Berkshire Fest to Stage Delicate Balance, Last Five Years, K2 and Endgame | Playbill

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News Berkshire Fest to Stage Delicate Balance, Last Five Years, K2 and Endgame Tony Award-winning playwright David Auburn will stage Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Delicate Balance for the Berkshire Theatre Festival, in a season that will also feature Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years and Patrick Meyers' K2.

The 2010 season, which will present the world premiere of William Donnelly's No Wake, will feature appearances by BTF veterans including Jayne Atkinson, David Chandler, Jeremy Davidson, Richard Easton, Michel Gill, Randy Harrison and Keira Naughton.

The main stage season launches with The Last Five Years, featuring music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Anders Cato directs the production that will run June 22-July 10 (opening June 26). "Lovers Jamie and Cathy tell their stories in mirrored chronology- he from the beginning, she from the end," according to press notes. "The result is an intimate chronicle of a modern relationship from the first thrilling meeting through the struggles of married life."

Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson, Tony Award winner Richard Easton and Michel Gill will star in Ferenc Molnár's The Guardsman, under the direction of Tony Award-winner John Rando. Performances run July 13-31 (opening July 17). "Terrified that his wife is bound for infidelity, an actor decides to test her loyalty by doing what he does best: putting on a character."

Eric Hill will stage Shakespeare's Macbeth starring Jeremy Davidson as Macduff, Keira Naughton as Lady Macbeth, Brandy Caldwell as Lady Macduff and C.J. Wilson in the title role. Performances are Aug. 3-14 (opening Aug. 7). "One man’s struggle with his own blind ambition sparks a firestorm of blood and betrayal in William Shakespeare’s cautionary masterpiece. Macbeth himself is an anti-hero for the ages, conflicted and complex, at once a victim and a monster."

Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance, helmed by David Auburn (Proof), will run Aug. 7-Sept. 14 (opening Aug. 21). "Agnes and Tobias, a 50-something couple, want nothing more than to be left alone. However, they are saddled with Agnes’s alcoholic sister. When their daughter returns home as a result of her fourth divorce and their best friends seek asylum from some unnamed 'fear,' tensions fray and every relationship in the house threatens to fall apart." The season on BTF's Unicorn Stage will begin with Patrick Meyers' mountain-set drama K2, staged by Wes Grantom, and running June 17-July 3 (opening June 19). "At 27,000 feet, a single rope can mean the difference between death and survival. Trapped on a ledge beyond reach of rescue, a man struggles frantically to save himself and his injured partner. With time, the elements, and faltering hope working against them, the men turn to each other in a desperate attempt to grasp their situation."

David Chandler and Randy Harrison will head the cast of Samuel Beckett's Endgame, which runs July 6-24 (opening July 10) under the direction of Eric Hill. "Endgame presents an absurdist’s vision of a future where time and reason are little more than suggestions, with characters as memorable as they are miserable. And wrapped up in the hilarity, in true Beckett style, is a brutally honest commentary on life and death."

The classic Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms will be staged by E. Gray Simons III. Featuring a book by George Oppenheimer, the musical boasting such songs as "The Lady Is A Tramp," "My Funny Valentine," "Johnny One Note," will run July 27-Aug. 28 (July 31). "Babes in Arms, the original 'let’s put on a musical' musical, tells the story of a few determined teens and their fight to keep their independence by producing their own show, turning out great song after great song along the way and inspiring the classic film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland."

The final offering will be the premiere of William Donnelly's No Wake, directed by Kyle Fabel and running Sept. 1-Oct. 24 (opening Sept. 4). "An estranged couple struggles to cope with the death of their daughter in William Donnelly’s world premiere play. Edward and Rebecca have moved on since their divorce - she to a new husband and he to a series of failed relationships. However, when an unexpected tragedy brings them back together, they’re forced to navigate a web of grief and guilt that leads to tears, laughter, and, ultimately, hope."

Additional BTF programming will include the Friday Play Reading Series; Story Time with Tom Story; the family-friendly Mystery Sideshow 4 – The Great Beyond; a main stage community production to be announced; and the holiday classic A Christmas Carol.

For tickets call the BTF box office at (413) 298-5576 or visit BerkshireTheatreFestival.

 
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