Berkshire Theatre Festival
Encyclopedia
The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating its 80th anniversary season in 2008.

History

The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was originally the Stockbridge Casino
Stockbridge Casino
The Stockbridge Casino is a historic building now at East Main Street at Yale Hill Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Designed by Stanford White, the casino was built in 1887 and for many years was a popular attraction. After falling into decline, the building was saved by businessman and artist...

, designed by Stanford White and built in 1887. At one point the center of social life in Stockbridge, by 1927 it fallen into disuse. Mabel Choate, the daughter of one of the casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

's founders, purchased the property for $2,000, but wasn't interested in the casino itself. Three prominent Stockbridge residents, sculptor Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...

, businessman and artist Walter Leighton Clark
Walter Leighton Clark
Walter Leighton Clark was an American businessman, inventor, and artist based in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and New York City. Among other achievements, in 1923 he founded with John Singer Sargent the Grand Central Art Galleries, located within New York City's Grand Central Terminal, to offer...

, and Dr. Austen Fox Riggs, formed a committee called the Three Arts Society to save the casino; Choate sold the building to them for $1 on the condition that it be relocated. French, Clark, and Riggs agreed, and had the structure dismantled and moved to its current location.

After an extensive renovation, the newly christened Berkshire Playhouse opened on June 4, 1928, with a production of "The Cradle Song" with Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne was a well-known actress, producer, and director, during the first half of the 20th century.-Early life and early career:...

. Actors who have starred in productions at the Berkshire Playhouse include James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...

, Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...

, Lilian Gish, and Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...

, and Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...

. Notable producing directors have included Billy Miles, Joan White, Robert Paine Grose, George Tabori
George Tabori
George Tabori was a Hungarian writer and theater director.-Life and career:Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél and Elsa Tábori. His father died in Auschwitz in 1944, but his mother and his brother Paul managed to escape the Nazis. His son Peter Tabori and again his son...

, Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...

, Josephine Abady, Julianne Boyd, Bill Gibson, Richard Dunlap, and Arthur Storch
Arthur Storch
Arthur Storch is an American actor and Broadway director. He founded Syracuse Stage in 1974. Productions he has directed include:*Tribute, on Broadway*The Comedy of Errors, at Syracuse Stage...

.

In 1967 the Three Arts Society was resolved and the Berkshire Playhouse was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation as the Berkshire Theatre Festival. In 1993, a formal season of plays was offered in the Unicorn Theatre to meet the growing popularity of the festival. Prior to that, the Unicorn had been in use for years to house various offerings over the course of the season, including a slate of cabaret and workshop productions in 1992. The Unicorn Theatre was completely replaced with a new facility opening prior to the 1996 season.

The Berkshire Playhouse added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is a member of the National Trust.

Past seasons

Over the past 80 years, the Berkshire Theatre Festival has produced 550 fully staged productions, an eclectic mix of revivals, classics and premieres, embracing fully its role as a true theatrical “Festival.” More than 2,100 actors have worked at the BTF in more than 6,000 performances, including notable actors that have won Emmys, Oscars, and Tonys. Many playwrights at BTF have won Pulitzer and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

s.

1928

The Buffoon – A. Tupper and Howard Lee

Candida – George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...



Captain Applejack – Walter Hackett

The Cradle Song – Martinez Sierra

The Enchanted April – Kane Campbell

Meet the Wife – Lynn Starling

Mr. Pim Passes By – A.A. Milne

Outward Bound – Sutton Vane

The Romantic Age – A.A. Milne

The Swan – Ferenc Molnár

1929

Arms and the Man – George Bernard Shaw

Caroline – Somerset Maugham

The Dover Road – A.A. Milne

Oh Boy – P.G. Wodehouse

Rip Van Winkle – Joseph Jefferson and Dion Boucicault

The Royal Family – George F. Kaufman and Edna Ferber

Thunderin the Air – Robbins Miller

The Truth About Blaydes – A.A. Milne

You Never Can Tell – George Bernard Shaw

1930

The Admirable Crichton – Sir James M. Barrie

Bird in Hand – John Drinkwater

Doctor’s Dilemma – George Bernard Shaw

The Emperor Jones – Eugene O’Neill

Jack in the Box – Dorothy Fletcher and Alexander Kirkland

The Lake – John Houseman and Joan Wolfe

The Lute Song – Sidney Howard and Will Irwin

The Mask and the Face – Luigi Chiarelli Adapted by C.B. Fernold

The Romantic Young Lady – Martinez Sierra

Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare

The Torchbearers – George Kelly

1931

Alice-Sit-By-The-Fire – Sir James M. Barrie

Captain Brassbounder’s Conversation – George Bernard Shaw

The Constant Wife – Somerset Maugham

Hay Fever – Noel Coward

The Idiot – Jose Ruben

Juno and the Paycock – Sean O’Casey

The Magistrate – Arthur Wing Pinero

Monkey – Sam Janney

Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw

The Second Man – S.N. Behrman

1932

A Bill of Divorcement – Clemence Dane

Broken Dishes – Martin Flava

Finale – S.K. Lauren

Great Catherine – George Bernard Shaw

Her Cardboard Lover – Jacques Deval and P.G. Wodehouse

Just Out – Edward Bourdet

The Man of Destiny – George Bernard Shaw

The Perfect Alibi – A.A. Milne

The Queen’s Husband – Robert Sherwood

There’s Always Juliet – John Van Druten

1933

Dear Brutus – Sir James M. Barrie

The Devil’s Disciple – George Bernard Shaw

The First Mrs. Fraser – St. John Ervine

The Good Fairy
The Good Fairy (play)
The Good Fairy is the English translation by Jane Hinton of the 1930 play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár. The Hungarian original premiered in Budapest, Hungary in October 1931, and the English translation was presented on Broadway with Helen Hayes playing "Lu" for 151 performances in...

 – Ferenc Molnár

The Late Christopher Bean – Sidney Howard

The Queen Was in the Parlor – Noel Coward

1934

As You Like It – William Shakespeare

Biography – S.N. Behrman

Craig’s Wife – George Kelly

Dulcy – George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly

Fly Away Home – Dorothy Bennett and Irving White

Good-Bye Again – Allan Scott and George Haight

Her Master’s Voice – Clare Kummer

Pursuit Of Happiness – Alan Child and Isabelle London

Romance – Edward Sheldon

Saturday’s Children – Maxwell Anderson

1935

Accent On Youth – Samuel Raphaelson

All This While – Donald Blackwell and Theodore St. John

As Husbands Go – Rachel Crothers

Berkeley Square – John Bolderston

The Cat and the Canary – John Willard

Declasse – Zoe Akins

In Old Kentucky – Charles Dazey

Meet The Prince – A.A. Milne

Trelawney Of The Wells – Arthur Wing Pinero

1936

A Church Mouse – Ladislaus Fodor

Kind Lady – Edward Chodorov

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary – St. John Ervine

Men In White – Sidney Kingsley

The Octoroon – Dion Boucicault

The Shining Hour – Keith Winter

They Knew What They Wanted – Sidney Howard

Topaze – Benn W. Levy

1937

Becky Sharp – Langdon Mitchell

The Bride the Sun Shines On – Will Cotton

Candida – George Bernard Shaw

Many Mansions – Eckert Goodman and Jules Eckert Goodman

Mariette – Sacha Guitry, Music by Oscar Strauss, Lyrics by Arthur Guiterman, English Adapt. by William Miles

Patience – Libretto by W.S. Gilbert, Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan

Storm Over Patsy – James Bridie Adapted from the work of Bruno Frank

The Texas Nightingale – Zoe Akins

Tonight At 8:30 – Noel Coward

1938

Best Dressed Woman in the World – Jack Munro

Enter Madame – Gelda Varesi and Dolly Byrne

French Without Tears – Terrence Rattigan

Lightnin’ – W. Smith and Frank Bacon

Pride And Prejudice – Helen Jerome Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen

Road To Rome – Robert Sherwood

Stage Door – Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman

Susan And God – Rachel Crothers

We, The Willoughbys – Meyer Kanin and Harry Ingram

“Yes, My Darling Daughter” – Mark Reed

1939

Anna Christie – Eugene O’Neill

Bicentennial – Allen Osborne

The Circle – Somerset Maugham

Easy Virtue – Noel Coward

First Lady – Katharine Dayton and George S. Kaufman

Here Today – George Oppenheimer

Our Town – Thornton Wilder

The Petrified Forest – Robert Sherwood

Petticoat Fever – Mark Reed

White Oaks – Mazo de la Roche

1940

Ah, Wilderness – Eugene O’Neill

Autumn Crocus – C.L. Anthony

The Guardsman – Ferenc Molnár

In My Opinion – Samson Raphaelson

Love Rides the Rails – Moreland Carey

The Millionairess – George Bernard Shaw

Mornings at Seven – Paul Osborn

The School for Scandal – Richard Brinsley Sheridan

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray – Arthur Wing Pinero

Skylark – John Emery

Springtime For Henry – Benn Levy

1941

Beggar on Horseback – George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly

George Washington Slept Here – George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Hedda Gabler – Henrik Ibsen

Her Cardboard Lover – Jacques Devel and P.G. Wodehouse

Ladies in Retirement – Edward Percy and Reginald Denham

The Male Animal – James Thurber and Elliot Nugent

Miss Nelly Of N’Orleans – Lawrence Egre

Old Acquaintance – John Van Druten

Old English – John Galsworthy

Tomorrow And Tomorrow – Philip Barry

1942, 1943, 1944, 1945

(dark due to war)

1946

Angel Street – Patrick Hamilton

Blithe Spirit – Noel Coward

Elizabeth the Queen – Maxwell Anderson

The Hasty Heart – John Patrick

Kiss and Tell – F. Hugh Herbert

The Late George Apley – John P. Marquand and George S. Kaufman

My Sister Eilleen – Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorove

Off the Air – Knowles Entrikin and Howard Breslin
Howard Breslin
Howard Breslin was an American novelist and radio script writer. He mainly wrote novels of historical fiction and is most notable for The Tamarack Tree and Bad Day at Black Rock...



Rebecca – Daphne DuMaurier

What Every Woman Knows – Sir James M. Barrie

1947

The Barretts of Wimpole Street – Rudolph Bealer

The First Mrs. Fraser – St. John Ervine

Heaven Help the Angels – Ted Luce

Junior Miss – Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov

Mademoiselle – Jacques Deval, Adapted by Grace George

Papa Is All – Patterson Greene

State of the Union – Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse

Thunder Rock – Robert Ardrey

Years Ago – Ruth Gordon

1948

Art and Mrs. Bottle – Benn Levy

The Bat – Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood

Coming Thru the Rye – Warren Munsell

The Happiest Years – Thomas Coley and William Roerick

I Like It Here – A.B. Shiffrin

The Intimate Strangers – Booth Tarkington

John Loves Mary – Norman Krasna

Little Women – Marian DeForest, Adapted From Louisa May Alcott’s novel

Ned McCobb’s Daughter – Sidney Howard

The Skin of our Teeth – Thornton Wilder

The Torchbearers – George Kelly

1949

The Corn Is Green – Emlyn Williams

The Heiress – Ruth and Augustus Goetz

The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde

Jennie Kissed Me – Jean Kerr

The Late Christopher Bean – Rene Fauchois, Adapted by Sidney Howard

Let Us Be Gay – Rachel Crothers

The Medium – Gian-Carlo Menotti

On Approval – Frederic Lonsdale

Robert’s Wife – St. John Ervine

The Medium – Gian-Carlo Menotti

Three Men on a Horse – John Cecil Holm and George Abbott

The Winslow Boy – Terrence Rattigan

“Yes, My Darling Daughter” – Mark Reed

1950

Born Yesterday – Garson Kanin

Both Your Houses – Maxwell Anderson

Gay Divorcee – Cole Porter, Book by Dwight Taylor

Goodbye, My Fancy – Fay Kanin

Harvey – Mary Chase

January Thaw – William Roce

Once an Actor – Rosemary Casey

Peg O’ My Heart – J. Hartley Manners

Post Road – Wilbur Daniel Steele and Norma Mitchell

The Sacred Flame – Somerset Maugham

Smilin’ Through – Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin

The Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare

1951

The Chiltern Hundreds – William Douglas Howe

The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams

Home At Seven – R.C. Sherrif

I Remember Mama – John Van Druten

Lady Windermere’s Fan – Oscar Wilde

Legend of Sarah – James Gow and Armand D’Usseau

Miss Mabel – Dennis Hoey and Clarence Derwent

One’s a Crowd – Eugene Raskin

Second Threshold – Philip Barry

The Silver Whistle – Robert McEnroe

Two Girls Wanted – Gladys Unger

1952

Black Chiffon – Lesley Storm

Death Takes a Holiday – Walter Ferris and Alberto Casella

The Flashing Stream – Charles Morgan

The Lady’s Not For Burning – Christopher Fry

The Little Minister – Sir James M. Barrie

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

The Milky Way – Lynn Root and Harry Clark

A Murder in the Family – Victor Wolfson
Victor Wolfson
Victor Wolfson was a dramatist, director, writer, producer and actor. Wolfson began his professional career organizing acting clubs for striking coal miners in West Virginia. He soon found his passion for writing and he wrote numerous plays for Broadway, dramas for television and many novels...



Nina – Andre Roussin, Adapted by Samuel Taylor

Ramshackle Inn – George Batson

The Show-Off – George Kelly

Theater – Somerset Maugham

1953

Affairs of State – Louis Verneuil

Bell, Book and Candle – John Van Druten

Bunty Pulls the Strings – Graham Moffat

Gigi – Anita Loos

Jane – Somerset Maugham

The Marquise – Noel Coward

Mister Roberts – Thomas Reagan and Joshua Logan

The Moon Is Blue – F. Hugh Herbert

The Tender Trap – Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith

The Three-Toed Pony – Sidney Howard

The Velvet Glove – Rosemary Casey

You Never Can Tell – George Bernard Shaw

1954

Charley’s Aunt – Brandon Thomas

A Dash of Bitters – Reginald Denham

Ethan Frome – Owen and Donald Davis, Adapted From the novel by Edith Wharton

The Fourposter – Jan de Hartog

The Ghost Train – Arnold Ridley

The Iron Gate – John T. Chapman

Late Love – Rosemary Casey

Madam Will You Walk? – Sidney Howard

My Three Angels – Sam and Bella Spewack

Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw

Three’s A Family – Phoebe and Henry Ephron

Traveller’s Joy – Arthur MacRae

The White Sheep of the Family – L. duGarde Peach and Ian Hay

1955

Caine Mutiny Court Martial – Herman Wouk

Dial M For Murder – Frederick Knott

Edward My Son – Robert Morley and Noel Langley

O Mistress Mine – Terence Rattigan

The Old Maid – Edith Wharton

Reclining Figure – Harry Kurnitz

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker – Liam O'Brien
Liam O'Brien (screenwriter)
Liam O'Brien was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for writing the movie Here Comes the Groom.-Life and career:...



Sabrina Fair – Samuel Taylor

Shadow and Substance – Paul Vincent Carroll

The Tender Trap – Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith

Time Out for Ginger – Ronald Alexander

1956

Anastasia – Marcelle Maurette, Adapted by Guy Bolton

The Good Fairy – Ferenc Molnár

The Happy Time – Samuel Taylor

Heartbreak House – George Bernard Shaw

The Little Foxes – Lillian Hellman

Made In Heaven – Hagar Wilde

A Roomful of Roses – Edith Sommer Soderbag

The Seven Year Itch – George Axelrod

The Solid Gold Cadillac – Howard Teichman and George S. Kaufman

The Wayward Saint – Paul Vincent Carroll

1957

Androcles and the Lion – George Bernard Shaw

Bus Stop – William Inge

Charm – John Kirkpatrick

The Great Sebastians – Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse

Janus – Carolyn Green

King of Hearts – Jean Kerr and Eleanor Brooke

Oh Men! Oh Women! – Edward Chodorov

The Potting Shed – Graham Greene

The Reluctant Debutante – William Douglas Home

Time Limit – Henry Denker and Ralph Berkey

1958

The Cocktail Party – T.S. Eliot

The Constant Wife – Somerset Maugham

The Cradle Song – Martines Sierra

The Matchmaker – Thornton Wilder

The Mousetrap – Agatha Christie

Noah – Andre Obey, Adapted by Arthur Wilmurt

No Time For Sergeants – Ira Levin, Based on the novel by Mac Hyman

The Playboy of the Western World – John Millington Synge

Separate Tables – Terence Rattigan

Visit to a Small Planet – Gore Vidal

1959

The Boy Friend – Sandy Wilson

Compulsion – Meyer Levin

Darkness at Noon – Sidney Kingsley, Based on the novel by Albert Koestler

Diary of Anne Frank – Dramatized by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde

The Lady’s Not For Burning – Christopher Fry

Man and Superman – George Bernard Shaw

Once More With Feeling – Harry Kurmits

Picnic – William Inge

Time Remembered – Jean Anouilh

1960

Angel Street – Patrick Hamilton

Dear Charles – Alan Melville

Dear Miss Phoebe – Sir James M. Barrie, Adapted by Christopher Hassell/Music by Harry Parr Davies

The Gazebo – Alec Coppel

The Happiest Days of Your Life – John Dighton

Member of the Wedding – Carson McCullers

Misalliance – George Bernard Shaw

Two for the Seesaw – William Gibson

The Waltz of the Toreadors – Jean Anouilh

Witness for the Prosecution – Agatha Christie

1961

Arsenic and Old Lace – Joseph Kesserling

Between Seasons – Malcolm Wells

Breath Of Spring – Peter Coke

Invitation to a March – Arthur Laurents

The Marriage-Go-Round
The Marriage-Go-Round
The Marriage-Go-Round is a 1958 play written by Leslie Stevens and a 1961 film adaptation also written and produced by Stevens. It was inspired by a suggestion that dancer Isadora Duncan supposedly made to playwright George Bernard Shaw: the two of them should have a child because "with your mind...

 – Leslie Stevens

Roar Like A Dove – Lesley Stevens

South Pacific – Libretto by Oscar Hammerstein, Music by Richard Rodgers

Suzannah and the Elders – James Bridie

Teahouse of the August Moon – John Patrick

Ten Little Indians – Agatha Christie

1962

Critic’s Choice – Ira Levin

The King and I – Libretto by Oscar Hammerstein, Music by Richard Rodgers

Life with Father – Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse

Miss Lucy – Irene Gawne

Murder at the Vicarage – Agatha Christie

Pleasure of his Company – Samuel Taylor

See How They Run – Philip King

Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams

Under the Yum Yum Tree – Lawrence Roman

You Never Know – Cole Porter

1963

The Cat and the Canary – John Willard

The Corn is Green – Kalyn Williams

The Grass is Greener – Hugh & Margaret Williams

Lady Audley’s Secret or Who Pushed George – Mary Elizabeth Braddon; Adapted by Joan White, Music and Lyrics by Anna Russell

Little Mary Sunshine – Rick Besoyan

Pajama Game – Richard Bissell and George Abbott, Music and Lyrics by

Richard Adler and Jerry Ross

A Shot in the Dark – Marcel Archard

1964

As You Like It – William Shakespeare

Come Blow Your Horn – Neil Simon

Guys and Dolls – Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, Adapted from the stories of Damon Runyon, Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Journey to Bahia – Dias Gomes, Adapted by Stanley Richards

My Fair Lady – Book and Lyrics by Alan J. Lerner, Adapted from George Bernard Shaw, Music by Frederick Loewe

Night Must Fall – Emlyn Williams

The Silver Cord – Sidney Howard

The Time of the Cuckoo – Arthur Laurents

1965

Carnival – Book by Michael Stewart, Music and Lyrics by Bob Merrill

Cheri and the Last of the Cherry – Paul Giovanni and Viveca Lindfors, Adapted from Colette

Duel of Angels
Duel of Angels
Duel of Angels is a 1963 English adaptation by Christopher Fry of the play Pour Lucrèce written in 1944 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux. The play is based on the story of Lucretia, the virtuous Roman housewife who was raped and, finding no support from her husband and his friends, is driven...

 – Jean Giraudoux
Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy...

, Translated by Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...



A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – Book by

Bert Shevelov and Larry Gelbart, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams

La Ronde – Arthur Schnitzler, Translated by Eric Bentley

Three-Penny Opera – Bertolt Brecht, Music by Kurt Weill, English adaptation by Marc Blitztein

1966

The Cretan Woman – Robinson Jeffers

Fragments – Murray Schisgal

The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare

The Skin of our Teeth – Thornton Wilder

Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett

1967

Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? – Don Peterson

Dracula – Hamilton Deane and John Balderston, Based on the Novel by Bram Stoker

The Exercise – John Lewis Carlino

The Magistrate – Arthur Wing Pinero

Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams

1968

Adaptation – Elaine May

A Cry of Players – William Gibson

The Cuban Thing – Jack Gelber

A Matter of Position – Elaine May

Next – Terrence McNally

1969

Encounters – Wally Harper and Paul Zakrsowski

Hunger and Thirst – Eugène Ionesco

John and Abigail – William Gibson

Timon’s Beach – Gordon Rogoff

1970

The Christmas Dinner – William Devane

The Enemy is Dead – Don Peterson

The Fable of the Sun People – Ernest L. West, Jr.

Other People – Thomas Berger

A Passage to E.M. Forster – Arranged By William Roerick and Thomas Coley

Postscript – Merritt Abrash

1971

Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been Blue? – Leslie Weiner

The Goodbye People – Herb Gardner

The Rainmaker

Promenade, All! – David V. Robinson and Richard Backus

Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? – Terrence McNally

1972

And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little – Paul Zindel

Clark and Myrna – Elliott Baker

The Contrast – Royall Tyler, Adapted by Antony Stimas, Music by Don Pippin, Lyrics by Steven Brown

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds – Paul Zindel

1973

Crystal, Crystal Chandeliers – Lawrence Roman

The Gershwin Years

The Gingerbread Lady – Neil Simon

Summer Brave – William Inge

1974

Cages – John Lewis Carline

Colette – Adapted by Elinor Jones from Colette, Music by Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics by Tom Jones

Desire Under the Elms – Eugene O’Neill

When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder – Mark Medoff

1975

The Butterfingers Angel – William Gibson

Come and Be Killed – Lionel Wilson

Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury, Adapted by Peter John Bailey

Godspell – Conceived by John-Michael Tebelak, Music by Stephen Schwartz

1976

George Washington Slept Here – George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Ho, Ho, Ho – Ruth Gordon

The Lion in Winter – James Goldman

Of Thee I Sing – Book by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, Music and Lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin

1977

Broadway – Philip Dunning and George Abbott

Come Back, Little Sheba – William Inge

I Married an Angel – Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

The Last Analysis – Saul Bellow

1978

The Children’s Hour – Lillian Hellman

Dodsworth – Sinclair Lewis, Dramatized by Sidney Howard

Disciple of Discontent – John L. Lewis

Let ‘Em Eat Cake – Book by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, Music by George Gershwin, Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Vagabond Stars – Nahma Sandrow and Sllan Albert

1979

The Butter and the Egg Man – George S. Kaufman

Carnival – Book By Michael Stewart, Music and Lyrics By Bob Merrill

The Petrified Forest – Robert Sherwood

The Rose Tattoo – Tennessee Williams

1980

Anyone Can Whistle – Book by Arthur Laurents, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

First Lady – Katharine Dayton and George S. Kaufman

The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams

The Little Foxes – Lillian Hellman

The Rainmaker – N. Richard Nash

1981

House of Blue Leaves – John Guare

A Safe Place – Carol K. Mack

Two for the Seesaw – William Gibson

A View from the Bridge – Arthur Miller

1982

The Animal Kingdom – Philip John Barry

The Palace of Amateurs – John Faro PiRoman

Sunrise at Campobello – Dore Schary

A Thousand Clowns – Herb Gardner

1983

The Belle of Amherst – William Luce

The Big Knife – Clifford Odets

Fanny – Book by S.N. Behrman and Joshua Logan, Music and Lyrics by Harold Rome

Harvey – Mary Chase

The Vinegar Tree – Paul Osborn

1984

High Spirits – Music, Book and Lyrics by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, Based on “Blithe Spirit” – by Noel Coward

A Loss of Roses – William Inge

Miss Lulu Bett – Zona Gale

Sabrina Fair – Samuel A. Taylor

1985

Beyond Therapy – Christopher Durang

Caught – Bernard M. Kahn

Member of the Wedding – Carson McCullers

Paris Bound – Philip Barry

1986

All the Way Home – Tad Mosel based on “A Death In The Family” by James Agee

A Delicate Balance – Edward Albee

A Little Night Music – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler

Visit To A Small Planet – Gore Vidal

1987

The Boys Next Door – Tom Griffin

I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Anderson

No Time for Comedy – S.N. Behrman

Portrait of Jennie – Adaptation by Enid Futterman and Dennis Rosa,

Music by Howard Marre, Lyrics by Enid Futterman

1988

The Chalk Garden – Enid Bagnold

The Price – Arthur Miller

Stepping Out – Richard Harris

Tusitala – James Prideaux

1989

Betrayal – Harold Pinter

Lute Song – Sidney Howard and Will Irwin

The Middle Ages – A.R. Gurney

Tete A Tete – Ralph Burdman

1990

Breaking Legs – Tom Dulack

The Hasty Heart – John Patrick

She Loves Me – Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

The Road To Mecca – Athol Fugard

1991

California Suite – Neil Simon

Kiss Me Kate – Book and Lyrics by Samuel Spewack, Music by Cole Porter

The Real Thing – Tom Stoppard

Trains – Barbara Lebow

1992

Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Richard Maltby, Jr. and Fats Waller

Quartermaine’s Terms – Simon Gray
The Cocktail Hour – A.R. Gurney

Charley’s Aunt – Brandon Thomas

1993

Blithe Spirit – Noel Coward

Breaking the Code – Hugh Whitemore

Camping With Henry and Tom – Mark St. Germain

Sweet and Hot: The Songs of Harold Arlen – Conceived by Julianne Boyd, Music by Harold Arlen

Unicorn Theatre:

Amphitryon – Heinrich von Kleist

Love and Anger – George Walker

Mississippi Nude – John Reeves

1994

Brimstone – Mary Bracken Philips and Patrick Meegan

Two for the Seesaw – William Gibson

Breaking the Silence – Stephen Poliakoff

Golf With Alan Shepard – Carter Lewis

Unicorn Theatre:

The Baltimore Waltz – Paula Vogel

The Game of Love and Chance – Marivaux

Mad Forest – Caryl Churchill

1995

Main Stage:

Cowgirls – Mary Murfitt and Betsy Howie

The Fox – Alan Miller

Kafka’s Wick – Allan Bennett

13 Rue de l’Amour – Mawby Green and Ed Feilbert

Unicorn Theatre:

Four Dogs and a Bone – John Patrick Shanley

The Illusion – Tony Kushner

Keely and Du – Jane Martin

1996

Main Stage:

Free Fall – Marc Alan Zagoren and Sandy Duncan

Hay Fever – Noel Coward

Jitta’s Atonement – George Bernard Shaw

Visiting Mr. Green – Jeff Baron

Unicorn Theatre:

L-Play – Beth Henley

1997

Main Stage:

Four of a Kind – Anton Chekhov

Good Company – Sheldon Harnick

Over the River and Through the Woods – Joe Di Pietro

Woman in Mind – Alan Ayckbourn

Unicorn Theatre:

Quills – Doug Wright

Wilder, Wilder – Thornton Wilder

1998

Main Stage:

Desire Under the Elms – Eugene O’Neill

An Empty Plate in the Café Du Grand Boeuf – Michael Hollinger

High Spirits – Music, Lyrics and Book by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray,Based on ‘Blithe Spirit’ by Noel Coward

Transit of Venus – Maureen Hunter

Unicorn Theatre:

Life’s A Dream – Pedro Calderon de la Barca

The End of the World – Roman Paska

Secret Lives Of The Sexists – Charles Ludlam

1999

Main Stage:

The Crucifer of Blood – Paul Giovanni

Moby Dick - Rehearsed – Orson Wells

The Batting Cage – Joan Ackermann

Lives of the Saints – David Ives

Unicorn Theatre:

Love’s Fire – Eric Gogosian, William finn, John Guare, Tony Kushner, Marsha Norman, Ntozake Shange, Wendy Wasserstein

Shoot the Piano Player – Richard Corley

Conviction – Eve Ensler

Starr’s Last Tape – Richard Lingeman and Victor Navasky

2000

Main Stage:

Camelot – Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederic Lowe

Toys in the Attic – Lillian Hellman

The Shadow of Greatness – Gary Socol

Say Yes! – Wally Harper and Sherman Yellen

Unicorn Theatre:

Best Kept Secret, A Dangerous Liaison in the Cold War – Katherine Houghton

Coyote on a Fence – Bruce Graham

The Einstein Project – Paul D’Andrea and Jon Klein

2001

Main Stage:

H.M.S. Pinafore – by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

Awake and Sing! – by Clifford Odets

The Smell of the Kill – by Michele Lowe

My Fair Lady – Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe

Unicorn Theatre:

This is Our Youth – by Kenneth Lonergan

A Dream Play – by August Strindberg

Pound of Flesh – by Michael Bolus

2001 BTF PLAYS!

Alice in Wonderland – by Lewis Carroll, Adapted by Gray Simons

Just So Stories – Written by Rudyard Kipling, Adapted by Gray Simons

2002

Main Stage:

Zorba – Book by Joseph Stein; Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Quartet – by Ronald Harwood

A Saint She Ain’t – Book and Lyrics by Dick Vosburgh; Music by Denis King

The Foreigner – by Larry Shue

Unicorn Theatre:

Dimetos – by Athol Fugard

Miss Julie – by August Strindberg

Holding History: Insurrection – by Robert O’Hara

Brownstone – by Josh Rubins, Peter Larson, Andrew Cadiff

2002 BTF PLAYS!

Monkey – Adapted from the Chinese Folktale by Gray Simons

The Magic Flute – Adapted from Mozart by Gray Simons

2003

Main Stage:

Enter Laughing – by Joseph Stein, Adapted from the novel by Carl Reiner

The Stillborn Lover – by Timothy Findley

Talley’s Folly – by Lanford Wilson

Peter Pan – by J.M.Barrie, A new version by John Caird and Trevor Nunn

Unicorn Theatre:

American Primitive – William Gibson

Nijinsky’s Last Dance – by Norman Allen

The Who’s Tommy – Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend

Assassins – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by John Weidman

2004

Main Stage:

Blues for an Alabama Sky – by Pearl Cleage

Heartbreak House – by George Bernard Shaw

The Miracle Worker – by William Gibson

The Misanthrope – by Molière, Translated by Richard Wilbur

Unicorn Theatre:

Floyd Collins - Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, Book by Tina Landau

Herman Hesses’s Siddhartha, A Jungian Fantasy – Adapted from the Novel by Eric Hill

Eugene’s Home – by Kathy Levin Shapiro

It Goes Without Saying – Written by Bill Bowers

2005

Main Stage:

Side by Side by Sondheim - Stephen Sondheim

Equus - Peter Shaffer

American Buffalo - David Mamet

Souvenir - Stephen Temperley

Unicorn Theatre:

I Do! I Do! - Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones, Music by Harvey Schmidt

The Father - August Strindberg, Translated, adapted by Anders Cato

Rat in the Skull - Ron Hutchinson

My Buddy Bill - Rick Cleveland

Nursery Rhyme Cafe - E. Gray Simons II

2006

Main Stage:

Amadeus – Peter Shaffer

Coastal Disturbances – Tina Howe

The Night of the Iguana – Tennessee Williams

The Heidi Chronicles – Wendy Wasserstein

Unicorn Theatre:

The Illusion – Pierre Corneille, adapted by Tony Kushner

Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? – Terrence McNally

The Pilgrim Papers – Stephen Temperley

Via Dolorosa – David Hare

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill

2006 BTF PLAYS!

Mystery Sideshow 3…Way Out West – E. Gray Simons III

James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl

The Wizard of Oz – book and music by L. Frank

2007

Main Stage:

Love! Valour! Compassion! - Terrence McNally

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest - Dale Wasserman

Morning’s At Seven - Paul Osborn

Mrs. Warren’s Profession - George Bernard Shaw

Unicorn Theatre:

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

My Pal George - Rick Cleveland (Workshop Production)

Two-Headed - Julie Jensen

Educating Rita - Willy Russell

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill

Theatre for Young Audiences

Cinderella - adapted by E. Gray Simons III

Alice In Wonderland - adapted by E. Gray Simons III

Aesop’s Network: Broadcasting Theatrical Fables - adapted by E. Gray Simons III

2008

Main Stage:

Candida - George Bernard Shaw

The Book Club Play - Karen Zacarias

A Man for All Seasons - Robert Bolt

Noel Coward in Two Keys - Sir Noel Coward

Unicorn Theatre:

The Caretaker - Harold Pinter

Pageant Play - Mark Setlock and Matthew Wilkas

Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

Eleanor: Her Secret Journey - Rhoda Lerman

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill

Theatre for Young Audiences:

Hercules - E. Gray Simons III

Around the World in 80 Days - adapted by E. Gray Simons III

Oliver! - adapted by E. Gray Simons III

2009

Main Stage:

Broadway by the Year - Scott Siegel

The Einstein Project - Paul D'Andrea and Jon Klein

The Prisoner of Second Avenue - Neil Simon

Ghosts - Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Anders Cato and James Leverett

Unicorn Theatre:

Faith Healer - Brian Friel

Candide - Music by Leonard Bernstein, book by Hugh Wheeler

Sick - Zayd Dohrn

Red Remembers - Andrew Gerhart

Theatre for Young Audiences:

The Wind in the Willows - adapted by E. Gray Simons

Peter Pan: The Musical - based on the play by J. M. Barrie

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill

2010

Main Stage:

The Last Five Years - Composed and Written by Jason Robert Brown

The Guardsman - Ferenc Molnar, translated by Grace I. Colbron & Hans Bartsch

Macbeth - William Shakespeare

A Delicate Balance - Edward Albee

Unicorn Theatre:

K2 - Patrick Meyers

Endgame - Samuel Beckett

Babes in Arms - Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, Book by George Oppenheimer

No Wake - William Donnelly

Theatre for Young Audiences:

The Mummy's Tale and other stories from the Great Beyond - E. Gray Simons

Annie - Book by Thomas Meehan, Music by Charles Strouse, Lyrics by Martin Charnin

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill

Education

BTF education programming, which started in 1929 with one of the first summer apprentice training programs in the United States, is part of the lives of thousands of students annually, and though it has experienced many incarnations, it has never faltered in its commitment to educating the emerging artists of each decade.




BTF PLAYS!— a school residency program for 4-6 graders—is part of the curriculum in nine Berkshire county schools. It was designed to give voice to young student's stories through playwriting. Staffed by professional artists-in-residence, the program is priced low enough for public schools to afford and teaches young people how to communicate their thoughts and feelings through playwriting, storytelling, and performance. Each summer, the theatre’s Summer Performance Training Program, which offers scholarships to students who need financial help, works with up to 15 performing arts students between 18-25. The program produces two plays that are seen by more than 10,000 young people throughout July and August. The BTF’s Touring Component, part of the school residency program, also performs for many additional schools and museums throughout western Massachusetts each year.

Notable Artists

Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...



Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...



Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...



Calista Flockhart
Calista Flockhart
Calista Kay Flockhart is an American actress who is primarily recognized for her work in television. She is best known for playing the title character in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal for which she won a Golden Globe Award...



Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

 in The Rain Maker

Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

 in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie - 1967

Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....

 in Fragments - 1966

Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

 in Fragments - 1966

Karen Allen
Karen Allen
Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...



Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...


Jeffrey Donovan - Toys in the Attic 2000

Randy Harrison
Randy Harrison
Randolph Clarke Harrison is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama Queer as Folk.-Early life and college:...

- Equus, Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Waiting for Godot, Ghosts, The Endgame, and The Who's Tommy

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK