Shakespeare & Company to open 28th season with "Ice Glen"

12:00AM / Monday, May 16, 2005Print Story | Email Story

Director Tina Packer and Playwright Joan Ackermann during rehearsal. Also picture L-R Brian Weaver as Denby, Gillian Sidl as Mrs. Roswell, and Dennis Krausnick as Grayson. Ice Glen, by Joan Ackerman. Performed by Shakespeare & Company 2005 season. Photo b

Lenox - Shakespeare & Company opens its 28th performance season on June 3 with local playwright Joan Ackermann's new romantic comedy Ice Glen in the intimate Spring Lawn Theatre in Lenox. Directed by Artistic Director Tina Packer, this production of Ice Glen makes its regional premiere through September 4, running in rotating repertory with the later openings of The Wharton One-Acts and the regional premiere of The Tricky Part. The Press Opening for Ice Glen is Friday, June 10 at 8:30 pm. Ackermann, whose adapted screenplay of Off the Map (produced at S&Co in 1997) has earned critical success this spring, wrote Ice Glen for Shakespeare & Company and its actors and the turn-of-century Spring Lawn mansion that houses the 101-seat theatre. While sitting in one of the intimate parlors of the mansion over two years ago, she was inspired to write a play that featured as its backdrop a "decaying yet elegant Berkshire summer cottage of 1917." "It is thrilling for me to have Ice Glen performed in the space in which it was initially conceived," says Ackermann. "It was through the French doors of the drawing room in Spring Lawn that the first scene crashed into being. The characters appeared after I sneaked into the room one afternoon and sat on the floor, waiting, listening. Plays usually come to me through voice, and the first voice I heard clearly was a woman's saying, 'No!' I quickly learned she was a poet and did not want her poems published. Why? The question intrigued me and led to other questions, including: what is an artist's responsibility, if any, to society? "If Tina Packer hadn't encouraged me to write something for the Company, I never would have written Ice Glen. I was inspired by her actors, by the Berkshires, by Ice Glen in Stockbridge, a truly magical place, by Spring Lawn, and by the exuberant romantic energy at the heart of Shakespeare & Company which first transported me 20 years ago with its glorious production of A Midsummer's Night's Dream." Ice Glen is set in Lenox, MA, at the end of the Gilded Age in Stone Gate, a once-thriving Berkshire "cottage." The house's owner, Samuel Bainbridge, died two years earlier, leaving his beautiful widow, Dulce Bainbridge, strapped for cash and in charge of running a now unruly estate. The sparse and somewhat eccentric staff that remains in Mrs. Bainbridge's' employ includes Denby, a sweet, local boy who lives at Stone Gate; Mrs. Roswell, a feisty no-nonsense housekeeper; Grayson, an insightful and wise butler; and Sarah Harding, a gifted and unknown poet enthralled with Stone Gate's rolling countryside and wildlife. Before he died, Bainbridge gave his dear friend and neighbor Edith Wharton some of Sarah's poems, which have now landed in the hands of a senior editor, Peter Woodburn, at the Atlantic Monthly in Boston. Obsessed with her poems, Woodburn travels to Stone Gate to discuss publishing them with her. Once in the Berkshires, Woodburn experiences first hand the natural beauty which Sarah captured so powerfully in her poems and which stirred something deep within him. However, the editor who is in full control at his desk in Boston finds himself completely out of control in this new setting and woefully inept at dealing with Sarah who has absolutely no desire to be published. As eager as Woodburn is to form some kind of relationship with her, she is just as eager not to. His misguided passion lands by mistake in the arms of the vulnerable and lonely Dulce Bainbridge who is more than willing to receive the attentions of the erudite and handsome Woodburn. The household, already in a state of disrepair and unravelling, is plunged into deeper chaos as the characters are propelled into journeys of self-discovery and awakening. "I have had the great pleasure of knowing Joan Ackermann for over 20years," says Packer. "We have collaborated on several projects both here at Shakespeare & Company, with our production of Off the Map, and at her own theatre in Great Barrington. I am especially pleased to be directing Ice Glen since Joan wrote this story specifically for us and Spring Lawn. It is a funny, complex, yet quietly moving tale, which makes a profound statement about nature, art, collapse, and regeneration. "Stone Gate Mansion, once a Berkshire Cottage in its prime, is now falling apart. The roof is caving in. The mistress of the household is adrift, and the few servants who remain are trying to hold the family together. But the advent of the individual federal income tax in 1913 and America's entry into the Great War in 1917, has the household both literally and figuratively crumbling around them. And beneath the surface of the human story of decay is another resonance. Sarah Harding has a feral relationship with a bear. Her closest connections are with nature, not with the world of men. She prefers the sensations of the earth beneath her feet, and her poems reflect the savagery of the elements - not the drawing rooms of the Gilded Age. This writing is Joan Ackermann at her best - trying to find connections between the world of the arts, society, and mother nature." Ice Glen features Elizabeth Aspenlieder (Dulce Bainbridge), Michael Hammond (Peter Woodburn), Dennis Krausnick (Grayson), Gillian Seidl (Mrs. Roswell), Brian Weaver (Denby), Kristin Wold (Sarah Harding), and Philbert, the snake. Joan Ackermann is co-founder and Artistic Director of Mixed Company in Great Barrington, MA, now in its 24th year. Her plays include The Batting Cage, Zara Spook and Other Lures, Stanton's Garage, A Knight at the Theatre, Back Story, Marcus is Walking, Off The Map, Rescuing Greenland, and Isabella, a musical. Her plays have been produced at The Vineyard Theatre, Circle Rep, The Purple Rose, The George Street Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Mark Taper Forum, The Atlantic Theatre Company, Florida Stage, The Guthrie, and many others. Her first film, Off the Map, was released this year. Elizabeth Aspenlieder eleventh season S&Co: The Comedy of Errors (Adrianna), Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret), King Lear (Regan), Ethan Frome (Mattie), The Valley of Decision (Fulvia), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia), A Tanglewood Tale (Sophia), Twelfth Night (Antonia), Richard III (Anne), All's Well That Ends Well (Helena), Wit (Susie), The Winter's Tale (Perdita), Mercy (Annie), Much Ado About Nothing (Ursula), and Pericles (Thaisa/Diana). Canadian theatre: Eccentricities of a Nightingale (Alma), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Nora), Harvey (Myrtle-Mae), Fifth of July (Shirley), and Ludlow Fair (Rachel). Recent film: Seriously Twisted. Elizabeth also is a master puppeteer and provides the voices for commercials and animation features. Michael Hammond thirteenth season S&Co: The Fly-Bottle (Ludwig Wittgenstein), Macbeth (Porter/Duncan), The Scarlet Letter (Chillingworth), Wittgenstein vs.Popper: The Main Event (Wittgenstein and director), The Tempest (Prospero), The Turn of the Screw (The Man), A Tanglewood Tale (director), Twelfth Night (Malvolio), Summer (Lawyer Royall), Richard III (Clarence/Tyrell), The Lear Project (ensemble), The Millionairess (Julius Sagamore), and The Winter's Tale (Leontes). Brandeis University: King Lear (King Lear). Berkshire Theatre Festival: The Miracle Worker (Captain Keller). Dennis Krausnick founding member As Director of Training, Dennis teaches in theatre programs across the country as well as designing and leading the actor-training programs for Shakespeare & Company. He also serves as a senior facilitator for Corporate Scenes, providing theatre-based consulting work for the corporate community. As well as adapting over 25 of Edith Wharton's works for the stage over the past two decades, Dennis has been named to the Bingham Chair for Arts and Humanities at the University of Louisville for the 2005-06 academic year in recognition of his contribution to the classical training of actors. Gillian Seidl second season S&Co: In One Door and Songs from the Heart (Edith Wharton). Gillian is the Co-Founder and was the Co-Artistic Director of Mixed Company Theatre in Great Barrington, MA, with Joan Ackermann for 21 years. She has appeared in Ackermann's Don't Ride the Clutch, Zara Spook and Other Lures, Rescuing Greenland, Bed and Breakfast, The Batting Cage, and A Knight at the Theatre. Williamstown Theatre Festival: Whose Life is it Anyway? and Hay Fever. Berkshire Theatre Festival: First Lady. Brian Weaver second season S&Co: Romeo and Juliet schools tour (Romeo). New York: Lynch Play (ensemble). Regional: Scapin (Octave) and Titus Andronicus (Alarbus) at the Intiman Theatre Company; The Comedy of Errors (both Dromios) at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Incorruptible (Brother Felix) at Seattle Public Theatre; Angels in America (Joe), The Tempest (Ariel), and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Azdak) at New World Players in Goshen, Indiana, where Brian is a founding member. He also directed the U.S. premiere of the Spanish translation of Jose Rivera's play, Marisol. Kristin Wold seventeenth season S&Co: King Lear (Cordelia), The Tempest (Ariel), Twelfth Night (Viola), Measure for Measure (Isabella), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Berkeley Square (Helen Pettigrew), Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia), Much Ado About Nothing (Hero). Connecticut Rep: Lovers and Executioners (Julie/Frederic), Arcadia (Hannah). StageWest: Visions of an Ancient Dreamer (Iphigenia), Sister Mary Ignatiusâ€¦(Diane). Poets' Theatre: Judevine. New Rep: Blue Window (Emily). Directing credits include Judevine, Brutality of Fact, and Loose Knit for Connecticut Rep, Measure for Measure at M.I.T., and Love's Labor's Lost for S&Co. Kristin teaches at the University of Connecticut. Box Office, Discounts, Subscriptions, Pricing The Box Office is open every day from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm or curtain time of the day's final performance. From September 5 through October 30 the Box Office will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm or curtain time of the day's final performance. Convenient e-ticketing is available anytime at www.shakespeare.org. To request a brochure (with order form) contact the Box Office at (413) 637-3353 or by fax (413) 637-4274 and by e-mail is boxoffice@shakespeare.org. There are discounts for Berkshire Night (50% off for full-time, year-round Berkshire residents in Founders' for each week's first performance), Kids' Night (free admission for ages 5-18 in Founders' on Sunday nights), Adult Groups ($5 off groups of 15 or more) and School/Camp Groups ($6 off groups of 15 or more), Seniors ($2 off all shows, except Saturday nights, for ages 65 and up), and Juniors ($5 off all shows, except Saturday nights, for ages 18 and under). Also, $10 Rush Tix will once again be made available one hour prior to curtain (if seats are available) for patrons aged 23 and younger at all theatres for all performances. AT-A-GLANCE Production:Ice Glen Theatre:Spring Lawn Theatre Director:Tina Packer Cast:Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Michael Hammond, Dennis Krausnick, Gillian Seidl, Brian Weaver, and Kristin Wold Costume Designer:Govane Lohbauer Scenic Designer/Properties:Carl Sprague Lighting Designer:Steve Michalek Sound Design:Josh Liebert Tickets:$30-$49 with reserved seating; Student, Senior, Group Rates, & Rush Tix available. www.shakespeare.org