Theatre

My Mother Had Two Faces: Reflections on Beauty Aging and Acceptance, written and performed by Karin Trachtenberg, is coming to the Northampton Center for the Arts on Thursday, May 23rd @7pm. Presented by the Mothers Institute for Collaboration and Art as part of their month-long MICAfest, this evening of theatre will also include a staged reading of “An Evening with Phineas” by MICA founder Lyza Fennell. My Mother Had Two Faces is an autobiographical one woman dramatic comedy that dares to expose what lies beneath the mask of the perfect mother. Discovering her mother’s diaries after her passing, Karin, the heroine, begins to examine the history

Shakespeare & Company presents A Body of Water by Lee Blessing, directed by James Warwick, June 21 through July 21 outdoors at the Roman Garden Theatre. Moss and Avis, a sophisticated and successful couple, wake up one morning in an isolated summer house high above a picturesque body of water. The weather’s fine; the view’s magnificent. There’s only one problem — neither of them can remember who they are. When a young woman named Wren arrives, information starts to flood in. But will it help? Her explanations seem only to make Moss and Avis’ world — as well as ours —

Shakespeare & Company presents Shake It Up: A Shakespeare Cabaret, directed by Allyn Burrows, July 2 – 7 in the Tina Packer Playhouse.   A spirited celebration of Shakespeare-influenced music, text, and storytelling for folks new to or steeped in Shakespeare, this limited run takes the stage at the peak of the Berkshires’ summer season. A devised production with some of Berkshire County’s finest musicians and Shakespearian actors, this musical event makes for a unique gambol through the foibles of love.   If music be the food of love, rock on!

Shakespeare & Company presents Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, directed by Kate Kohler Amory, July 13 through August 18 outdoors at the Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre. The Comedy of Errors takes over Shakespeare & Company’s outdoor mainstage this summer – The Bard’s fast-paced and farcical story of mistaken identities that begins with two sets of twins separated by a storm at sea, and culminates in a raucous series of misunderstandings and mishaps.

Shakespeare & Company presents the World Premiere of Carey Crim's The Islanders, directed by Regge Life, July 25 through August 25 in the Tina Packer Playhouse. Anna lives an insular life on an underpopulated island in the Great Lakes. She has few friends and likes it that way. Her quiet, controlled world is turned upside down by the arrival of a charming but secretive new neighbor Dutch. For different reasons, Dutch and Anna have each retreated from mainstream society. Can their connection survive the revelations that must inevitably come with true intimacy?

Shakespeare & Company, in association with Great Barrington Public Theater, presents Flight of the Monarch by Jim Frangione, directed by Judy Braha, August 3 – 25 in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. Two siblings, Sheila and Thomas, were both born and raised in a small, New England fishing village where they still live. This darkly comic play explores how siblings’ lives are intertwined, what we owe to the people who know and love us best, and how family members’ needs and desires may push the boundaries of what we can be expected to do for others.

Shakespeare & Company presents Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale: An Enhanced Staged Reading, directed by Tina Packer, August 21 – 25 outdoors at the Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre. The Winter’s Tale is an odyssey through a world where kingdoms collide, betrayal weaves its web, and love battles against all odds. Magic, mystery, and a man-eating bear feature as the story unfolds, examining the consequences of jealousy and the power of forgiveness.

Shakespeare & Company presents the World Premiere of Awni Abdi-Bahri's Three Tall Persian Women, directed by Dalia Ashurina, August 30 through October 13 in the Elayne P. Berstein Theatre. Golnar, a punkish Iranian-American millennial, returns home to her mother Nasrin for the anniversary of her father’s passing, and walks into hoards of family memorabilia that her grandmother Mamani has moved in with her. This comedic and touching play is about generational differences, grief, control, and learning to let go; but more than anything, it’s a love story to immigrant mothers.