SUMMER DELIGHT
THEATER COMPANIES AND MUSEUMS ARE READY AND WAITING FOR YOU
By Anastasia Stanmeyer
THE EXCITEMENT IS PALATABLE as the summer season comes into focus. Preparations have been thoughtful and thorough—and a year in the making. It’s a whole new world as our cultural venues enter a new normal and welcome audiences back in person to what will largely be outdoor performances, with some stunning exhibitions and shows opening indoors. And, oh, we are so ready.
Bryn Cohn + Artists at Jacob’s Pillow’s Henry J. Leir Stage.
“There’s so much new happening this summer; it’s a time for great experimentation,” says Pamela Tatge, Jacob’s Pillow executive & artistic director. “We don’t have a guidebook like we’ve had for past festivals.”
Cultural venues in the Berkshires have worked hard to develop a standard—code of courtesy—to keep everyone safe. Now they are busy getting ready for the show. Even as we put together this summer starter, announcements are rolling out. We will highlight some of the venues that will emerge in May and June and continue our coverage through the summer months. All are going in-person (with plenty of online offerings still), and what’s even more exciting is that they’ve fully embraced the outdoors. Stages and exhibition spaces have become infinite in their physicalities: the trees, the sky, the rubble, the Berkshire hills; a pathway, a barn, an expansive reflective pool, a stream all play a role in these productions.
“Everyone is talking about coming back like the Roaring ’20s, having a good time. That equivalent in 2021 is about enjoyment,” says Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield. “It’s about the triumph of humans to fully exploit what they are capable of doing. The past year has been about isolation and a shrinking of human potential into these little rooms where people have stayed for a long time. We already know what the minimum is. It’s now more a manifestation of the expansiveness of what we are capable of doing. For us, it’s being at the Clark and being outdoors, connecting and reconnecting to the natural world.”
Greenfield approached the Clark Art Institute’s Director Olivier Meslay last summer with an idea. “I had this crazy notion of doing a musical on one of the reflecting pools, and without hesitation Olivier said, ‘Yes,’” says Greenfield. “His spirit of collaboration and partnership was very engaging. There has never ever been a sense of fear or trepidation. There’s a lot to figure out to put a musical above a reflecting pool. Everyone across these two institutions is really willing to roll up their sleeves and work to make this happen.”
Claude Lalanne (French, 1925–2019), Pomme-bouche d’Alan (Alan’s Apple-Mouth), 2009. Bronze and copper, 4 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 4 3/8 in., at the Clark Art Institute.
The Clark will hold one of three outdoor socially distanced world premieres for WTF, with ticket sales commencing mid-June. Its first production, Row (July 13 to August 8) is a musical by Daniel Goldstein and Dawn Landes, inspired by A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure, the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, which she did in 1999. “A sense of infinity is at the heart of her journey and what it means to be a body alone out on an infinite expanse of gray,” says Greenfield. And what better place to stage that than the Clark’s reflecting pools? “Really it’s bringing together the physical experience of the beauty of natural world of that plaza and harnessing it with this musical.”
Outside on Main: Nine Solo Plays by Black Playwrights, will have their world premieres on the front lawn of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance from July 6 to 25, with director/playwright Robert O’Hara as guest curator. An immersive theatrical experience performed outside around Williamstown of Alien/Nation happens July 20 to August 8. Two-time Tony® Award nominee Michael Arden will direct.
Interior of James Turrell, Within Without, 2010, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and Piz Uter, 2005, Walter A. Bechtler-Stifung for Hotel Castell, Zuoz, Switzerland.
“One thing this past year has taught us all is that if you cling desperately to that which one knows, it’s not healthy,” says Greenfield. “This era has asked us to reinvent what we know—to take that lesson and turn it into creative output and evolution. We need the same spiritual appetite for reinvention and forward footedness and proceed fearlessly and safely.”
As well as being a summer stage for WTF, the Clark also is heralding the outdoors for the upcoming season, which opens May 8 with Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne: Nature Transformed. It has been more than 40 years since an American art museum has mounted a presentation of the work of the sculptors, and the Clark’s exhibition will provide a fresh perspective on these innovative artists. Common to both artists was their abiding interest in nature. Claude Lalanne (1924–2019) transformed familiar plants and animals into lyrical and sometimes surreal creations while François-Xavier Lalanne (1927–2008) turned his fascination with the mysterious inner life of animals into abstracted and refined sculptural forms that often concealed a practical function.
The Clark is the sole venue for this exhibition, which also marks the first museum presentation of the artists’ work since Claude Lalanne’s death. Nature Transformed will be presented in the Clark’s Michael Conforti Pavilion and in additional outdoor locations. Nikolai Astrup: Visions of Norway will open June 19, the first North American exhibition focused on the Norwegian painter Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928), considered one of Norway’s most important artists.
Norman Rockwell Museum’s new summer exhibition, Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration, includes more than 100 works of original art created by more than 50 artists whose work spans over five centuries and have never before been exhibited together.
Curator Jesse Kowalski assembled the encompassing collection of work to present a serious examination of the history and influence of fantasy art, exploring fantasy archetypes from ancient Mesopotamia to today. Fantasy art is a collective conscious of archetypes that have been passed down for generations. “Fantasy art is a product of the imagination. You imagine a world that never really existed,” says Kowalski. “One of the reasons I wanted to do the show is because of the misconception that fantasy art is monsters or women in bikinis. A lot of the artists out there are doing really great art and the best illustrations, and they don’t get a lot of credit. Hopefully, this exhibition will raise its stature and get respect they deserve.”
Thomas Blackshear, Preparing to Sound the Alarm, 2011, Oil on Canvas, Collection of the Artist, ©Thomas Blackshere, at the Rockwell Museum this summer.
The Rockwell’s annual gala that will open the show is June 12. An “Artist Symposia” Zoom programs will be on June 18, when Kowalski will give an overview of the exhibition, and June 19 is an “Epic Adventure” panel with artists Alessandra Pisano, Donato Giancola, and Gregory Manchess. There will also be in-person artist master classes through the summer, as well as “Meet the Artist” Zoom programs with such artists as Bob Eggleton, Gary Gianni, Brom, and Julie Bell. The Rockwell is planning an outdoor exhibition opening July 10 that will feature original works inspired by the exhibition’s themes of classical and contemporary myths.
On May 30, Hancock Shaker Village (HSV) will open James Turrell & Nicholas Mosse: Lapsed Quaker Ware, where visitors will see a body of work that manifests a new perspective on light through its absence. A simultaneous presentation of the ceramics collection will open at MASS MoCA in a contemporary setting. This series of black basalt tableware ceramics was designed and made in a collaboration between Turrell and Irish potter Nicholas Mosse of Kilkenny, Ireland. Installed in a historic period room of the 1830 Brick Dwelling, Turrell’s tableware and vessels will create a dialogue between past and present, light and dark, Shaker and Quaker.
In a series of pop-up installations throughout 2021, titled Unexpected, HSV will explore the thoughts and work of some of today’s most creative designers who are influenced by the Shakers in unexpected and surprising ways—Gary Graham, Tory Burch, and Thomas Barger. Also this summer, HSV will open a new trail just south of the historic village, buried deep in the woods, which will lead to additional archaeological remains of Shaker building foundations that have not been seen in the history of the museum.
Other highlights include the Back Porch concerts, beginning with singer-songwriter Sean Rowe on June 12, and Chester@Hancock, which features three works by the Chester Theatre Company.
“Like most theaters, we didn’t produce last summer. We felt like we couldn’t take another summer away,” says Daniel Elihu Kramer, producing artistic director of Chester Theatre. “We also knew it would be hard to make a plan for people to come inside to see theater, and if that would be okay.”
Daniel Elihu Kramer, is producing artistic director of Chester Theatre Company. Its 2021 summer home will be at Hancock Shaker Village.
Kramer, who lives in Northampton and is a professor of theater at Smith College, has been in conversation for the past few years with HSV Director Jennifer Trainer Thompson about doing a play there on a Shaker community. From those conversations, Kramer began thinking about how Chester Theatre could invite audiences to live performances. That couldn’t be done easily at their home theater in the town hall auditorium. He wanted it to be somewhere with an infrastructure, as well as a sense of shared purpose.
“I’m excited about how we can learn about each other,” says Kramer. “Chester Theatre, to the county line, is a five-minute drive. From Hancock Shaker Village, it’s 40 minutes. The majority of our audience is from Berkshire County.”
Chester Theatre Company is located in Chester because of Vincent Dowling, who was a member of the Abbey Theatre, the national theatre of Ireland, for five decades. He was also artistic director of Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland before retiring in Chester in 1990. He wasn’t good at retiring, so he founded the intimate theater company. Chester Theatre became known as a place that has surprising summer fare—contemporary, thoughtful work.
“We’re committed to Chester, but it’s also possible to expand our presence and think of shoulder seasons happening elsewhere. This is an interesting chance to explore that,” says Kramer. “We can view this as a burden or view this as an adventure and chance to share what is going and to be a really special experience at Hancock. I am holding a picture in my mind of us on those grounds, under that tent, seeing the audience again, and it’s carrying us through this time.”
“We are so happy that Chester Theatre Company is making its 2021 summer home at Hancock Shaker Village,” says Thompson. “Not only is open-air theater a centuries old tradition—and this one with the benefit of pastoral views and pastures where cows are grazing—but it’s also a healthy collaboration and solution to these particular times, when everyone wants to be safe but also inspired.”
Chester Theatre will perform under a 6,000-square-foot tent on the wood deck next to the visitors center. The one-man show, Title and Deed, opens the season on June 16—a beautiful and funny play about a person who wants to come and get to know us better and tries to make a connection with the audience. It stars James Berry, and Keira Naughton will be directing. The Niceties, opening July 14, is about an ambitious student and her professor. The student writes a paper that slavery was the basis of the American Revolution, and the professor asks her for the sources and evidence. The play is about finding a common ground, a common way of looking at the world. The last play of the season, Tiny Beautiful Things, opens August 18. It is based on the “Dear Sugar” advice column by Cheryl Strayed.
“The more the merrier,” says Berkshire Theatre Group’s Artistic Director & CEO Kate Maguire about Chester Theatre’s summer home at HSV. Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) was outdoors last summer, and the same will happen again. Maguire is taking the good and the bad that comes with being in the elements. “Bad is the mosquitos and the threat of bad weather,” says Maguire. “But, really, there is no bad in performing right now because actors are so eager to work. They haven’t performed in so long. It is exhilarating to be back on stage with the audiences—the shows are always sold out. When there has been a performance, the shows would start, and the audience would shed tears.
“If you asked me 10 years ago if I had any complaints, I’d say here’s the list. Now, I don’t have any complaints at all.”
What’s new is to realize space in a different way. The outdoor locations are perfect for the pieces that BTG is doing, says Maguire. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde opens June 20. It is directed by David Auburn and will be presented at The Fitzpatrick Main Stage under the Main Stage Tent. The play is done in three acts, with the first and third set indoors and the second outdoors, when one side of the tent will be lifted and the playhouse will become the backdrop.
With Wizard of Oz, which opens Saturday, July 24, Dorothy goes to strange land where all the characters wear masks. Finally, when she comes back home, being unmasked and being part of the world is relief to her. It will have a carnival atmosphere. “It clearly speaks to time we live in,” says Maguire. “It will be in a tent in the round with the beautiful Berkshire trees and hills around you.”
BTG also is presenting Nina Simone: Four Women, opening August 14. The set is a bombed-out church and the outdoor performance space, with rubble, will resemble that. “There’s something very authentic about outdoors, the air around you. It’s more realistic,” says Maguire.
From left, Sasha Hutchings, Valisia LeKae, Darlesia Cearcy, and Adrianna Hicks in BTG’s production of Nina Simone: Four Women.
Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musical arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of styles, including classical, jazz, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone referred to her music as Black Classical Music.
“What happened in her life still informs where we are today,” says Maguire. “Having her as a centerpiece as a discussion is important to me. That space is gritty and supports that piece, at the Unicorn’s courtyard.”
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival has explored closely the natural setting throughout its campus to open up ways to encounter dance. During the winter and spring months, the Pillow created bubble residencies for dancers, and that will continue into the summer.
The opening gala, which will be online, is June 12, and the in-person start date is June 30 and runs August 29. The online season runs through September 23. Member pre-sale for on-site performances begins May 6. Tickets for on-site events and all online events go on sale to the public on June 1.
Summer’s main stage will be the Henry J. Leir Outdoor Stage, otherwise known as the Inside/Out stage. There will also be performances on the Great Lawn, and the Jacob’s Garden will be inaugurated. Roving performances will lead audiences through the campus, too. All the works on the Inside/Out stage can be viewed online two weeks after their in-person presentation.
Tatge is excited to open the season with Dorrance Dance. The season’s online component will have the U.S. premiere of Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul, choreographed for and performed by Paris Opera Ballet at Palais Garnier (July 1-15). Also part of its online program, the Pillow will be presenting works that exist in virtual reality and augmented reality.
“Because we can’t have overseas companies here this summer, the U.S. premiere is so exciting,” says Tatge. This is also the first festival created not only by Tatge, but also by two associate curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas, who have broadened the selection pool. And the Pillow will take dance on the road and have performances in four city locations in the Berkshires.
On the Pillow campus, they have had to take into account the pathways, the sight lines, the outdoor sound amplification, the seating, and the rain plan. There will be options to order food before you come and pick it up and have a picnic, or walk up to a cafe and get a meal to go. Picnic tables are situated around campus, and the store will be outdoor carts with merchandise.
“We’ve had to rethink everything with timing,” says Tatge. “We can’t have too many people. There will be 45-minute performances with timed entries.”
And this is what is really exciting: The Pillow has delved into its multiple histories as it was developing its summer program. Its history isn’t just about Ted Shawn, who founded the Pillow; it is also the site of the Underground Railroad. Amplifying African American stories and archiving them, as well as highlighting the indigenous people and the land on which they dance, will be very much a part of the Pillow’s summer season and beyond. The physical environment also is very present in the summer performances. Cirque Barcode & Acting for Climate Montréal will be the only international company to perform on the Pillow’s grounds this Festival (August 13-15), and they will be creating a piece that will draw attention to the trees on the Pillow’s campus. “We are asking people to think deeply from the relationship with environment, how much it has given us during this pandemic.”
Here are more performing arts and museum highlights in the Berkshires:
Barrington Stage Company will launch its season with Who Can Ask for Anything More? The Songs of George Gershwin (June 10-July 3) outdoors at the BSC’s Production Center. Then from July 30-August 22, the theater will next present a BSC commission, the world premiere of Boca, by Berkshire-based playwright Jessica Provenz. Indoors, the Boyd-Quinson Stage will open with Chester Bailey (June 18-July 3) by Emmy® Award-winner Joseph Dougherty and starring the father-and-son duo of Tony® Award winner Reed Birney and Ephraim Birney, directed by Ron Lagomarsino. Next up will be the new one-woman play Eleanor (July 16-August 1) by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain starring Tony® Award-winner Harriet Harris. The world premiere of Sister Sorry (August 12-29) follows, a new play by The New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson. The Boyd-Quinson Stage season concludes with a BSC commission, the world premiere of A Crossing (September 23-October 17), a new dance musical created in association with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.
Tony® Award-winner Harriet Harris reprises her acclaimed turn as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in Mark St. Germain’s Eleanor, July 16-August 1, at Barrington Stage Company.
Shakespeare & Company’s production of King Lear, directed by Nicole Ricciardi and featuring Christopher Lloyd, will run July 2 to August 29 at The New Spruce Theatre. BECOMING OTHELLO: A Black Girl’s Journey, an autobiographical solo show written and performed by Debra Ann Byrd and directed by Tina Packer, will run July 16–25. A workshop production of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure, directed by Alice Reagan, will run September 1–5. BECOMING OTHELLO and Measure For Measure will be presented in The Roman Garden Theatre. Art, by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, examines the power and value of modern art, money, and friendship. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards, Art runs July 30 to August 22 in The Roman Garden Theatre. Debbie Tucker Green’s Hang, directed by Regge Life, will run September 10 through October 3 in the Tina Packer Playhouse. The Chairs, from the master of modern drama Eugene Ionesco, will run October 8–31 in the Tina Packer Playhouse.
Tanglewood returns with its season July 9 to August 16, featuring conductors Andris Nelsons, Thomas Ades, Keith Lockhart, and John Williams, joined by special guest artists Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Karina Canellakis, and many others. Tickets go on sale May 17. James Taylor is slated to perform on Aug. 31. (See page 8, “Ten Minutes with BSO President and CEO Mark Volpe.”)
MASS MoCA will open several exhibitions on May 29. The Pipes is an exhibition of Taryn Simon’s large-scale outdoor sculpture. Skyspace will augment one of the world’s most comprehensive experiences of installations by Turrell while realizing a vision the artist had when visiting the museum’s campus in 1987. It will join a long-term exhibition of Turrell works at MASS MoCA, which includes one work from each of the six decades of the artist’s career. MASS MoCA will also present a focused exhibition of Turrell’s ceramics —Lapsed Quaker Ware—in conjunction with Hancock Shaker Village. And don’t miss The Breath of Empty Space by Brooklyn-based artist Shaun Leonardo, in which he explores race, masculinity, and the power structures that form and uphold them.
Chesterwood opens for touring May 15 and opens its 2021 contemporary sculpture show on July 10, “Tipping the Balance: John Van Alstine.”
Berkshire Museum expects to reopen with three exhibitions in its newly renovated second-floor galleries in the first week of August. And The Mount’s Main House reopens for tours May 8. Grounds are open daily, dawn to dusk, and SculptureNow returns June 1 with a brand-new exhibition of 30 large-scale contemporary sculptures. Several live music performances also are planned.