New Marlborough — When former New Yorker, current local resident, and longtime Shakespeare & Company board member Barry Shapiro invited renowned stage and screen actor John Douglas Thompson to the New Marlborough Meeting House at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 27, for a retrospective of his life and work, there was little resistance: “I’ve known Barry for years through Shakespeare & Co., and when he asked me to do this, I thought, well, any excuse to go to the Berkshires. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Thompson said.
If one advantage of the Berkshires is the opportunity to explore world-class art and creativity in the sun-dappled church halls, libraries, and meeting rooms of yore, then Shapiro and Thompson are surely looking to provide a classic.
Tickets may be purchased here.
Douglas Thompson began his professional life as a traveling computer salesman and is now one of the most respected actors of his generation. He has appeared in all forms of stage and screen, starring on Broadway and working alongside Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, and Kate Winslet among an extensive index of acting greats. At the upcoming event on August 27 in New Marlborough, he will begin the afternoon by performing segments from his many shows at Shakespeare & Co., which will be followed by a wide-ranging conversation with a subsequent question and answer session.
Thompson first came to the Berkshires between 25 and 30 years ago, so fresh from drama school at Trinity Repertory Conservatory that he’d barely even graduated: “When I was at Trinity Rep, one of the members, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, told me about the actors’ training program at Shakespeare & Co., and referred me to the wonderful Tina Packer and the late, great Dennis Krausnick. The program was beyond what I could have imagined, a workshop entirely built around Shakespeare and his work. It was 30 days long, and you got to know everything about the man. It was a complete immersion, basically like being hand-dipped in Shakespeare.”
Even within the all-encompassing intensity of what would prove to be a career-defining experience, Thompson could not easily ignore the rolling, Irish-green hills or the bejeweled and gilded castles, neither could he disregard the twinkling summer starlight nor fail to notice the diversity and quality of artists, performers, craftspeople, and artisans throughout the Berkshires. “I’d often driven through Western Mass. on the way to various destinations in New York, but never stopped to see what was really going on until I came here for the acting program. Naturally, I thought the area was beautiful, but to have this massive amount of culture and art, in all of these wonderful towns up and down the region, I knew it was an area I wanted to continue to be a part of.”
As it happened, Thompson’s passion and enthusiasm for Shakespeare & Co. were not unrequited. “I was thrilled when they invited me to be a part of the Company. It’s just incredible, being able to visit Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, Barrington Stage Company, the Williamstown Theatre Festival (in which he has participated for years), all while you’re working on a production. It surprised me at first to see these world-class artists here and to be introduced to them, I had no notion that such a thing existed in this part of the country. I live in Brooklyn and that’s sort of the artistic hub. You expect that every mile you travel out will be a downgrade, but here in the Berkshires it’s actually an upgrade. This place has become an integral part of my artistic life.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic having imposed a particularly strict embargo on theater and live performance, Thompson reflects on the opportunities facing his art form and the Berkshires post-lockdown: “The thing about this area is, it’s always moving forward. Over the years, it has continued to hold its status as a top cultural destination in the country. Like most artistic entities, there’s been a lot of struggle to stay alive through the pandemic, and now people are coming out of this, taking it with baby steps, figuring out the new landscape.”
Conversations about social justice, which erupted with the murder of George Floyd and burgeoned through the focusing lens of lockdown and isolation, are also informing this post-plague Renaissance: “I think it’s coming back alive in fascinating ways,” Thompson observed. “There’s new leadership, new projects, new venues. These events have forced us to think in more open terms as we look at being more inclusive, not only in the presentation of what’s on stage, but in the administration of the organizations. There is more willingness to open those doors to inclusivity, that’s the best way to say to the public that you are producing these events for the people. Representation is so important; we need multiple voices in the creation of the work. It’s the tide that lifts all boats.”
