Berkshire Theatre Festival

Infobox Theatre
name = Berkshire Theatre Festival


caption = Berkshire Theatre Festival Logo
address =
city = Stockbridge, Massachusetts
country = United States
designation =
latitude =
longitude =
architect =
owner = Non-profit Organization
capacity =
type =
opened = 1928
yearsactive =
rebuilt =
closed =
othernames =
production =
currentuse =
website = www.berkshiretheatre.org

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

Brief History

The building was originally the Stockbridge Casino, built by Stanford White in 1888. Although it was at one point the center of social life in Stockbridge, by 1927 it fallen into disuse; there was even talk of tearing it down. Mabel Choate, the daughter of one of the casino’s founders, had an interest in the property and purchased the casino for $2,000. A committee was formed to save the old casino and converted the casino into a theater, reopening as the Berkshire Playhouse on June 4, 1928 with a production of The Cradle Song with Eva Le Gallienne. It was renamed the Berkshire Theatre Festival during the 1960s. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of the National Trust. Over the years, the number of venues has grown, to meet the growing popularity of the theater.

Notable producing directors have included Billy Miles, Joan White, Robert Paine Grose, George Tabori, Arthur Penn, Josephine Abady, Julianne Boyd, Bill Gibson, Richard Dunlap, and Arthur Storch. It is currently under the direction of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire.

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 Prizes.

1928
The Buffoon – A. Tupper and Howard Lee
Candida – George Bernard Shaw
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 Molnar

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 – Ferenc Molnar
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 Molnar
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
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
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 (screenwriter)
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 Molnar
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 – 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 – Jean Giraudoux, Translated by Christopher Fry
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 – Eugene 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
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
Charley’s Aunt – Brandon Thomas
The Cocktail Hour – A.R. Gurney
Quartermaine’s Terms – Simon Gray

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
Breaking the Silence – Stephen Poliakoff
Golf With Alan Shepard – Carter Lewis
Two for the Seesaw – William Gibson
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

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 Baum

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 - Willy Russell
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

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

Ethel Barrymore

Thornton Wilder

Calista Flockhart

Christopher Walken in "The Rain Maker"

Al Pacino in "Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie" - 1967

Dustin Hoffman in "Fragments" - 1966

Gene Hackman in "Fragments" - 1966

Karen Allen

Linda Hamilton

External links

*http://www.berkshiretheatre.org/ Berkshire Theatre Festival