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Check out our what to do section for a complete list of Berkshire cultural attractions.
Season of Firsts
By Bess Hochstein
July 2008
Every summer in the Berkshires you can expect to see great, established works, and this season surely satisfies that expectation. This season we can catch Othello and All’s Well that Ends Well at Shakespeare & Company; beloved musical She Loves Me, Chekov’s Three Sisters, and Feydeau farce A Flea in Her Ear at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Noel Coward’s Private Lives at Barrington Stage Company; and a slew of classics – Shaw’s Candida, Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons,  Pinter’s The Caretaker; Beckett’s Waiting for Godot – at Berkshire Theatre Festival, as the company celebrates its 80th anniversary.
What’s also striking is the amount of new work making it to Berkshire stages this summer. BTF has brought us the world premiere of Pageant Play (through July 26) and The Book Club Play; Shakespeare & Co. is presenting the world premiere of The Goat Woman of Corvis County by Christine Whitely as the first production in its new second stage, the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, in addition to its free, two-part production of The Mad Pirate and the Mermaid and its annual celebration of new work, The Studio Festival Plays, on September 1; and WTF proffers three world premieres on the Nikos Stage – Broke-ology by Nathan Louis Jackson (through July 20); The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck (starts July 23); and Not Waving by Ellen Melaver. And the Mahaiwe is hosting a series of free readings of new plays by the just-formed Berkshire Playwright’s Lab on Wednesdays July 16 & 30 and August 13 & 27.
That’s not even including the stream of new work presented by BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab, where fostering work by up-and-coming playwrights and composers is the raison d’etre. The merits of this endeavor were clearly demonstrated by the delightful production of the Mysteries of Harris Burdick; this week I have high expectations for My Scary Girl, a new musical comedy/romance/horror story based on the Korean movie of the same title. (Fittingly, all Lab productions are presented at BSC’s brand new Stage 2, on Linden Street.)
Right now we’re privy to an onslaught of new work throughout the county. This week the Berkshire Fringe has taken up residence at the Daniel Arts Center at Simon’s Rock; I went to the kick-off gala, and the energy was palpable, even before the dance party began.  I’m especially looking forward to US, a politically charged piece by Alexandra Beller, a former member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; The Obscure, a debut work of dance/theater by Alexandria Yalj; and The Only Friends We Have, by comedic theater troupe Under The Table marking their return to the Berkshire Fringe. Up in North Adams, the Bang on a Can Music Festival has landed at MASS MoCA; visitors will be treated to live new music recitals in the galleries through July 26. The two don’t-miss events for music fans are the Bang on a Can All-Starts Concert featuring special guest Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth on July 19 and the Bang on a Can Marathon on July 26 featuring six hours of non-stop music by the 30+ musicians and composers of the festival, including rarely performed work by Frank Zappa, plus special guest Terry Riley. New this year is the chance to get a taste of Bang on a Can, when the festival makes a special appearance in Pittsfield on July 17 to play at the Lichtenstein Center during the city’s 3rd Thursday after-hours event. And smack in the middle of things, Tanglewood presents its Festival of Contemporary Music, for the first time honoring the work of one composer -- Elliot Carter – in his centenary year, July 20-24.
New work is not just confined to the concert and theater stages;  Jacob’s Pillow is presenting its regular roster of world and U.S. premieres, several of which we saw last week. London-based, Israel-born Hofesh Schecter made a powerful U.S. debut with two works that elucidated the choreographer’s distinct movement vocabulary. Then two very different troupes from Japan presented U.S. premieres; Natural Dance Company gave us a fanciful adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, after which Ko & Edge slowed things down for an intense, virtuoso Butoh performance. This week the Pillow offers more U.S. premieres from Ballet Boyz, former stars for The Royal Ballet; new to me will be T.P.O. from Italy, which looks like an intriguing interactive multimedia event. Next up is the ever-popular Alonzo King’s Line Ballet and more experimental work as Conny Janssen Danst from the Netherlands combines six men, padded walls, and a trampoline.
Our own dance card is quite full, trying to keep up with the summer’s rush of culture, and new invitations keep pouring in. We had to miss the Storefront Artist Project’s Artist Salon cum croquet afternoon put at the home of Hope Sullivan, head of IS183 Art School, which sounded like a lot of fun.  We need to get to the Project’s Fenn Street gallery soon to see the Cultural Corridor II exhibition of regional artists before it closes on July 27. We’ll also make time for the opening reception of art + math at The Barn Gallery at Stonover Farm on July 25; owner Suky has impeccable taste. And I’ve cleared some time this week for 3rd Thursday, July 17, so we can get to the opening of a new exhibition at Ferrin Gallery, Boston Ten, curated by local artist Morgan Bulkeley, who was recently profiled in Berkshire Living magazine. Perhaps I can finally get K. into the Berkshire Museum, which stays open late and free on 3rd Thursdays; he is featured in a video playing at the entrance to the new Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation, and we haven’t yet had an opportunity to see his star turn! Plus, I think he’ll enjoy the current show of portraiture, Look @ Us! With its juxtaposition of great work across the centuries, from Ammi Phillips to Whistler, to Lorna Simpson, Andy Warhol, and Alex Katz, what’s not to like? Plus, it’s in keeping with the season of firsts; in addition to work from the museum’s collections, the exhibition features art from the Whitney Museum, on loan here for the first time since the Berkshire Museum installed its new climate control systems. And you can see it in comfort, even on the hottest day, as the museum is enjoying its first-ever season of air-conditioning!
About Bess Hochstein
Bess J.M. Hochstein came to the Berkshires as a second-homeowner before deciding to move here full time. Previously a communications executive, she's now a freelance writer living in Tyringham with her corgis Duffy and Hobbs and K. She writes for several publications, including Berkshire Living, the Boston Globe, New England Wine Gazette, and Healing Lifestyles & Spas magazine.
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