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.
Tuesday, 25 Jun 2019 - It is always surprising when a play that is now 89 years old still has its get-up-and-go, its gumption, its humor relatively intact and its impact just as imperative as it used to when first seen.
Monday, 24 Jun 2019 - This production is the finest I’ve seen and a memorable experience from top to bottom.
Monday, 24 Jun 2019 - If you don't live in Columbia County, waste no time getting directions and making a reservation, for this is one show you shouldn't miss.
Sunday, 23 Jun 2019 - This is a play with politics that could not be realized in any time but our own, and it should survive as a symbol of its time.
Saturday, 22 Jun 2019 - A lot of fabulous talent is involved and the result is a show that is overly true to its source but not to its original star.
Monday, 17 Jun 2019 - The play is very good; the company's production of it is very good; the acting company is very, very good.
Tuesday, 11 Jun 2019 - The director's work is remarkable but perhaps it is his familiarity with this actor that allows such communication to hold onto the character they have jointly created.
Friday, 7 Jun 2019 - If I had the time to do it, I'd see this all over again, from the very beginning to the inevitable end—I liked it that much.
Thursday, 6 Jun 2019 - In Lenox, Massachusetts, this company devoted to the Bard and his many muses find plays and playwrights that advance Shakespeare's goals with the honesty of our own times.
Wednesday, 5 Jun 2019 - This is a play about a sense of mission, and the clarity that Fern Sloan and the company bring to it is unparalleled.
Sunday, 2 Jun 2019 - You don't need to know the examples copied by the playwright to enjoy this play; you just have to watch and listen and enjoy the experience.
Saturday, 1 Jun 2019 - Moments of actual fear for his person infiltrates the audience space as Gordon attempts to live by the words and the spirit of the Constitution.
Thursday, 30 May 2019 - Director Eric Hill uses broad strokes to show us the subtlety in Albee's play; he also uses the small things—his actor's reactions, for example—to give us big changes in the inner workings of all four characters.
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 - As in any good Moliere play, the comic elements come first and this play is not averse to the physical and psychological silliness that makes his plays work well.
Friday, 24 May 2019 - Just seeing 29 people in large costumes on the postage-stamp circular stage might take your breath away.
Tuesday, 30 Apr 2019 - You won't see a better realization of this new work anywhere else.
Tuesday, 23 Apr 2019 - I wanted, for Anne Undeland, a perfect realization of her first full-length play and WAM gave me what I prayed for.
Saturday, 13 Apr 2019 - Putting it all together so beautifully makes this a definite don't-miss play.
Monday, 8 Apr 2019 - The drama is potent and powerful and pleasant to watch in this well-staged, nicely acted edition.
Wednesday, 3 Apr 2019 - For a new play, it is evidence of a talent emerging, a writer with an eye and ear for the often ignored or overlooked individuals who don't please an audience.
Tuesday, 12 Mar 2019 - The two-week run is at least two weeks too short. This play requires the life that can come through an engaged audience. The play is wonderful, the creative work is marvelous and the actor is superb.
Thursday, 21 Feb 2019 - The play that ends the first half of the program, 'Pipeline' written by Michael Brady and directed by Julianne Boyd, is utterly moving and effective as three exuberant protestors on the edge of a mountain forest in south Berkshire County are confronted by an actual moment of disaster.
Tuesday, 19 Feb 2019 - One of the things about this play that the production tries to answer is the constant rerouting of our attention.
Monday, 11 Feb 2019 - The play needs a few nips and tucks, some cuts and some improvements, but the show's concept is delicious and the flow of the piece is right on.
Wednesday, 6 Feb 2019 - For a play I've never heard of to end up a new favorite is a delight to me.
Monday, 4 Feb 2019 - Secrets. You have to love it.
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2019 - “The strings of the heart” is artistic director Allyn Burrows’ concept theme for the summer and he has chosen a quartet of very contemporary plays to flesh out the idea.
Thursday, 6 Dec 2018 - Even in those few moments when the play is still and motionless, there is a sense of time slipping away and urgency prompting action.
Monday, 3 Dec 2018 - While I could have gone home happier with some truly barbarous barbs, the show still entertained and delighted, and the audience had almost as good a time as the company.
Thursday, 25 Oct 2018 - Though my one favorite moment is gone from this production, it was still one of those lovely Connecticut nights seeing such a fine production of this show.
Wednesday, 24 Oct 2018 - Kristen van Ginhoven has delivered a superb two hours of theater with this play by a woman, for a woman and about a woman that pleases women and men alike. Applause to all involved, particularly to Jayne Atkinson for taking on such a bear of a role.
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.
