Playbill Archive
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.
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.
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.
Tickets on sale now. 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
Bear Tales
Bear Tales was our specially curated Solo Performance Fest featuring the brightest and up-for anything local playwrights, performers, tall tale tellers, musicians, singers, puppeteers, mimes, chameleons, and powerhouse provocateurs. Bear Tales solo artists enchant, engage, challenge and entertain one and all with an array of mini-productions, staged with imagery, music and media.
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.