Berkshire Theatre Festival facts for kids
|
Berkshire Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival
|
|
The Red Barn at the Berkshire Theatre Festival
|
|
| Address | Stockbridge, Massachusetts United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°16′55″N 73°18′04″W / 42.282036°N 73.301226°W |
| Owner | Non-profit Organization |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Website | |
| http://www.berkshiretheatre.org/ | |
The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest places for live shows in the Berkshires. It is getting ready to celebrate 100 years of theatre in 2028! Today, it is known as the Berkshire Theatre Group.
Contents
History of the Theatre
How the Theatre Building Started
The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was first called the Stockbridge Casino. It was designed by Stanford White and built in 1887. This "casino" was a social club, not a gambling place. It was once a very important spot for social life in Stockbridge. By 1927, however, it was not being used much anymore.
A woman named Mabel Choate bought the property for $2,000. She was the daughter of one of the casino's founders. She was not interested in the casino building itself. She actually moved another historic building, the Mission House, to the property.
Saving the Old Casino Building
Three important people from Stockbridge wanted to save the casino building. They were sculptor Daniel Chester French, artist Walter Leighton Clark, and Dr. Austen Fox Riggs. They formed a group called the Three Arts Society. Mabel Choate sold the building to them for just $1. The only condition was that they had to move it to a new spot.
French, Clark, and Riggs agreed to this. They had the large building taken apart and moved to where it stands today.
Opening as the Berkshire Playhouse
After a lot of work to fix it up, the building opened on June 4, 1928. It was given a new name: the Berkshire Playhouse. The very first show was "The Cradle Song," starring Eva Le Gallienne.
Many famous actors have performed at the Berkshire Playhouse. These include James Cagney, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Katharine Hepburn, and Buster Keaton. Many talented directors have also led the theatre over the years.
Changes and Growth Over Time
In 1967, the Three Arts Society group ended. The Berkshire Playhouse then became a non-profit organization. It was renamed the Berkshire Theatre Festival.
In 1982, the Berkshire Theatre Festival bought another property. This was the Beaupré Performing Arts Center in Stockbridge. They renamed it the Lavan Center for the Performing Arts. This new place was used for students and interns. It had dorms, classrooms, and performance areas.
The Unicorn Theatre
By 1993, the festival was becoming very popular. A special season of plays was offered in the Unicorn Theatre. This theatre had been used for many years for different kinds of shows. For example, in 1992, it hosted cabaret and workshop productions.
The Unicorn Theatre building was completely replaced with a new one before the summer of 1996. The first show in the new Unicorn Theatre was "L-Play" by Beth Henley.
Becoming Berkshire Theatre Group
In 2010, the Berkshire Theatre Festival joined with The Colonial Theatre. The Colonial Theatre is located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Together, they formed the Berkshire Theatre Group.
The original Berkshire Playhouse building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. This means it is recognized as an important historical site.
Past Performances and Achievements
Over more than 80 years, the Berkshire Theatre Festival has put on many shows. They have produced 550 fully staged plays. These include old favorites, classic stories, and brand-new plays. It truly acts as a "Festival" of theatre.
More than 2,100 actors have worked at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. They have performed in over 6,000 shows! Many of these actors have won big awards like Emmys, Oscars, and Tonys. Also, many playwrights (people who write plays) at the festival have won Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes.
Famous Artists Who Performed Here
Many well-known actors and artists have performed at this theatre. Here are some of them:
- 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
- Jeffrey Donovan in Toys in the Attic (2000)
- Randy Harrison in Equus, Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Waiting for Godot, Ghosts, The Endgame, and The Who's Tommy
- Kate Baldwin in A Little Night Music (2014) and What the Constitution Means to Me (2023)
- Christine Lahti in the first-ever performance of The Smile of Her (2023)
