Pregnant with connotations of Johnny Depp and stacks of illegally copied CDs, the word "pirate" lurks in the blogosphere and on our televisions. But rarely does one get to observe live-action swashbuckling. Enter The Mad Pirate and the Mermaid, in which an aquatic heroine attempts to rectify chaotic misunderstandings 13 years in the making. Writer Michael Burnet has split the story into two parts performed on different days, immersing the audience in the play by suspending its dramatic duration. The production, scored by Bill Barclay and a central part of Lenox's summer-long Shakespearean Bankside Festival, is set outdoors in the round Rose Footprint Theatre. Taking its cue from the original Rose in the archetypal Banksyde, the Rose Footprint puts the audience in close proximity to the players, so that one is refreshingly under threat of real, booty-seeking pirates, not the ever-watchful eyes of the RIAA.
June 25-Aug. 30, free, 70 Kemble St., Lenox, (413) 637-3353, www.shakespeare.org.
