Williamstown Theatre Festival ’07 Season

The Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 2007 Season includes ten new productions of classic and contemporary works, three of which (Dissonance, Villa America, and Party Come Here) are world premieres. Among the artists participating are Kate Burton (starring in The Corn is Green), Kathleen Turner (directing Crimes of the Heart), B.D. Wong (starring in Herringbone), and Roger Rees (directing Herringbone).

2007 Season Schedule:

Herringbone (June 14 – 24)
Dissonance (June 27 – July 8)
The Front Page (July 4 – 15)
Villa America (July 11 – 22)
Blithe Spirit (July 18-29)
Party Come Here (July 25 – Aug. 5)
The Corn is Green (Aug. 1 – 12)
The Physicists (Aug. 7 – 18)
Crimes of the Heart (Aug. 8-29)
The Autumn Garden (Aug. 15-26)

Tickets for the 2007 season are available by mail in April. The box office and phones open in June.

Other Events:

Mondays at the Festival
In addition to the new productions, the Festival has an extensive schedule of other performances and readings. Each Monday night the spotlight turns to these events:

Monday, July 2: Reading of Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard Shaw
This work, (also the third act of Shaw’s Man and Superman), consists of a philosophical debate between Don Juan (a confirmed bachelor) and the Devil, with Doña Ana (persistent in her efforts to get Juan to marry her) and the Statue of Ana’s father looking on.

Monday, July 9: Free Theatre Opening Night
The Festival’s Free Theatre brings vibrant productions to family audiences free of charge. This season, the Festival premieres an imaginative new adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Birds by Gordon Cox, with Music by Kris Kukul, Directed by Suzanne Agins. Free Theatre runs July 9 – 14.

Monday, July 16: leapFROG Play Opening Night
The Festival’s leapFROG program pairs talented young writers and directors with members of the leapFROG Non-Equity Company to develop an original play during the season. The play runs July 16-19.

Monday, July 23: Recital featuring winners of the NY Piano Competition
At last year’s Festival recital featuring winners from the competition, one critic was impressed with the “talent, solid training, and rounded musicianship of these young pianists.”

Monday, July 30: What You Will – An Evening By and About the Bard
Roger Rees created and stars in this one-man show celebrating Shakespeare’s works. Rees incorporates hysterical, historical, and histrionic observations on the Bard by notable personalities, ranging from David Garrick to George Bernard Shaw to Stevie Wonder. This new show premieres March 30 – April 1 at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., as part of the Shakespeare in Washington Festival.

Monday, Aug. 6: Greylock Theatre Project Playmaking Performance
The Greylock Theatre Project is an outreach program that brings together professional theatre artists with kids from neighboring North Adams to create theatre. The project offers three programs: One-on-One, Teen Ensemble and Playmaking. In Playmaking, kids learn how to write plays during eight weeks of classes. When they have completed the classes, they are paired with a professional dramaturg/director who helps them write a play which is performed by Festival actors.

Monday, Aug. 13: leapFROG Musical Opening Night
The Festival’s leapFROG program pairs talented young writers, composers and directors with members of the leapFROG Non-Equity Company to develop an original musical during the season. One goal is to create a work that will go on to be performed on other stages. Last season’s leapFROG musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, will be presented by Les Freres Corbusier in New York this year. This season’s new musical runs at the Festival August 13-16.

Even More Events:

July 5-7 & Aug. 9-11: Late-Night Cabaret
Singing, dancing and comedy from stars both established and emerging. The Cabaret provides an opportunity to see another side of the extraordinarily versatile performers at the Festival.

July 6 – Aug. 17: Fridays @ 3
Every Friday at 3:00pm on the Nikos Stage, the Festival presents readings of the latest works by talented writers, featuring Festival actors and directors. The series includes:

Truth and Reconciliation by Etan Frankel, winner of the L. Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Award.

A reading of a new play by Dan O’Brien, directed by Tyler Marchant

365 Days/365 Plays
Pulitzer-prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks wrote a play a day for a year. Her play cycle is a daily meditation on an artistic life. The Festival presents seven of the plays as a group. The Festival is a regional hub for this national event.

July 14, 11:00am – 2:00pm: Kids’ Theatre Day
Pack a picnic and come enjoy the day! Kids and their families can see the 11:00 performance of Free Theatre. Then everyone can picnic on the lawn. At 12:30, there are tours of the theatres, then a chance to learn stage sword-fighting, dance with a musical pro, and design and build scenery and costumes. The event concludes with CAKE!