Mothers and Sons

Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally runs at Shakespeare and Company until September 9. This is a compelling  examination of a mother still grieving the death of her son. After many years She visits his ex-partner who has  moved on with a new partner. This often witty play examines a contemporary issue and how it plays out in terms of family relationships.

Bob and I were deeply moved by the production and were fortunate to  discuss the play with the director, James Warwick, actress Annette Miller who plays the mother, and David Gow who plays Will Ogden, the new partner.

To listen to our interview, click below

Mothers and Sons Interview with director and cast members

For tickets go to the theatre’s website or call (413) 637-3353

Shakespeare and Company website

To read reviews of the play, click below

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association

Watch video of cast

Mothers and Sons video

 

 

 

 

 

Heisenberg

 Heisenberg is an intriguing play which runs through September 2nd at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA.  The playwright, Simon Stephens, is widely produced throughout Europe and the United States. His plays like Heisenberg and  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night have challenging themes and quirky characters. The production at Shakespeare and Company is closing soon. It is worth seeing to enter the world of these unique characters.

Bob and I talked with Tamara Hickey and Malcolm Ingram about their experience with the play. Click below to hear what they have to say.

Tamara Hickey and Malcolm Ingram discussing Heisenberg

Director Tina Packer talks about the play with Tamara Hickey in the video below

https://www.facebook.com/shakeandco/videos/10155343523760843/

For tickets click on website below

Shakespeare and Company website

You can read what the critics have to say by clicking below

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association

 

 

 

Proof

Proof, David Auburn’s prize winning play, opens at Oldcastle Theatre Friday, August 31 and runs through September 9. The play focuses on the daughter of a recently deceased mathematician who developed a proof that will change mathematical thinking. The play goes back and forth in time and raises intriguing issues about the nature of creativity.

Bob and I talked about the play with three of the four actors in the play who discussed the challenges of this particular play as well as the challenges of being actors.

Click below to listen to the discussion

Discussion of Proof with the actors

There are matinees as well as  evening performances. Check the Oldcastle website for details.

Oldcastle website

Some rehearsal pictures

 

Talley Beth Gale

Halley Cianfarni

Ethan James Botwick

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Petrified Forest

The Berkshire Theatre Group is presenting The Petrified Forest  at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage through August 25. This is a rare opportunity to see this much acclaimed play that is probably best known as a film even though in 1935 the play was a hit on Broadway. Robert Sherwood is one of the United States’s outstanding playwrights who is not often produced now, even though he is a an important part of theatrical history. Many of his plays were transformed into films, but even those are not often seen.  This is an opportunity for an entertaining night in the theatre as well as the chance to see a landmark in play writing directed by David Auburn who is also a prize winning playwright.

Bob and I discuss the production as well as the playwright. Click below to listen to our discussion.

The Petrified Forest Discussion

Then click on The Berkshire Theatre Group for tickets and information about other events and plays.

Berkshire Theatre Group website

Click on the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association to read reviews of the play

Watch the video below of the cast talking about their characters

The Petrified Forest cast video

The 1935 stage cast and set

The Berkshire Theatre Group cast and set 2018

Three Sisters

The Living Room Theatre is presenting Lucy Caldwell’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters in The Carriage Barn at the Park McCullough House in North Bennington, VT  to August 18, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Matinees Sunday at 2 pm August 5 and 11. The play is set in Belfast in the 1990s at the end of the “troubles”.

In its seventh season, Living Room Theatre is an unique company. It presents one or two plays in the summer. The cast works and lives together with the producers and co-founders Randolyn Zinn and Allen McCullough. Their first production of The Seagull actually took place in the couple’s garden and living room. Since then, they have done a variety of classic and new plays. This play is a combination – a new version of a classic play.

Bob and I had the pleasure of interviewing the cast in the Barn where the play is performed the day after we had enjoyed the performance.

Click below to listen to it

Interview with Living Room Theatre

Then go to their website and order tickets.

 Living Room Theatre Website

A Doll’s House

A Doll’s House Part 2 is playing on the main stage at Barrington Stage until July 28. In 1879 A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen opened in Copenhagen, Denmark.  When Nora Helmer left her husband and children at the end of the play, the slamming door was  heard around the world since it dealt with the changing role of women. Nora had taken a loan illegally to pay for a trip to benefit her husband’s health. When she was threatened with blackmail, her husband Torvald turned on her, only to accept her action  when the threat was removed.

In 2017, Lucas Hnanth picked up the story imagining what happens fifteen years later when Nora returns   home.  This  sequel  is generating a great deal of discussion as did the original play.

Click below for the discussion Bob and I had about the play.

Discussion of  A Doll’s House  Part 2

Click to order tickets below or call (413) 236-8888

Barrington Stage website

For more views about the play, click below

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association

Click on picture below for video

Creditors

Shakespeare and Company’s production of Creditiors has just opened and runs until August 12. This play by August Strindberg is a dark comedy which speaks to the complex relationships between men and women. The play, which was first produced in 1889,  has been adapted by David Greig,  a Scottish playwright and director who has written many original plays as well as adapting a range of classics.

Strindberg considered Creditors his most mature play and accused Henrik Ibsen of plagiarising the play in his  Hedda Gabler.  Since Stringberg’s relationships with the various women in his life were complicated, the play is full of surprises. Bob and I interviewed the three cast members a week and a half before the opening while they were still in rehearsal. 

Click below to listen to their intriguing insights about the play

Interview with Creditors Cast

Then click on the video interview with the play’s director

Video interview with Director Nicole Ricciardi

After that, order tickets by clicking on the website below or call (413) 637 3353

Shakespeare and Company web site 

For reviews, click on

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association