Mark Nelson will direct Joan Ackermann's The Batting Cage for The Berkshire Theatre Festival's Main Stage, Aug. 3-14.

The Batting Cage finds two sisters -- one garrulous and neurotic, the other silent and athletic -- carrying the remains of their other sister. All are holed up together in a Holiday Inn for a weekend in Florida.

The Batting Cage premiered at the 1996 Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and had a run at New York's Vineyard Theatre two seasons ago.

The Nelson-helmed revival of June Moon received a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk nomination, when it played off-Broadway last season. The cast for Cage includes: Linda Gehringer (Personals), Melissa Leo (Tongue of a Bird), and Beth Dixon (Teresa Raquin).

Eva Le Gallienne founded the Berkshire Festival in 1928 with The Cradle Song. The playhouse itself was built by Stanford White, initially as a gentlemen's club. It wasn't until the 1960s that the venue was named the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Among the luminaries appearing there over the years have been Buster Keaton, Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Thornton Wilder, Eli Wallach and Joanne Woodward. For tickets or more information, call (413) 298-5576.

-- By Sean McGrath