This fall, Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. introduces the Jewish Play Festival: Dynamic Staged Readings, October 10 – 12. Friday through Sunday, four readings will be staged – The Price by Arthur Miller, Sisters Rosenweig by Wendy Wasserstein, Here There Are Blueberries by Moises Kaufman, and Roz & Ray by Karen Hartman, featuring Tony-nominated actor John Douglas Thompson (The Gilded Age).
On Sunday, Oct. 12 at 6 pm, author Rachel Kadish will talk about her critically acclaimed novel The Weight of Ink, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, followed by excerpts of a theatrical adaptation of the story being developed by Kate Kohler Amory and Tamara Hickey. Tickets are on sale now at Shakespeare.org or by calling the Box Office at 413.637.3353.
More details are coming soon!
The Price, by Arthur Miller
A brilliant, powerful and deeply moving play that marked the author’s triumphant return to Broadway, The Price examines – with compassion, humor and rare insight – the relationship of two long-estranged brothers who meet after many years to dispose of their late father’s belongings.
Roz and Ray, by Karen Hartman
Ray is a devoted single parent with one goal: keep his twin hemophiliac sons alive. In 1976, this means endless hospital visits, rigorous testing and frequent blood transfusions. Then Ray meets Roz – a brilliant doctor who offers a cutting-edge treatment for his boys – and everything clicks; until they both discover the miracle treatment may lead to very dangerous results.
Here There Are Blueberries, by Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
In 2007, a mysterious album featuring Nazi-era photographs arrived at the desk of a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum archivist. As curators unraveled the shocking truth behind the images, the album soon made headlines and ignited a debate that reverberated far beyond the museum walls. Based on real events, Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of these historical photographs, what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust, and our own humanity.
The Sisters Rosensweig, by Wendy Wasserstein
Sara, who lives in London, is a representative for a major Hong Kong bank and is about to turn 54. Her sisters, Gorgeous Teitelbaum and Pfeni Rosensweig, arrive to help celebrate the birthday. Gorgeous is Dr. Gorgeous with a radio-advice program; Pfeni is a world traveler. Various friends and boyfriends also arrive for the party. In particular, Mervyn, a friend of Pfeni’s boyfriend Geoffrey, who falls instantly in love with Sara.
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
The Weight of Ink is an historical novel and winner of the Jewish National Book Award. The novel tells the story of two historians uncovering the secret history of a young Jewish woman living in London in the 1660s, and features alternating storylines set in the 21st and 17th centuries. The novel explores themes of resilience, agency, and forbidden love
