MARK AUERBACH
Shakespeare & Company Presents Stephan Wolfert’s Cry Havoc
Shakespeare & Company presents Cry Havoc, Stephan Wolfert’s one-person play that unites veterans with civilians and Shakespeare’s with today’s time. Written by Wolfert and directed by Eric Tucker, this powerful piece reveals how Shakespeare’s audiences wrestled with the same hopes and fears that occupy our modern lives. A testament to the healing power of art and human resilience, this special engagement plays in Lenox on August 28-29.
“I chose about 14 different characters from Shakespeare’s plays who are discussing war or the military experience in some way,” Wolfert says. “For instance, I do a speech by Lady Percy from Henry IV, Part One’ that has taken me years to get through without weeping because it so acutely describes what the wives of veterans – what my wife – has gone through. It’s so beautiful, and it allows me to use Shakespeare to communalize the trauma. Shakespeare writes human beings better than anyone.”
Stephan Wolfert in Cry Havoc at Shakespeare and Company
After serving six years in the U.S. Army and battling post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Stephan Wolfert hopped off an Amtrak train deep in the mountains of Montana without the first clue of what to do with the rest of his life; everything changed when he saw a production of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. Twenty years later, using Shakespeare’s timeless words and a few of his own, Wolfert leads audiences on an interactive journey to meet Shakespeare’s veterans. Following each performance, audiences will be a part of an open discussion with Stephan Wolfert.
“William Shakespeare wrote about veterans of wars throughout his plays,” says director Eric Tucker. “Stephan Wolfert is a military vet who fell in love with Shakespeare. Put them in a room together with nothing but each other and you get Cry Havoc, which, as a friend said upon seeing it, makes the plight of veterans ancient and the language of Shakespeare modern and both absolutely relevant.”
For tickets: 413- 637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org.
Berkshire Theatre Group Launches “On The Stage” Series
Berkshire Theatre Group presents Annette Miller in Now Is Our Time, part of the new On The Stage Series, featuring Joy Franz, Annette Miller and Joan Coombs, with musical direction by Matti Kovler, at The Colonial Theatre on August 29.
Annette Miller
Annette Miller has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in Boston, regional theaters, and in film and television. She has been a leading actor at Shakespeare and Co for 18 seasons. She created the role of Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony before it went to Broadway and for which she received Boston’s Elliot Norton Best Actor award and Independent Reviewers of New England Award. In Florida, she received the Carbonell Best Actor Award nomination for her portrayal of Vi in August Osage County. Other favorite roles include Maria Callas in Master Class, Diana Vreeland in Full Gallop, Martha Mitchell in Martha Mitchell Calling (Elliot Norton Best Actor Nomination) Duchess of York in Richard III, Maria in Twelfth Night. Film credits include The Company Men, The Imported Bride Groom, The Next Karate Kid, The Eye Has To Travel (documentary on Diana Vreeland), and See How She Runs. On TV Annette had a recurring role on As The World Turns and Ryan’s Hope. Other awards include Gann Academy Award for Excellence in the Arts, Boston Jewish Film Festival Award, Zev Cohen Leadership Award, and Excellency in the Performing Arts Award from the Boston Children’s Theater. Annette holds a BA and MFA from Brandeis University and is now a Resident Scholar at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center where she wrote Now Is Our Time.
For tickets: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org..
Broadway Bound?
It will be easier to snage good tickets to a Broadway show after Labor Day, when the tourists leave New York, and the locals are back to school. Some of the best ticket availability is around the Jewish holidays. Rosh Hashonah falls on September 13-14, and Yom Kippur falls on September 22-23.
The big hot ticket on Broadway is a hip-hop musical, Hamilton, about Alexander Hamilton,the guy with his portrait on the money. Playbill maintains a list of Broadway openings this Fall. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/schedule-of-upcoming-broadway-shows-113677.
Check the discounts before you go at BroadwayBox.com. If you’re eligible, TDF discounts are the best. Check your eligibility at www.tdf.org.
Amtrak is making major repairs to the tracks between Springfield and New Haven, so the frequent commuter trains can begin rolling next year. Some trains have been replaced by busses. Check before you travel at www.amtrak.com. Your best alternative ? Drive to New Haven, park either at the station or the garages across the street, and take Metro North to Grand Central. Trains run frequently all day and night. For details: www.mta.info/schedule.
Jessie Mueller heads the cast of Waitress at the ART in Cambridge. The show is Broadway bound. (Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva)
Speaking of Broadway-bound, Waitress, the new musical at The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge through September 27, has announced its plans to transfer to Broadway, courtesy of Fran and Barry Weissler, the producers of the long-running Chicago. Based on the 2007 motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly, the new musical has a book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by five-time Grammy Award-nominated singer songwriter Sara Bareilles and direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus. Casting will be announced at a later date. For details on the ART run in Cambridge: http://americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/waitress For details on the Broadway run:. www.waitressonstage.com
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
