LENOX — Shakespeare & Company will launch its 2021 season with its first production in The New Spruce Theatre, its new outdoor amphitheater, with its first live, in-person performance since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.
Three-time Emmy Award winner Christopher Lloyd helps to kick off the season, starring as the tragic title character of “King Lear,” running July 2 through Aug. 29.
Widely regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most moving tragedies, “King Lear” tells the tale of the once-powerful king as he chooses to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, setting in motion one of Shakespeare’s most challenging and notable pieces of work.
Lloyd originally was scheduled to appear in the production, which is being directed by Nicole Ricciardi, during the company’s postponed 2020 season.
An architect's rendering of Shakespeare & Company's outdoor New Spruce Theatre.
The New Spruce Theatre, which sits under towering spruce trees on the Kemble Street campus and measuring 100 feet by 140 feet, will operate during daylight hours from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.
In addition to “King Lear,” Shakespeare & Company has announced that “Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey,” and “Measure for Measure” will run in its other outdoor venue, the 280-seat Roman Garden Theatre.
Debra Ann Byrd stars in her autobiographical show, "Becoming Othello: A Black Girl's Journey," directed by Tina Packer.
“Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey,” an autobiographical solo show written and performed by Debra Ann Byrd and directed by Tina Packer, runs July 16-25. The solo show is a multimedia theatrical production with lyrical language, soulful songs and the music that shaped the life of a resilient little girl growing up in Spanish Harlem.
Byrd recounts her ancestral lineage to her arrival at a crossroad in life, taking the audience through her joy-filled and tumultuous youth; a fateful encounter with a company of Shakespearean actors and her remarkable, gender-flipped journey on the road to becoming Othello.
A workshop production of Shakespeare’s “Measure For Measure,” directed by Alice Reagan, runs Sept. 1-5. The play follows Angelo, who abruptly is appointed to rule over a chaotic and debauched city. He restores order with repressive laws and an iron fist over licentiousness.
But, he soon abuses his own power, putting a young nun, Isabella, the object of his own twisted desire, in an unthinkable position with no means of recourse. Justice never can come soon enough.
"Measure for Measure," a workshop production, will run Sept. 1-5 in The Roman Garden Theatre.
Tickets for the season go on sale April 29 for the general public. Shakespeare & Company donors will be able to purchase tickets beginning April 22, while FLEXpass holders able to purchase tickets April 27.
Shakespeare & Company has instituted a “COVID-19 Code of Courtesy” for all in-person outdoor shows, requiring visitors to practice social distancing and wear masks at all times. To enable contact tracing, all ticket buyers will be required to provide contact information for everyone in their party.