J. Peter Bergman is the Director of Communications at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead. In the past he has been a writer for The Berkshire Eagle, Berkshire’s Week, The Advocate, The Berkshire Beacon, The Independent and still contributes to The Chatham Courier and Edge.com and Berkshirebrightfocus.com. He is a novelist, poet and author of short fiction. His book “Counterpoints” won the 2002 Friends of Charles Dickens Award. He has been a paid theater critic since he was 15 years old.
Thursday, 11 Oct 2018 - Every soul's open injuries are bared here; everyone's personal fears and qualms and hopes and dreams coalesce into a tapestry of distorted recollections.
Wednesday, 10 Oct 2018 - Kudos to the theater company for taking on such an unusual play about such a difficult topic.
Tuesday, 9 Oct 2018 - The three hours fly by like a walk on a steep hillside with a wind at your back.
Saturday, 6 Oct 2018 - After an intense, poetic 84 minutes in that world, I couldn't stop myself from wishing I could see it every night.
Friday, 5 Oct 2018 - Pirandello's people are never ordinary and never sound ordinary and, in this new version, they are just right for my taste.
Wednesday, 19 Sep 2018 - In a show about discovering what isn't known, the company opens our minds in many, many ways.
Monday, 17 Sep 2018 - There's a lesson in all of this: Don't expect life to be generous.
Friday, 14 Sep 2018 - If you had a mother like mine, or like any of the women represented on stage at the Whit, this is a play that must be seen and heard—there is no other like it.
Tuesday, 11 Sep 2018 - This marks the finest season-ender this company has provided in years.
Tuesday, 4 Sep 2018 - Lucky theatergoers in Bennington will find a production of this play that justifies its awards, and that is really something to see.
Tuesday, 28 Aug 2018 - This is one of the best productions I've seen of this show and certainly worth seeing while you have the chance.
Monday, 27 Aug 2018 - Director Jonathan Loy has done a fine job with this piece, giving us the drama and the romance without the major forces of a large "court" to surround or frame these elements. It is due to his vision that the piece, pared down to its needs, delivers the world of Mantua so very well.
Sunday, 26 Aug 2018 - Hands down, this is the densest 91 minutes you will ever spend in a theater, and every minute is precious and special and important and entertaining.
Sunday, 26 Aug 2018 - The only problem with the play is the play itself: finely crafted; well-designed with its easy, definable characters' voices; but seemingly unfinished.
Friday, 24 Aug 2018 - Directed brilliantly for theater-in-the-round by John Saunders, this company proves that a professional take on this classic can make it fine and new again and so very enjoyable.
Thursday, 23 Aug 2018 - This is a very odd play based on a very curious concept and the ultimate scene is one in which changes and modifications of reality come glaringly across the stage leaving only the wonder of how it all happened lying bare naked on the floor.
Thursday, 23 Aug 2018 - The entire experience was a glorious example of how live theater can become even more alive under duress and achieve its goal with an audience.
Thursday, 23 Aug 2018 - There is a nice sense of character development in every one of the players and their use of the language, sometimes difficult to grasp at a single hearing, never loses the audience but keeps attention.
Monday, 20 Aug 2018 - This production, featuring so much talent, is about the best it can be in a world where our expectations of people in power is so often betrayed these days.
Friday, 17 Aug 2018 - This wonderful company, in this remarkable space they have to work in, moves the audience not only with words and actions, but by shifting the audience from place to place in the building.
Friday, 17 Aug 2018 - It was a nice diversion played so well, and not a play I would have wanted to miss.
Wednesday, 15 Aug 2018 - I know it's meant to be funny, but my sense of the ridiculous goes awry when ridiculous goes incredulous.
Wednesday, 15 Aug 2018 - This is far from a perfect production, but its humor seeps through the awkward spots and its second act offers some genuinely delicious moments.
Tuesday, 14 Aug 2018 - The 85-minute one-act play is rich and rewarding in so many ways; the characters are fascinating and the actors are extraordinary as directed by a marvelous director on a functional and inventive set.
Tuesday, 14 Aug 2018 - As good as the script is, the bulk of the awarding here must go to the director for directing this comedy romance in such a clever, swift, well-timed fashion.
Monday, 13 Aug 2018 - Relatively unknown, the script is a challenge to the audience and, for the most part, that challenge was met by the opening night audience.
Sunday, 12 Aug 2018 - The director has moved people through the sequences with appropriate shifts of energy and enthusiasm, but she has missed some of the most relevant options in this play.
Saturday, 11 Aug 2018 - The more difficult musical numbers are in the first act so don't be dismayed if you don't like some of them, because the second half of the show will fill your ears and heart with pleasure.
Thursday, 9 Aug 2018 - The temptation after the show to dance your way to the parking lot is inescapable. There is so much embedded into the performances that only a director with a vision could have brought to the work.
Wednesday, 8 Aug 2018 - In spite of so much talent, I was less moved, less involved and less interested in the Helmer household this time around.
Tuesday, 7 Aug 2018 - Director David Auburn has done some wonderful work with this play, and some unpleasant choices he has made pull the show down a group of levels.
Wednesday, 1 Aug 2018 - The very 1960s appeal of the piece was maintained, with a very 2018 sensibility bringing it up-to-date in feel while leaving things as they were written more than 50 years ago.
