By now, nearly all of the 10 productions on Shakespeare & Company’s summer schedule have opened. Most will be running in repertory until Labor Day. I’ve seen half of them so far, including one that has now closed.
That was Women of Will, Tina Packer’s marathon exploration of the Will’s women. In a five-part lecture-demonstration, ably abetted by Nigel Gore, Packer took audiences on an extended tour of “the feminine in Shakespeare,” digging out the playwright’s intuitive, feeling-based spirit that she feels was vital to his greatness. For those who missed—or couldn’t face—the entire cycle, a two-hour “overview” is being performed this weekend.
As to the other shows I’ve sampled to date, you could, in theory, catch all of them in one day if you planned carefully. As follows:
*
12:45. The Two Gentlemen of Verona is an early Shakespeare comedy that borrows from a grab-bag of plot conventions but contains the seeds of his comic masterpieces. It’s performed by the theater’s Summer Intern Company, early-career professionals honing their craft on the classics. Dennis Krausnick’s production is rambunctious, inventive and especially enlivened by two gifted comediennes, Julia Meltzer and Eleni Sophia.
3:00. The Memory of Water is one of three modern works this summer among six non-Shakespeares (the “and Company” part of the operation). It’s a vehicle for four veteran S&Co actresses, and looks to be the hit of the season. But I have to file a minority report, for two reasons. I’m not crazy about the script. Both the premise and payoff are stale—it’s essentially a melodrama with laugh lines, about three daughters returning to their childhood home after their mother’s death, where they delve into old hurts and family secrets with a mixture of banter and bitterness.
Second, while Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Corinna May and Kristin Wold, playing the daughters, all have affecting moments, they often seem to be in different plays, stylistically and, especially, linguistically. All four women in the cast (Annette Miller appears as a memory of the mother) miss the play’s Yorkshire dialect by miles—and each in a different way. It’s puzzling why the cast’s two genuine Brits, Jason Asprey and Nigel Gore, apparently stood by without lending an ear and a hand.
5:30. The Venetian Twins is, if anything, more rambunctious than Two Gents. Performed in the company’s Rose Footprint tentphitheater, it’s a Commedia dell’Arte romp with a twin-confusion plot that echoes The Comedy of Errors. The energetic cast of S&Co stalwarts and newcomers delightfully cram two hours’ worth of pratfalls, panic, mix-ups and mayhem into a breathless 75 minutes.
7:30. Whatever you do, be sure to include the mainstage centerpiece, As You Like It, on your checklist. Shakespeare’s comedy of harsh shadows dispersed by sunny foolery marks artistic director Tony Simotes’ own emergence from a cancer scare. He suffuses the piece with a joie de vivre (he’s set it in 1920s Paris) that underscores its message of healing and restoration, while finding plenty of opportunities for deft sight gags.
I particularly enjoyed Merritt Janson’s heartfelt Rosalind; Kelley Curran’s sharp-edged Celia; Dana Harrison and Jennie Jadow’s repellent country wenches; Jonathan Epstein’s Touchstone as an, okay, only slightly soiled old man; and Tod Randolph’s female, but no less caustic, Jaques.
Shakespeare & Company’s season runs through Sept. 4. 70 Kemble St., Lenox, (413) 637-3353, shakespeare.org.
