Shakespeare & Company presents two special performances of The Life & Times of Queen Meg, the culminating performance of its first-ever Conservatory program. Shows are Friday, December 14 and Saturday, December 15 at Shakespeare & Company’s Founders’ Theatre at its 70 Kemble Street campus in Lenox. Both performances are at 7 p.m. and tickets are $8. Tickets are available in advance from the Box Office (413-637-3353) and online at www.shakespeare.org. This year’s Fall Festival of Shakespeare participants will be admitted free by showing their 2007 Festival Pass.
The 14-member cast will bring to the stage everything that they have learned during the past three months of their intense training in The Conservatory. The Life & Times of Queen Meg includes spectacular displays of armed combat, conjuration, clowning, triumph of the will, love and some of the most arresting language ever written. Each actor will perform multiple roles in the premiere of this original play based entirely on Shakespeare’s text and created by Shakespeare & Company’s Training and Education Departments.
Led by senior S&Co. artists and teachers under the direction of Associate Director of Training Dave Demke, The Conservatory has provided professional training over the last three months through daily classes in the Company’s acting techniques. The course progression includes Structure of the Verse, Shakespeare Scholarship, First Folio, Art of Rhetoric, Personal Connection, Linklater Voice Technique, Clown, Neutral Mask, Fight, Movement and Elizabethan Dance.
Shakespeare’s first plays of note were his series of history plays chronicling the War of the Roses between England and France, a centuries-long conflict that finally resulted in the establishment of the Tudor dynasty. The Life & Times of Queen Meg is an original embroidery of scenes from three of Shakespeare’s plays in this cycle: Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3. Through this epic series of defining works, Shakespeare chronicles one of the most powerful, willful and fascinating female characters to take the stage in English-language drama. The Life & Times of Queen Meg focuses on Margaret of Anjou (1429-1482), who led some of the bloodiest battles of the Wars of the Roses. The history plays (including Richard III) chronicle her progression from the seductive warrior seen in Queen Meg to an embittered old woman whose curse is feared by anyone who has crossed her.
The talented cast features Heather Atkinson, Megan Bouchard, Sarah Corey, Ben Foronda, Catherine Glavicic, Britt Grass, Vanessa Graymason, Risher Reddick, Laurie Riffe, Doug Seldin, Erik Sherr, Noah Smith, Teresa Spencer and Grace Trull.
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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant
Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building.
"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu.
A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building.
White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.
He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns.
Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot.
A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use.
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Jason Codey struck out 13, walked two and allowed just an infield single as the Generals earned a 7-1 win over Wahconah to claim their third straight regional title. click for more
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For the boys, Ward Bianchi helped lead the way with a win in the shot put and a second place in the javelin as the Mounties finished 16 points ahead of runner-up Pittsfield (pending the results of the pole vault, which were unavailable at 11 p.m. Friday night). click for more
