My Nonprofit Reviews

William Shakespeare himself would give a standing ovation to the plays presented by Shakespeare & Co. I first happened upon a Shakespeare & Co. performance in July 1999 while traveling in the Berkshires. The play was Richard III, and I was enthralled by director Tina Packer's revival of the lamentation rituals of women. There were many notable performances in the play, not the least of which was Jonathan Epstein in the title role. I was hooked, and now I try never to miss a Shakespeare play presented by this dynamic company. Energy, enthusiasm, and talent are evident in every production, and the Shakespeare plays presented by Shakespeare & Co. are always head and shoulders above productions I've seen elsewhere. The Shakespeare & Co. artists give new meaning to the words penned by Shakespeare more than 300 hundred years ago. In 2002 Tina Packer directed Macbeth because of the traumatic events that occurred the year before. Her hope was to understand why people perpetrate violence on others and to discover the role that actors play in the desire for power and dominance. Although the play is a tragedy, laughter makes it bearable. To this day I still chuckle when recalling Michael Hammond’s depiction of the Porter in this otherwise very serious, tragic play. At Shakespeare & Co. the artists' vitality and love of Shakespeare is evident not only in the words they speak but also in their facial expressions and body language. The company also has an education program that brings the poetry of Shakespeare to students through performances and workshops. I've seen Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World (SLAW) three times and plan to see it again. SLAW is a delightful combination of historical information and brief scenes from Shakespeare's plays. It includes music and sword-play, is fast-paced, and is a great introduction to one of the world's greatest authors. If you are in the Berkshires, be sure to see a performance by the Shakespeare & Co. artists. If you aren't in the Berkshires, make a special trip. You won't regret it.

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