, who says, “It’s a modern, darkly comic story that makes you want to pull your chair closer to the fire and listen.”
“an immensely theatrical environment…skillfully played by Ryan Winkles.. a nimble performer who fleshes out his work with a flavorful, attention to detail.”
“This is a spook show like no other you will see. It engages your imagination...a 90-minute celebration of theatrical imagination and endurance...beautifully designed.”
“Michelle Joyner, intrigued by the provocative and compelling plot of this one-man show, elegantly directs Ryan Winkles... Winkles delivers his lines beautifully, full of nuance...”
2022 PRODUCTIONS
Four readings of new plays written by Berkshire Voices members.
OCT. 3, 17, NOV. 7 & 21
New work is a critical part of Great Barrington Public Theater’s founding mission.
October 3rd – 7:00pm, The Foundry
THE GROUP by Michael Brady
They have paid their dues, these writers. Each one hopes to write that perfect play, so they meet, read each other’s work, spilling into each other’s lives and sharing joy, pain, and the hunt for that elusive production. As the saying goes, “No happy playwrights.”
October 17 – 7:00pm, The Foundry
Dog Play by Leigh Strimbeck
A reunion in a park brings surprises for a couple who called it quits over a year ago. Who do we love and what do we miss most when they go?
November 7 – 7:00pm, St. James Place
All I Had by Ellen Clarkson
“You are what you have.” Is it possible to change a man’s stubborn belief in a premise that is so prevalent yet causes so much pain? That is the subject of All I Had, a story of revelation and redemption, where each disclosure takes the audience by surprise and leads the four characters to insights they never imagined.
November 21 – 7:00pm, St. James Place
Not Dark Yet by Billie Murray
Follows the intermingled lives of three people who struggle to come to terms with life, loss, love, and redemption in a small town.
GB Public Solo Fest | June 3 - July 10
Grief, the Musical...a Comedy
June 3 – 12
The GBPT Solo Fest began with Grief, the Musical...a Comedy, written and performed by Alison Larkin, with original music by Gary Schreiner and directed by James Warwick. When you fall in love for the first time in your 50's and the worst happens, you have a choice. You can hide under the bed–or, you can write Grief, the Musical...a Comedy. Arising from Alison's experience with heartbreaking loss, this deeply funny love story blended stand-up comedy, songs and theatre to bring audiences on a soul-healing journey through joy and the depths of sorrow to the heights of the human experience. Berkshire On Stage called it “storytelling at its best” and the Jeff Borak in The Berkshire Eagle called it “eye-opening and life-affirming”. Our audiences loved Grief, the Musical...a Comedy and it was a sold out success.
The Shot
June 16 – 19
Up next, a short-run special event: There were only five performances of Robin Gerber’s remarkable new play The Shot, based on the life of the inimitable Katharine Graham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning publisher of The Washington Post, who played a decisive role in bringing down the White House of Richard Nixon. Directed by local writer/performer Michelle Joyner, The Shot featured familiar, Emmy-nominated actress Sharon Lawrence as Katharine Graham. Sharon is known for her roles in Dynasty, Shameless, NYPD Blue, and on Broadway in Cabaret and Chicago. This searing play showed a powerful woman laying bare her shadowed past to overcome adversity. The Shot met with wide critical acclaim, and Berkshire Edge called it a “high point” of the Berkshire summer theater season and “an exemplar of nonprofit theater at its most purposeful.”
Leave Your Fears Here
June 30 – July 10
Leave Your Fears Here was a profound and insightful memoir written and performed by acclaimed stage and screen actor James Morrison, of 24, Law and Order SVU, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Twin Peaks: The Return and other series and movies. It’s an uplifting story of oneness and a family’s triumphant victory over their son’s struggle with cancer. James takes you on a journey that affirms love and human connection as the antidote to fear and despair. Audiences were appreciative and inspired by this humorous, meaningful tale about finding hope and love in today’s world. The Berkshire Eagle called it “a heartwarming journey toward hope.”
What audiences said about Leave Your Fears Here:
“Did I like it, no…I love it for all that I didn’t know I needed!”
“…witness to a beautiful, emerging life. It delivers elegantly.”
“…so uplifting and inspirational and yes, funny...”
“…tied for the best play I have ever seen, and when I was a theater reviewer for WAMC I saw a lot of plays.”
From The Berkshire Edge:
“Watching James Morrison deal with his son’s cancer is an amazing thing as revelations pour out of him and realizations motivate him to action. For about a third of this play I was in tears and for a third of it I was moved to laughter… I guarantee you it is both amusing and touching and presents a side of the child that provokes you to silent prayers. Morrison is not just a proud Dad, he is a proud Director and Producer, an empowered human being who is the most human a being you will encounter on any stage this summer.” Read more in The Berkshire Edge
The Bard The Beat The Blues
June 8 – June 26
The Bard The Beat The Blues, played in rotation with the other Solos, June 8 – June 26. It’s a punchy compilation of Shakespeare monologues, Beat poetry and live music composed and performed by Will LeBow, one of the most lauded actors in the country, with credits ranging from Broadway and Lincoln Center to Off-Broadway, and as a member of ART in Cambridge, MA. The Bard The Beat The Blues invoked some of Shakespeare’s most memorable language and characters, mixed with LeBow’s original songs and the poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Public Speaking 101
July 14 – July 24
The McConnell Theater mainstage came to life for 2022 with the premiere of Public Speaking 101, a fun, feel-good new comedy by favorite Berkshire playwright Mark St. Germain. A neurotic amateur actress led her local community class of off-kilter, terrified adults to compete in their county’s First Annual Public Speaking Competition. This brand-new, high-spirited, laugh-out-loud comedy, featured a stellar cast of comic actors. GB Public’s Artistic Director Jim Frangione directed.
STARRING
Peggy Pharr Wilson as Sunny Strut
David Smilow as Sergeant Mike Gallion
Brendan Powers as Fletcher Tuft
Rachel Burttram as Millie Harrow
Nathan Hinton as Reverend Montavius Lester
The Public Speaking 101 class aces the laugh test:
"In this laugh-out-loud comedy, author Mark St. Germain departs from historical drama and recent autobiographical work to examine the human foibles that complicate so many lives…When writing for characters is this funny it is a pleasant excursion into the challenges of life for an audience." The Berkshire Edge
"St. Germain’s script has many laugh-out-loud moments,...Peggy Pharr Wilson is energetic and charming as Sunny!" Berkshire On Stage
“The cast is first rate, and fully leans in with their commitment to playing these socially challenged misfits. They are great company for the audience.” Nippertown
Things I Know to Be True
From August 4 - August 14 audiences were enthralled by Things I Know to Be True, by award-winning playwright Andrew Bovell. A penetrating family drama, first presented by the Milwaukee Rep in 2019 to rave reviews, it was headed for Broadway until Covid intervened. GB Public presented the East Coast premiere of this brilliant new play that goes straight to the heart of family love, truth, and bonding. Judy Braha, who helmed GB Public’s 2021 hit Mr. Fullerton directed a powerhouse cast.
STARRING
John Wojda as Bob
Corinna May as Fran
Liz Hayes as Pip
Jo Michael Rezes as Mia
David Keohane as Ben
Raya Malcolm as Rosie
Jo Michael Rezes as Mia, David Keohane as Ben, Raya Malcolm as Rosie, Liz Hayes as Pip
John Wojda as Bob, Corrina May as Fran
2021 PRODUCTIONS
DAD
June 24-July 3
McConnell Theater
DAD is a poignant new comedy by acclaimed Berkshire playwright Mark St. Germain. The play is a heartfelt exploration into sibling and parent rivalries, the challenges of aging, and the power of reconciliations to foster self-discovery. The cast includes Berkshire favorites Mark H. Dold and Peggy Pharr Wilson, David Smilow, and Jim Frangione.
“It is the character itself that is remarkable.”
“a wonderful job”
“dynamics of the piece alter and continue to fascinate us”
The Berkshire Edge
Pictured: Jim Frangione, Mark Dold, Peggy Pharr Wilson, David Smilow
Mr. Fullerton
July 21- August 1
Liebowitz Black Box Theater
A steamy, eyebrow-raising return to the Gilded Age by way of a daring new play by Anne Undeland, a favorite local playwright-actor, and directed by Judy Braha. Playing July 21- Aug. 1 on the intimate Liebowitz Black Box stage, Mr. Fullerton brings together Edith Wharton, Henry James, Morton Fullerton and Edith’s saucy Irish maid Posy for parlor games and society foreplay from Paris to Lenox in a rich retelling of Wharton’s actual romance with a younger, stateroom dandy. Mr. Fullerton is a banquet of language, poise, sex, mores and manner that rings with literary and local history.
Pictured: Dana M. Harrison, Glenn Barrett, Marcus Kearns, Myka Plunkett
The Christopher Boy’s Communion
July 29-August 8
McConnell Theater
The East Coast premiere of a taut, provocative new drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. The play touches on themes Mamet has grappled with many times over his storied career—persecution, prosecution, guilt, evil, and sacrifice, performed by an all-star Berkshire cast with Keira Naughton, David Adkins, Will LeBow, Diane Prusha, Monk Schane-Lydon, Nathan Hinton, and Kevin O’Rourke.
This play contains strong language and adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised.
Pictured: Monk Schane-Lydon, Kevin O'Rourke, David Adkins, Keira Naugton, Diane Prusha
Hear David Mamet interview!
WAMC Roundtable
All seats only $10!
Our inventive Wet Ink series presents first looks at new work that we have waiting in the wings. We look for audience feedback and reaction as part of the development process, so please join us. You’ll enjoy seeing the original inklings of some great new work that we hope to take further. Tickets for Wet Ink performances are only $10!
JULY 10, 4PM
GREAT BARRINGTON TOWN HALL PARK
STORY READINGS AND BERKSHIRE BUSK
Fiction writers Elizabeth Nelson & Brendan Mathews read original stories from their collections, and there’s plans for lively entertainment by Berkshire Busk
A FREE event at Great Barrington Town Hall Park
Brendan Mathews’ recent short story collection debut, This Is Not a Love Song, was described in The New York Times as "admirably fearless", and critics have compared him to Michael Chabon, E.L. Doctorow, and Dennis Lehane. He will be joined by the Public’s own playwright, poet and fiction writer, Elizabeth Nelson, whose dark and lyrical storytelling can be read in Canyon Voices Magazine and in the forthcoming summer issues of Heartland Society of Women Writers, Second Chance Lit, and Rhodora Magazine, among others. They will be joined by performers from Berkshire Busk.
JULY 12, 7:30PM
DANIEL ARTS CENTER, LIEBOWITZ BLACK BOX THEATER
QUEEN OF THE SEA
by Michael Brady
Directed by Michelle Joyner
Featuring Elizabeth Aspenlieder, David Joseph and Jessica Provenz
The always imaginative Berkshire playwright presents a reading of his new play, Queen of the Sea. Three strangers meet on a cruise ship for ‘the voyage of a lifetime’. Nothing in their lifetimes has prepared them for what is to come. Queen of the Sea is directed by Michelle Joyner, with performances by Elizabeth Aspenlieder, David Joseph and Jessica Provenz.
AUGUST 2ND & 3RD, 7:30PM
DANIEL ARTS CENTER, MAINSTAGE MCCONNELL THEATER
GRANT: AN EVENING WITH THE GENERAL by Treat Williams
Audiences will get a rare opportunity when familiar and diverse stage, film and TV actor Treat Williams gives us a first look at his new play, Grant: An Evening With The General. It’s an intimate exploration into the life, spirit, character and candor of iconic 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant, performed by Williams in the persona of Grant. Early reservations are encouraged for this special presentation of new work.
AUGUST 4, 7:30PM
DANIEL ARTS CENTER, MAINSTAGE MCCONNELL THEATER
THE QUEEN OF FENWAY COURT
Written and performed by Leigh Strimbeck
Directed by Joshua Briggs
Music composed and performed by Jan Jurchak
A leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual curiosity and a love of travel. Her legacy is the eponymous museum in Boston. This play brings to life what drove her to build and fill, one of the most extraordinary museums in the world.
2020 PRODUCTIONS
During the Covid shutdown, we presented a selection of streaming programs for our distant audiences.
Bear Tales
Bear Tales was our curated, streaming Solo Performance Fest featuring bright and up-for-anything local playwrights, performers, tall tale tellers, puppeteers, chameleons, and powerhouse provocateurs, with imagery, music and media.
Berkshire Outdoor Shorts
A collaboration with Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative (BFMC), Berkshire Outdoor Shorts is a series of short, solo films.
https://www.greatbarringtonpublictheater.org/berkshire-outdoor-shorts-home
https://www.greatbarringtonpublictheater.org/berkshire-outdoor-shorts
Four American Women
The screen premiere of four new solo plays by David Mamet that streamed for a limited time.
https://www.greatbarringtonpublictheater.org/four-american-women
2019 PRODUCTIONS
It’s 1990 on Cape Cod and Bobbi Herring is a combustible, twenty-eight year-old female taxi driver struggling to overcome the deep wounds of her past. If she can only conjure her hero, JFK, maybe he can help solve her life’s biggest question.
The cast of local artists included Raya Malcolm, Leigh Strimbeck, Ryan Winkles, David Joseph and Anne Undeland. Kelly Galvin directed this new play by Great Barrington Public Theater artistic director Jim Frangione.