Shakespeare & Company Presents 16th Annual Studio Festival of Plays
LENOX, Mass. — Shakespeare & Company’s has release the schedule for its expanded 16th annual Studio Festival of Plays, which is its biggest yet. The annual festival is a mini-marathon of plays never before performed at the company, and usually runs for a single day.Due to its popularity, the festival has been expanded to run two full days this season in Founders’ Theatre. Staged readings run on Monday, Sept. 6 beginning at 11 a.m., and continue until Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. Company actors and special guest actors will present 10 productions throughout the two-day marathon, in the form of works-in-progress and staged readings. As in the past, members of the media are welcome to attend the festival but works are not open to review.
Tickets for the Studio Festival are a $16 suggested donation per show, or a $60 suggested donation for a Festival Pass, which gives admittance to all 10 performances. For information, call the box office at 413-637-3353 or visit www.shakespeare.org.
An annual vehicle for exploring new plays (including plays that may receive full productions in a future season), the festival is part of Shakespeare & Company’s commitment to nurturing fresh theatrical voices and staging cutting-edge work. The plays are presented as workshop readings with varying degrees of staging and production elements. This year’s festival features comedic works, such as the satiric "Anton in Show Business" by Jane Martin (aka Jon Jory), as well as more serious fare such as "Amy’s View" by David Hare, a compelling drama about the conflicted relationship between a mother and daughter.
“In the complex, fast-paced, and often overwhelming world we live in today, we still need to take the time to speak and process our feelings about death ('Death and the Ploughman' and 'The Memory of Water') and to find the space for some always welcome restorative laughter ('The Liar'),” says Artistic Director Tony Simotes. “With this in mind, the programming on each of the two days takes a journey through the range of human emotions and experiences as we explore the ways these delightful new voices in the English-speaking theater world translate from the page to the stage.”
Over the past 15 years, the festival has featured many works that were later given full productions in the company’s regular season, including "Mrs. Klein," "Fortune and Misfortune," "Laughing Wild," "Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet," "The Turn of the Screw," "Brief Lives, Betrayal," "The Mistress," "Wit," "Summer," "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" (abridged), "A Tanglewood Tale," "The Scarlet Letter," "Ice Glen," "Hamlet," "Martha Mitchell Calling," "No Background Music," "The Goatwoman of Corvis County," "The Dreamer Examines His Pillow," "White People" and "Devil’s Advocate."
Last year’s hit of the festival, "Mengelberg and Mahler," is currently receiving a full production in the Elayne P. Bernstein theatre. “For this year’s Studio Festival, we sought an even balance of comedies and dramas, all of which delight through surprise, and all of which speak to larger social or political issues of our time,” says Gina Kaufman, associate director of the festival and its dramaturg, who has worked extensively on new play development. “We looked for new work that explores a depth of ideas greater than the awareness of the characters in the literal stories.”
