Shakespeare & Company Presents 16th Annual Studio Festival of Plays

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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.”
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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