The Mystery of Irma Vep 2011

Irma Vep. Shakespeare & Company, Lenox MA . Photo by Kevin Sprague 

When Bob and I started our program about theatre on our local radio station in 2011, our goal was to be theatre advocates. We wanted people to be as excited about theatre as we were. Our first two programs were Live Theatre and Going to Theatre Economically and  American Musical Theatre. On our fourth program we had our first interview with actors. Josh McCabe and Ryan Winkles are actors we were to interview frequently over the following years. It was February and they were at Shakespeare and Company in The Mystery of Irma Vep. We have seen these two fine actors in many productions since. They are equally adept at comedy, tragedy and everything in between. We have several years of radio programs that were recorded before we started our blog in 2015. The experiences that various people shared with us over those years should not be lost. While waiting for theatres to open again, it is good to remember some of the exciting theatrical events of the recent past.

Click on the link below to hear their insights.

Interview with Josh McCabe and Ryan Winkles

A Walk in the Woods – Hubbard Hall

Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, New York is presenting A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing this weekend and next. We saw it on the opening Friday and were most impressed. The play is based on actual nuclear proliferation talks that took place in Geneva Switzerland between Soviet Yuli Kvitsinsky and American Paul Nitz who left formal discussions for a walk in the woods. No one knows what was said during that walk.  However, the talks in this play are engaging  enough for the play to have been widely produced including in Moscow. Since it is only playing for the rest of this weekend and next weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we urge people to act fast. Bob and I discuss the production below.  When you click on the  Hubbard Hall link, you can  order tickets, and also, when you go to Current Season, you can find some of the interviews that the actors and directors have given to others.

Bob and Sally’s discussion of A Walk in the Woods.

Hubbard Hall  Center for the Arts and Education

 

Pride and Prejudice

The Dorset Theatre Festival is presenting Pride and Prejudice from August 9-25. This version  by Kate Hamill adapts the Jane Austen book into what some have called a post-modern play. Talking with Jessica Frey (Lizzie) and Dave Quay (Mr. Darcy) made us eager to see this interpretation.  It sounds as if it will be a delightful evening in the theatre, particularly with these actors,

Click below to listen to them

Pride and Prejudice Interview

Then click on the theatre’s website to order tickets and find out about their other events.

Dorset Theatre Festival

You might also be interested in the actors’ websites. Click on their names below.

Jessica Frey

 

 

Dave Quay

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the cast and some rehearsal pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Lear- A Timeless Play

Dennis Krausnick as King Lear

Before Bob and I started our blog, we had a radio program that started in 2011 and which just ended this past September. When we started our blog, we felt that our interviews with theatre people reached a wider audience and also allowed us to provide supplemental materials. However, we regretted that so many of the wonderful interviews we had recorded earlier remained in the radio archives. We are now reposting some of them because the insights theatre people gave us were not limited to the particular productions we were discussing.

One of those programs that was always most vivid in our memories was our interview with Dennis Krausnick, Kevin Coleman and Jonathan Croy about their production of King Lear. King Lear has always been a favorite of mine. It was one of the first Shakespeare productions I saw in my life of theatre going. When I was at Bennington College I co-taught a three week unit on King Lear with a member of the literature faculty and a member of the drama faculty. Besides seeing many theatrical productions of Lear, I have also watched every film and television production of the play available. Yet this interview remains the most memorable of many discussions of Lear over the years.

King Lear Interview 2012

 

Dennis Krausnick as Lear and Kevin Coleman as The Fool

 

Jonathan Croy as Gloucester

 

Gaslight

 

The psychological thriller, Gaslight, runs until October 22 at Barringon Stage’s Boyd-Quinson Theatre. This play gave a name to psychological manipulation which is on display in this production as skillfully depicted by Mark Dold and Kim Stauffer. You don’t want to miss any moment of this story as it unfolds. It is a play that keeps the audience absorbed in the action each moment.

Bob and I were fortunate to interview four of the five cast members of this excellent recreation of a complicated relationship. Kim Stauffer, Mark Dold, Kevin O’Rourke and Peggy Pharr Wilson shared their thoughts about the play and how they approached their roles.

Listen to what they have to say, by clicking on the link below.

Interview with Gaslight cast

Then click below on the theatre’s website to buy tickets

Barrington Stage website

The Wharton Comedies

    Two Edith Wharton Comedies, Roman Fever and The Fullness of Life  run until September 10 at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA. Wharton is important in the history of the Berkshires as well as in the history of Shakespeare and Company. Bob and I first saw Wharton’s plays, adapted by Dennis Krausnick, many years ago inside  the Mount, Edith Wharton’s “cottage.”  There was a tea included where one could talk with Tina Packer and other members of the company. This was part of the magic of Shakespeare and Company – the performances  in the house, on the lawn, the Bare Bard in the stables. The magic continues at Shakepeare and Company’s current home on Fanny Kemble Road, both in the performances of these Wharton plays and the conversations with members of the company.

Bob and I had the pleasure of talking with the company of the Wharton Comedies, actors David Joseph, Corinna May, Diane Prusha and director, Normi Noel. As always we enjoyed hearing them talk about their work and about the company.

Listen to them by clicking on the link below as we share their insights with you.

The Wharton Comedies Cast

Buy tickets by clicking on the website below or by calling the box office (413) 637-3353.

Shakespeare and Company website

Buyer & Cellar

 Buyer & Cellar plays at the Rod and Gun Club of the Weston Playhouse until September 3. This one man show is well worth seeing. Five characters come vividly to life through the skilled interpretation of Kyle Branzel. Bob and I were first impressed by this young actor in last year’s Weston Playhouse production of Murder for Two.  This year we  interviewed Kyle a few hours before opening night. We then had the pleasure of watching him perform in the intimate setting of the Rod and Gun Club where we have enjoyed many Weston productions.

Listen to the interview by clicking on the link below. Kyle not only gives a fine introduction to the play, but  also offers interesting insights into the actor’s life.

Interview with Kyle Branzel  Buyer & Cellar Part 1

Interview with Kyle Branzel  Buyer & Cellar Part 2

 

 

Click below on the Weston Playhouse website for tickets and further information.

Weston Playhoue website

Click to see a short video

Buyer & Cellar video

In the Weston 101 video, director Steve Stettler talks about the play

Buyer & Cellar Weston 101   

For more about Kyle Branzel click on the link to his website.

Kyle Branzel website

This

This plays at Barrington Stage’s St. Germain Theatre until August  27.  This should not be missed. The audience drops in on a group of old friends who like to play games. That is what they are doing when the play opens. In some ways this is a metaphor for their relationships throughout the rest of the play. An outsider enters the picture and provides some perspective. What looks like an episode of  Friends morphs into something quite different.

Bob and I had the pleasure of interviewing the entire cast. Their discussion of their work and the actor’s life is worth sharing. To hear it, click on the links below

This Part 1

This Part 2

For tickets and information about the rest of Barrington Stage’s season, click on their website below

Barrington Stage

Erika Dorfler, Paris Remillard, Eddie Boroevich and Mark Dold

 

Mark Dold and Julia Coffey

 

Circle Mirror Transformation

The Living Room Theatre  presents Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation in the Carriage Barn of the Park McCullough House through August 19. This play is set in  an acting class in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont. Jacqueline Jacobus, who plays the teacher in the play, teaches acing technique at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City.. She is making her Living Room Theatre debut as is Oona Roche who was a student in director Chris McCann’s class at SUNY/Purchase. Ken Forman, also in the play, holds the record for doing the most Living Room Theatre plays. Allen McCullough, co-founder of the Company along with his wife, Randolyn Zinn, is also in the play. Lizzie King-Hall was in the Strindberg-Shaw program last season. All are skilled actors.Whether one has taken an acting class or not, the audience will be engaged by the lives that unfold as the characters go through their  acting exercises.

Annie Baker

Annie Baker, who wrote the play, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for her play Flick. Circle Mirror Transformation is one of three plays set in the Shirley. Annie Baker also wrote a version of Chekov’s Uncle Vanya set in Vermont.

Bob and talked about the play before we had seen it. You can hear our discussion by clicking on the  link  Circle Mirror Transformation

We recommend that you click on the Theatre’s website to reserve seats or phone 802 442-5322.  Seating is limited. The play is pay-what-you-will. The play, the acting, the setting offer a unique theatrical experience that should not be missed.

Living Room Theatre Website

Jacqueline Jacobus and Oona Roche

Chris McCann (director) with actors Allen McCullough and Lizzie King-Hall

Oona Roche and Ken Forman

Every Brilliant Thing

For a unique theatrical experience, go to the Chester Theatre Company’s performance of Every Brilliant Thing which runs through August 13. Each year the Chester Theatre Company transforms Chester’s Town Hall into a theatre. This year, it is offering another transformation mid-season into a  theatre in the round. When Bob and I went, it was almost a full house with the audience surrounding the playing space. This was appropriate since the audience is an essential element in this one-man show. Joel Ripka is an extremely talented and engaging actor.  He tells the story of a man who from childhood onward   makes a list of all the wonderful things worth living for to persuade his mother not to take her life.

Listen to what Bob and I have to say about it by clicking below

Every Brilliant Thing Discussion

Then click on the Chester Theatre Website for tickets and further information about their season.

Chester Theatre Company website

Joel Ripka in performance of Every Brilliant Thing