Elizabeth Aspenlieder (photo Scott Barrow)
(LENOX, Mass.) – Plays by Sam Shepard, Sarah Ruhl, and Anton Chekhov will be featured in Shakespeare & Company’s annual Winter Studio Festival of Plays on Saturday, January 14, and Sunday, January 15. The weekend of staged readings, featuring both emerging and established artists, also includes works by local playwrights Emily Devoti and Robert Sugarman.
Company veterans including Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Tod Randolph, and David Joseph will perform.
All performances will take place in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on the Shakespeare & Company campus in Lenox.
“We are thrilled to be able to produce readings of both new plays and enduring classics,” said artistic director Allyn Burrows. “Sharing the powerful language of these influential writers in the off season is important to keep the home fires burning. The Studio Festival gives actors and audiences an opportunity to connect and engage more intimately while exploring these provocative scripts.”
The Winter Studio Festival titles include “The Clean House” by Sarah Ruhl, Susan Smith Blackburn Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist; “Curse of the Starving Class” by Sam Shepard; “Beyond the Veil” by Berkshire native Emily Devoti; “St. Petersburg: 1913” by local playwright Robert Sugarman; and Anton Chekhov’s classic, “The Cherry Orchard.”
Each reading will be followed by a post-show discussion.
David Joseph
Tickets are priced from $15 to $35, and are currently on sale. A Festival pass to all five readings is also available at a 50% savings. Tickets can be purchased online at Shakespeare & Company or by calling Shakespeare & Company box office at (413) 637-3353.
The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Shakespeare & Company is located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Mass.
Schedule for Shakespeare & Company’s Winter Studio Festival of Plays:
Saturday January 14
1pm: St. Petersburg: 1913 by Robert Sugarman
4pm: The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl
7pm: Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard
Sunday January 15
1pm: Beyond the Veil by Emily Devoti
4pm: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov
Tod Randolph
Monthly programming continues in February with “Shakespeare & Other Lovers’ Weekend,” on February 18 and 19. In March. the company celebrates local playwright Joan Ackermann, with readings of six of her plays include Zara Spook, Stanton’s Garage, The Batting Cage, Ice Glen, and a new world premiere script.