Shakespeare & Company plans Spring Tour

12:00AM / Tuesday, January 25, 2005Print Story | Email Story

Lenox â€“ Shakespeare & Companyâ€™s annual Spring Tour of Shakespeare for 2005 presents Julius Caesar, which will join 22 other professional theatre companies, selected by the National Endowment for the Arts, to participate in Shakespeare for a New Generation â€“ a major arts-in-education initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Shakespeare & Companyâ€™s six-actor production of Julius Caesar, Shakespeareâ€™s tragedy of politics and ambition, is directed by Kevin Coleman, the Companyâ€™s Director of Education. The tour travels throughout New England and New York from February 7 through May 13. Shakespeare for a New Generation was created to give high school and middle school students throughout America the opportunity to experience professional productions of Shakespeareâ€™s plays at a greatly reduced cost. It is the second phase of the National Endowment for the Artsâ€™ Shakespeare in American Communities initiative, which began in 2003 with seven professional touring productions to public venues that ran through November 2004. These two initiatives now form the largest tour of the works of Shakespeare in American history, bringing Shakespeare productions and related educational activities to more than 150 small and mid-sized communities in 50 states. For more information about the program, please visit www.shakespeareinamericancommunities.org Assisted by a $25,000 NEA grant, Shakespeare & Company is now able to offer its 2005 tour of Julius Caesar at a subsidized cost to 10-12 additional schools that have not been able to afford the tour in the past. Some need-based applications from individual schools are still being considered for the tour. For information contact Shakespeare & Companyâ€™s Education Program at (413) 637-1199 ext. 123 or education@shakespeare.org. This production of Julius Caesar is a fast-paced, 90-minute, Bare Bard production -- similar to Elizabethan touring productions that traveled the countryside each time the plague took London and city officials closed the theaters. Scholars believe that these Elizabethan touring companies contained small casts of players, each of whom played multiple roles, and performed scripts that were truncated accordingly. Shakespeare & Companyâ€™s six-member cast performs at schools and theatre venues all over the Northeast, stretching as far north as Portland, Maine, and as far south as New York City. The tour addresses the growing need for arts experiences for children-at-risk in rural areas where economic stresses, municipal budget cutbacks, and the elimination of school and state arts programming limit opportunities for young people to develop critically-needed educational and cultural perspectives. Each performance for students in grades 7-12 emphasizes language and the relationship between the actors and the audience. Two interactive workshops and a discussion period are available to the audience in conjunction with the performance. In Wild and Whirling Words, a compilation of Shakespeare scenes, students are introduced to Shakespeare, his language, and the history of his plays. Through Workshops in Performance, students not only learn about Shakespeareâ€™s works, but also have an opportunity to become the actors as they create their own Shakespeare performance. The cast includes Stephen Anderson, Candace Clift, Curt Klump, Tim McDermott, Julie Webster, and Mark Woollett. Each actor plays two or more roles and also performs stage manager duties. The costumes are designed by Govane Lohbauer; set construction by Jonathan Croy, with sound design by Croy, and Nathan Towne-Smith. First performed in 1599 and set in 44 B.C. Rome, Julius Caesar begins at the feast of Lupercalia. A soothsayer warns Julius Caesar to â€œBeware the ides of March...â€ (the 15th day of the month). Caesar ignores him and leads his entourage to the festival. Caesarâ€™s comrades, Brutus and Cassius, remain behind and speak of Caesarâ€™s ambition to rule alone -- a violation of Roman tradition where all aristocrats rule equally. Jealous and suspicious of Caesarâ€™s growing hold on the country, Brutus and his counterparts decide that Caesarâ€™s ambition makes it necessary to execute Caesar at the Senate the next day, March 15th. The assassins, led by Brutus, bathe their hands in Caesarâ€™s blood and celebrate their victory. However, with the arrival of Mark Antony, a dear friend and advocate of Caesarâ€™s, the assassinsâ€™ victory is short lived. Public performances of the Spring Tour include: Babson College, February 17 (Wellesley, MA); Cape Cod Community College, March 4 (West Barnstable, MA); S&Coâ€™s Foundersâ€™ Theatre, March 18, April 13, 14 (Lenox, MA); The Egg, April 1 (Albany, NY); Capitol Center for the Arts, April 5 (Concord, NH); and Symphony Hall, March 23 (Springfield, MA). For tickets and information, please contact Joanne Deutch at (413) 637-1199 ext. 132. One of the most extensive theatre-in-education programs in the Northeast, Shakespeare & Companyâ€™s programs have reached over half a million students since 1978 with innovative performances, workshops, and residencies. Guided by Coleman and Company education artists and teachers, educators continue to develop and fine-tune their programs to enhance and complement curricular activities in elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The Education Program has been identified by the Arts Education Partnership and the Presidentâ€™s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as a Champion of Change. The Program is focused on bringing Shakespeare alive and into the lives of as many students and teachers as possible through the active exploration and performance of Shakespeareâ€™s plays. Shakespeare & Company arts-in-education programs receive major support from The National Endowment for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, The G.E. Foundation, Banknorth, Berkshire Bank, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and its local cultural councils, and many other local corporations, private foundations, and individuals. Shakespeare & Company joins the following 21 theatre companies as members of the NEAâ€™s Shakespeare for a New Generation: Alaska Theatre of Youth, Eccentric Theatre Company & Edgeware, American Players Theatre, Asolo Theatre, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Hartford Stage Company, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Perseverance Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Tacoma Actors Guild, The Peopleâ€™s Light and Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Festival of Tulane, The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington D.C., The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Theater at Monmouth, Utah Shakespearean Festival, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, and Yale Repertory Theatre. The National Endowment for the Artsâ€™ mission is to enrich our nation and its diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country. Established by Congress in 1965, the Arts Endowment is an independent agency of the federal government and is the largest annual funder of the arts. Since then, it has awarded more than 120,000 grants in all 50 states and the six U.S. jurisdictions. Arts Midwest, based in Minneapolis, enables individuals and families throughout Americaâ€™s heartland to share in and to enjoy the arts and cultures of the Midwest and the world. Arts Midwest connects the arts to audiences throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwestâ€™s history spans more than 25 years.

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Cyclists Pedal Into Berkshire Bike Month

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:42AM / Saturday, May 04, 2024

Berkshire Bike Path Council President Marge Cohan addresses bikers at the event.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Clad in helmets and bright colors, more than 20 people gathered in Park Square to kick on Berkshire Bike Month on Wednesday.

The month of May will be stacked with bicycle-centered events throughout the county — beginning with an eight-mile loop from the city's center that ends at Hot Plate Brewing Co.

"We have we have a lot of things going on in Pittsfield for bicycles and for safety," Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales said.

"We're not anywhere near where we should be. We have a lot of work to do."

Bike month is meant to promote the safe use of streets for anyone and everyone no matter how they are traveling, he said The commissioner is especially excited about Bike to Work Day on May 17, as he can register to be recognized for his typical commute.

He presented a proclamation to President of the Berkshire Bike Path Council President Marge Cohan. It states that the city is committed to the health of its citizens and environment, safe cycling with road bike lanes and the extension of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, and that the Police Department encourages safe cycling by distributing lights and helmets and accompanies the city's Ride Your Bike to School event.

BBPC is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Cohan said the quarter century has been full of commitment to bike paths and bike safety throughout Berkshire County "on roads, on trails, on tracks, and on paths."

"In expanding our mission in this way we have been able to encompass all kinds of cycles and all kinds of riders," she said.

She noted that participants range from babies to 90-year-old people. Bike month includes events for all ages.

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