LENOX, Mass. – Shakespeare & Company’s free Behind the Curtain lecture series resumes on Saturday, April 6, led by Shakespeare scholar Ann Berman.
Featuring directors, cast, and design team members as guests, Berman examines various themes surrounding both the Shakespeare and contemporary productions slated for Season 2024 through talks designed to be accessible, engaging, and interactive.
Berman holds a Master of Arts in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College, London, and explores topics ranging from historical parallels in Shakespeare’s plays to the effect costumes, scenic design, lighting, and more can have on audience response to a performance.
This season will include seven Behind the Curtain lectures held from April through August; Spring talks will be held in the Jane Iredale Lobby at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, while Summer sessions will be held outdoors at the tented Rose Footprint Theatre in the Rose Meadow.
Behind the Curtain lectures for the 2024 Season include:
Saturday, April 6 – The Winter’s Tale with Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer
Saturday, April 20 – The Comedy of Errors with Director Kate Kohler Amory
Saturday, June 22 – Shakespeare & Music with Artistic Director Allyn Burrows
Saturday, July 13 – The Comedy of Errors with Director Kate Kohler Amory
Saturday, July 27– Flight of the Monarch: Penning New Plays with playwright Jim Frangione
Saturday, August 10 – The Winter’s Tale with Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer
Saturday, August 24 – Three Tall Persian Women; guest to be announced
All Behind the Curtain lectures are free, but tickets are required. For more information, visit shakespeare.org/talks-tours, or call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353.
About Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company was founded in 1978 by Tina Packer. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Company offers performance, education, and actor-training opportunities year-round, and attracts more than 40,000 patrons annually with a core of more than 150 artists.
About Ann Berman
Ann Berman holds a Master of Arts in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College, London, through a program that partnered with Shakespeare’s Globe. She also holds a Master’s of Education in Special Education from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in English from SUNY Binghamton. Prior to relocating to Berkshire County, she served as a longtime volunteer with the Actors’ Shakespeare Project in Boston, and taught Shakespeare’s plays at the Life-long Learning at Regis College program (LLARC), in tandem with what play ASP was performing at the time. Now a resident of Lee, Mass., Berman is also an active member of The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College (OLLI).
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Photo caption: Director Christopher V. Edwards and Ann Berman discuss August Wilson’s Fences at a Behind the Curtain lecture in the summer of 2023. Photo by Eran Zelixon.
