Over the past few months, I have talked with several artistic directors of Berkshire County theater companies. These were informal meetings, but for each, I came to the conversation with questions for these colleagues and friends focusing on the 2025 summer season. As readers likely already know, this is a challenging time for the American theater in so many ways. And I hope that by presenting these conversations with leaders of multiple theaters in our region, readers will gain a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes.
Below are excerpts from these interviews, which have been edited for length and clarity.
Alan Paul, artistic director of Barrington Stage Company
JIM FRANGIONE
Alan, what really excited you about your 2025 season?
ALAN PAUL
I produced three shows at the beginning of the season that were about power.
I had produced ‘Camelot’ before in Washington, D.C., in 2018, and when I announced it for 2025 at BSC, some thought it would be old fashioned. But in D.C., the opening-night audience included Ben Carson, Rudy Giuliani, and Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. They were all at this dinner with 300 people, where I was to speak, and I thought, what the f*ck do I say to them? But the whole point of that exercise to me was that it was about a moment when people threw enlightened leadership down the tubes. When King Arthur’s vision of England dies and he thinks it is over, he then meets this young boy [Tom], who inspires him and rejuvenates his spirit. And, to me, it seemed to have met the moment.
I’d heard a lot about John Rubenstein doing ‘Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground’ and that it had been a runaway success.
FRANGIONE
Where had that played?
PAUL
The Olney Theater Center… and in LA. I knew about Eisenhower, of course, but I didn’t really know the full extent of his legacy… He fascinated me as a leader. We put it on for a week, with only seven performances at the beginning of June, and on the first night I could feel the energy in the theater. By the end of the week, we were filling the balcony. It’s the one show people have been begging me to bring back… And then another play that interested me was ‘N/A,’ which was done at Lincoln Center Theater [in 2024]. An imagined relationship between Nancy Pelosi and [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. I found it presented an interesting argument about generational politics. In the Lincoln Center production, most audience members seemed to side with Nancy Pelosi, but when we did it, most sided with AOC—just one year later.
And I just thought all three plays together, ‘Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground,’ ‘N/A,’ and ‘Camelot,’ presented three different perspectives about democracy, power, and leadership, and I wanted to engage in that.
FRANGIONE
Then there was ‘Fuzzy.’
PAUL
Yes, aside from the three power plays, I was most excited about Fuzzy, which, you know, was a new musical that did something I’d never seen before. It told the story of an artist’s journey—and did so using puppetry. It was a challenge to do because it was a puppet show like ‘Avenue Q,’ but with adult themes. So, you’re worried that serious audiences won’t come. But people loved it from the beginning, and we ended up with a wait list of 40 people a night. Sadly, the summer is programmed so tightly that we couldn’t extend it. I’m surprised another theater hasn’t picked it up for a second production. My colleague Brandon Huldeen had given the script to me, and I read it in very quickly and thought, ‘Let’s do it!’ Barrington Stage should be giving shows like this their first shot.
FRANGIONE
I’m all for that. I’m aware that overtly political plays can be too controversial. Was that the case for BSC?
PAUL
People were afraid to do ‘N/A’ because both of those characters are lightning rods. And yet the play itself isn’t a political a play, it’s about the process of government. In the play, AOC learns quite a bit about the workings of the House from Pelosi. As that play was happening last summer, AOC was barnstorming the country, 200,000 people a stop, with Bernie Sanders. We had a couple other big hits, like ‘King James.’ It’s about basketball fandom, and it had sold out at other theaters. We know from the statistics that women are usually the ticket-buyers in a household, so we had fun trying to market those shows in a way that husbands would lead the ticket-buying. People loved the play, and the quality of the acting was very strong. All the plays sold well last summer, and the ticket numbers were up.
FRANGIONE
What about ‘Joan’?
PAUL
The Joan Rivers play. People were shocked by the language of the play, which was her real act.
FRANGIONE
I remember watching her on Johnny Carson, the clean version. But I know she could be quite raunchy.
PAUL
She was. And people were surprised by the bluntness and brashness of her stand-up act, jokes she did in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. But it was very interesting—we attracted people who weren’t our usual audience, people who knew who she was and remembered her. It was one of the biggest audiences for a play in a long time. I called last summer the American Icon season.
FRANGIONE
This past summer was your…
PAUL
My third season…
FRANGIONE
You’re producing great shows. How have you found your tenure at BSC, with your audience and your staff?
PAUL
It’s an intrepid audience. It took some time for them to know that I would bring the same sense of quality that Julie [Boyd] did so brilliantly. They really trusted her taste. It’s an audience that’s up for a challenge and loves quality. I think word of mouth is the biggest driver in the Berkshires, and word travels fast. We’ve all had the experience of, when a play opens that nobody knows anything about, you can feel the energy when it emerges as a hit and people begin to flock to it. And it’s being talked about in the aisle at Guido’s. … From the back of the theater, you can sort of tell what it’s going to be…. either they’re into it, or they’re not.
FRANGIONE
You’ve become such an iconic figure here in such a short time.
PAUL
I don’t feel that way…
FRANGIONE
By all accounts, you’ve done a great job since you’ve been here. I certainly know something about the kinds of challenges you face, those large and small crises that appear on your radar almost daily, actors juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet, housing issues, staff shortages. Were there any unforeseen challenges you hadn’t anticipated?
PAUL
I came from a theater in Washington that had a mission committed to classical theater (Shakespeare Theatre Company). In D.C., everything we did was either inspired by Shakespeare or was Shakespeare. So, you could do a classic musical, but it had to be something like ‘Kiss Me Kate’ or ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.’ The new works were usually French comedies by David Ives or a play like Ellen McLaughlin’s ‘Oresteia,’ which we commissioned.
Here at BSC, I can produce anything I want. And so the problem is: How do you find clarity of vision when there’s nothing you can’t produce? How do you figure out where to go with it? How do you move the needle forward with the theater and how do you give the audience something they love while also challenging them? I think I’ve done it instinctually and I hope created more opportunities for audiences to be challenged. I hope in the future that the St Germain Theatre will present all new work, as the legacy of the theater should be new writing. That’s what we can do, along with all the other theaters in the Berkshires, like yours. The revivals are sweet, but the new stuff is the most important.
FRANGIONE
You’re preaching to the choir…
PAUL
The biggest challenge is that it costs a million dollars more to do the same thing now that was done five years ago. So, you’ve got to fundraise, bring in more money. The other big challenge is that housing accounts for 10 percent of the BSC budget! And that’s money that should be spent on the art, not the housing.
FRANGIONE
We’re all looking for housing for their staff and out-of-town artists, and the finite amount of housing gets gobbled up quickly.
PAUL
It’s no secret. Finding a rental property in the Berkshires is one of the biggest challenges, and that’s a big part of the conversation we have at BSC.
Oh, and the big thing on my mind, before we wrap up, is—there’s a wonderful audience who lives up here, and of course there’s a great audience who visits for the summer, but those are two very different things. What I’m most conscious of is there’s a local audience whom I love, who will show up and sell out the theater in October and March, and they take a great sense of pride in our theater.
FRANGIONE
I applaud you for the great artistry you’ve already brought to this community, where there’s such a vast pool of talent. Alan, this has been fun. It’s been great speaking with you.
Christopher Baker and Michelle Ong-Hendrick, co-artistic directors of Chester Theater Company
(Christopher Baker and Michelle Ong-Hendrick are married and just came on as the co-artistic directors of Chester Theater Company.)
FRANGIONE
Tell me a little about Mark’s [St. Germain] play, ‘The Magdalene.’ I’d seen a reading at Barrington Stage a few years back. How did that production come about and be produced at Chester.
CHRISTOPHER BAKER
I think when we first read it, it was Michelle who first responded to the piece.
MICHELLE ONG-HENDRICK
I’m a big Mary Magdalene fan. I love the Gnostic Gospels. … She was such a force in this play and had her own strong opinions. …
BAKER
I had no idea what to expect from it. … It was the first play of the season, our first as co-artistic directors. The actors Danielle [Skraastad] and Adam [LeFevre] as Peter and Mary … such wonderful actors and people. Yet this production also speaks to the challenges of running a theater here in the Berkshires.
ONG-HENDRICK
One of the things that keeps us up at night is: Are we taking care of our people and … how are we taking care of them? Across the board. Are the interns being taken care of? The actors? The audience? Jim, you know.
FRANGIONE
Your interns are so wonderful. There was a group of them, five or six, who came to Great Barrington [Public Theater] to see our Bezos play, [‘How to Not Save the World With Mr. Bezos,’] last June. Such a talented and engaged group of young people!
ONG-HENDRICK
Our interns are filled with energy. We want to make sure that people who work and volunteer for us are feeling seen and held and that’s so difficult right now because we’re operating on such a thin margin. We put all our resources on the table and say: ‘OK, we have this amount financially, we have this amount emotionally, we have this amount structurally.’
FRANGIONE
You’ve both done such a great job leading Chester in only your first year at the helm. Kudos to you both.
BAKER
Thanks Jim. Starting with the casting of ‘The Magdalene,’ Danielle and Adam came in so prepared and committed to it. Keira [Naughton, the director,] was also so committed to the piece. Adam knew Mark [St. Germain, the playwright,] and Keira knew Danielle. So it really was, ultimately, fortuitous and important that there was such a deep connection from the beginning and that all the artists wanted to be there for the work.
FRANGIONE
I know Adam LeFevre from the Hudson Valley—he’s also a playwright. And Mark is such a beloved figure in our area. I guess when [BSC] put[s] your name on a theater, that’s a pretty good indicator you’ve had a few plays produced.
BAKER
I really enjoyed the fact that Mark seemed so pleased that he had his daughter come see the play. …
FRANGIONE
So… a full season of plays at Chester: ‘The Magdalene,’ ‘Mr. Joy,’ ‘A Hundred Words for Snow,’ ‘The Case for the Existence of God’—tell me how that play came to you. Had Daniel [Elihu Kramer] known he was going to direct?
BAKER
Yes, ‘The Case For the Existence of God’ by Samuel Hunter was the production that was the most set [in our 2025 season schedule], and we’d had the rights for it. Daniel had chosen it before our tenure started last January, and he knew he was going to direct it, and we were grateful for that.
FRANGIONE
Michelle, you directed your [and Chris’] daughter Hero Marguerite in the second production of your season, the solo play, ‘One Hundred Words for Snow,’ by Tatty Hennesy. What was that like?
ONG-HENDRICK
Working with my daughter [and son Raphael] on this play was a total gift. Hero was the actor, and Raphael was the sound designer/composer. We worked very closely together, obviously, but it was also a frictionless experience. We in the theater are familiar with the rules of improv, the first being ‘say yes’ and then add something. It’s not always possible to do, but it happened for this piece. We staged ‘One Hundred Words for Snow’ as a work of choreography—it’s my easiest way in as a director because of my training as a figure skater and because I have staged so much opera. And Hero is an athlete, she can work from the outside in, and she knows how to emotionally fill a gesture or a shape or really any movement phrase.
We also had incredible designers, Margo Cadell for lights and Jeremy Winchester for sets. We just all said ‘yes’ at every turn. There were scenes that I was nervous about staging with Hero—as her mom. But once we got into the rehearsal hall, that anxiety lifted. Every day was about creation and play and technique. We are a close family, and so we could almost read each other’s minds. Hero is a great technician. This was most evident in that she was able to steer clear of and around those emotional notes of intense grief until the last line. I just had this sense that she needed to finally break in the space before the last line. That takes a lot of skill to let go like a dam bursting at a certain point, and I think she could do it because her mom was leading her, her brother’s music was supporting her, and because she just naturally can be that nuanced as an actor.
FRANGIONE
I had the pleasure of seeing that production, and in its scenic simplicity—with, amazingly, an A-frame ladder and some plastic sheeting—you were able to create such an evocative theatrical environment. What a joy to watch. And what a performance by your daughter!
Thanks to you both for taking the time to talk with me.
Allyn Burrows, artistic director of Shakespeare & Company
FRANGIONE
Allyn, what were some of the highlights of your 2025 season in Lenox?
ALLYN BURROWS
I would say some of the surprising season highlights on this end would be ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ in the Packer Playhouse. Nicole Ricciardi did an exceptional job at making that ribald and problematic play a whole lot of damn fun. Then there was ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in the Waldstein Amphitheatre. There was so much youthful exuberance busting with talent out there that no one stopped to say, ‘Hey, is Romeo not a dude?’ And it was co-directed expertly by Kevin G. Coleman and Jonathan Epstein! And, of course, ‘Circus and the Bard’ was a great contribution to our season. The overwhelming generosity of the amazingly talented circus artists who played along with our merry band of Elizabethans was a heart achingly gorgeous sight to behold.
FRANGIONE
Congratulations on so many great productions in one summer season! Tell me about ‘The Piano Lesson.’ That play was a big hit for you. It was a shared production with Boston’s Actors’ Shakespeare Project, yes?
BURROWS
Wow, this towering and roaring August Wilson classic was the collaborative anchor for us this year, and I’m moved that my friends from Actors’ Shakespeare Project in Boston came out ‘west’ to share their talents with us. I guess I could say, overall, that this summer was about collaboration—on so many levels. The season showcased the value of folks coming together to share these stories of the human spirit. The season was capped off with ‘Mother Play,’ directed by Ariel Bock, and the weekend Celebrating Jewish Playwrights. And, we can’t forget that the roof-raising ball that was ‘Shake It Up: A Shakespeare Cabaret’ returned to our campus—as it will again this coming summer of 2026 with ‘Shake It Up: The Remix’!
FRANGIONE
Thanks Allyn, always great to speak with you about what’s on the boards at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. I want to also send my heartfelt condolences to you, and to everyone at Shakespeare & Company, for the loss of the founder, Tina Packer.
BURROWS
She touched so many lives—theater artists and students from all over the world. We are all so grateful to her for all she did for, and with, this company. She will be sorely missed.
Genee Coreno, artistic director of WAM Theatre
FRANGIONE
Genee, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me about WAM’s 2025 season.
GENEE CORENO
Our season was rooted in sisterhood, reclamation, and imagination—values that felt increasingly urgent as the political landscape shifted. Artists are essential in moments like this. They help us bear witness, reflect change, and keep possibility alive. Wherever women gather, change follows.
FRANGIONE
What were some moments that stood out?
CORENO
Several moments stood out. Our screening of ‘MFactor’ at WANDER café in Pittsfield connected storytelling with tangible resources—pelvic floor care, HRT, doulas, midwives, and OB/GYNs—which can be difficult to access in rural areas. It created space for intergenerational conversations around menopause, shame, and agency. We laughed, we cried, and our community came together in profoundly affirming ways. Our Creative Resistance panels at BCC convened women leaders from across Massachusetts and directly inspired ‘Ballot Ballad,’ a performance-based civic education. ‘Ballot Ballad’ invites young people to use music, movement, and storytelling to explore voting, civic participation, and belonging—linking personal narratives to civic power and collective action.
Our mainstage world premiere, ‘1999’ by Stacey Isom Campbell, confronted gender-based violence and complicity in the creative industries while pushing the boundaries of onstage technology. It challenged us to face truths we cannot afford to ignore. Alongside these productions, programs like the ‘Elder Ensemble’ and Fresh Takes brought intergenerational stories of science, faith, power, reproductive justice, and genealogies of Black radical feminist artists to life. I’m grateful to the artists we hosted this year—their courage, honesty, and heart-forward creativity inspired growth on every level and reminded us what is possible when art is made with care and conviction. It was a defiant, joyful, and necessary season—one that felt fully alive in its moment.
FRANGIONE
And what were some of the challenges you faced?
CORENO
Losing [National Education Association] eligibility was a major blow—not just for WAM, but for the entire field. At the same time, donors are increasingly focusing funding toward direct-services nonprofits, even as WAM (and many other arts organizations) show that art itself serves communities in profound and lasting ways. Art is essential to a healthy democracy. Art preserves collective memory, protects freedom of expression, and gives communities space to gather, reflect, and act together. We ask our community: Please continue investing in the Berkshires and our local arts institutions—they are what make this region a destination for the world, and they help shape the policies that build lasting change.
Also, the decline in opportunities for women playwrights and artists in 2025 was a stark reminder of how fragile progress can be. As my colleague and collaborator Molly Merrihew says, ‘Art is the light, the rally cry, the balm for despair.’ I believe that deeply. Congregating, creating, and championing one another cannot be lost—especially now. Women must lift each other up, through art and in life, to ensure our voices remain bold, visionary, and unstoppable.
FRANGIONE
Thanks, Genee. In the very short time since you’ve arrived on the Berkshire theater scene, you’ve stepped up and made big contributions to the region. I congratulate you on your vision and strategic thinking. Along with your managing director, Molly Merrihew, you’ve made great strides in expanding the message of WAM throughout the Berkshires.
Kate Maguire, artistic director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Group
FRANGIONE
Kate, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. What were some of the highlights of your 2025 season?
KATE MAGUIRE
Our production of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ was a huge critical and box office success.
FRANGIONE
Kate, what’s the appeal of ‘The Mousetrap’ for today’s audience, a play that was first premiered in London in 1952? I was impressed that production took place on the formidable Colonial stage in Pittsfield and had a good long run—from July 24 through August 14.
MAGUIRE
I think audiences love this play because, first, it’s so beautifully written, and Christie’s written such great dialogue with compelling characters. A group of people are stranded at a remote guesthouse with a murderer on the loose—I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
FRANGIONE
The play was produced here in the Berkshires back in 1958, is that right?
MAGUIRE
That’s right, back when we were the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Yet, whenever you decide to produce a play, nobody really knows how audiences and critics will respond. However, we had a great cast and director, and fortunately, the play was a huge success. It can be a gamble, but Agatha Christie is a draw, and this play has great history behind it.
FRANGIONE
What was another highlight of your season that you’d like to mention?
MAGUIRE
Mary Zimerman’s play, ‘Metamorphoses.’
FRANGIONE
I saw it and loved it. What a terrific cast! You were awarded several Berkie Awards for that production.
MAGUIRE
Everyone did a beautiful job. … Gregg Edelman, David Adkins, and everyone in that cast were standouts … and it’s a complex and difficult piece of theater to produce.
FRANGIONE
It’s a play where the majority of action takes place in a pool. That can’t be easy.
MAGUIRE
No, it wasn’t, but the technical team did a great job, and the design elements for that show were beautifully rendered.
FRANGIONE
As a theater person, I’d imagined a squadron of dryers being put to the test backstage.
MAGUIRE
Everybody in the pool.
FRANGIONE
Lots of water. Your daughter, Isadora Wolfe, directed ‘Metamorphoses.’ You must be so proud of her accomplishment. How did that play come to be chosen for your season? And what are your thoughts about watching your daughter do such great work for a theatre you’ve been running since she was a child.
MAGUIRE
‘Metamorphoses’ was part of the season because it’s such a powerful and demanding piece of theater—poetic, physical, and deeply human—and Isadora had a clear, thoughtful vision for how to bring it to life. She approached the work with real rigor and respect for the material, which made it right for our stage. On a personal level, it was incredibly meaningful to watch her lead such a complex production in a theater that has been part of her world since she was a child. But what stayed with me most was seeing the entire company—actors, designers, and crew—come together to meet the challenge and create something truly beautiful.
FRANGIONE
Congratulations again, Kate, on a great 2025 season!
Judy Braha and Jim Frangione, artistic directors of Great Barrington Public Theater
(In addition to hearing from most of our neighboring theaters, I thought I would bring my counterpart at Great Barrington Public Theater (GBPT), Co-Artistic Director Judy Braha, into the conversation to talk a bit about where GBPT stands in terms of highlights from this past season.)
FRANGIONE
Hi Judy—welcome. You and I worked very closely together again this season, and I’d love your take on GBPT’s successes and challenges this past year.
JUDY BRAHA
This past summer, staying true to our mission, we had the honor of presenting three world premieres—all by female playwrights. We opened our season with a play interrogating and challenging the financial discrepancies in our country today, ‘How to NOT Save the World With Mr. Bezos’ by Maggie Kearnan. This script originated in the MFA Playwrighting Program at Boston Playwrights Theater, in residence at Boston University. As I spent almost 30 years at Boston University teaching in the School of Theater, it was particularly gratifying to welcome the playwright, director, and two-thirds of the Bezos cast … all with connections to the BU School of Theater. We were especially proud of this production, as it raised powerful and of-the-moment questions and placed them front and center on our stage. I view it as a provocative, visceral, and untamed production.
We were also thrilled to produce ‘Madame Mozart, the Lacrimosa,’ by Berkshires writer Anne Undeland. Combining Mozart’s exquisite music and the (unfortunately) very contemporary story of a woman in 1791 fighting the musical patriarchy for the survival of both her husband’s musical legacy and her family itself. Audiences who came to this production included our loyal ‘new play’ aficionados, in addition to classical music fans who usually stick closer to Tanglewood. Wonderful to expand our audience in this way! Finishing up the season, we produced ‘The Best Medicine’ by Robin Gerber, a solo piece focused on a woman’s journey to navigate her husband’s struggle with Parkinson’s leading her to a risk-taking comedy class. Elevating the care-giver’s dilemma and the importance of self-care in this high-stakes narrative, many audience members strongly identified with the challenges and discoveries in this heartfelt piece of theater.
FRANGIONE
GBPT is dedicated to producing new plays. As we both know, several larger and established theaters dedicated to new plays like the Humana Festival in Louisville, Ky., The Lark Theater in New York City, and The Sundance Theater Lab have all closed in the past few years. The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in nearby Waterford, Conn., is struggling. What are your thoughts on that?
BRAHA
This has been heartbreaking to witness and is something I’m consistently thinking about. New play development is a huge commitment that happens over time. I have personally been involved as a director with new works that took many years to come to fruition. For theater companies favoring new work, securing adequate funding—readings, playwrighting residencies, developmental weeks with actors, directors and writers—is no mean feat. With a sharp reduction in federal funding for this kind of work, the ability to make new works is in jeopardy. In addition to bringing in new works from national playwrights, we support the local playwright community via our Berkshire Voices program.
FRANGIONE
You directed a beautiful and moving production of Anne Undeland’s new play, ‘Madame Mozart, the Lacrimosa.’ Could you talk about that process?
BRAHA
This play was GBPT’s very first commissioned work, and after almost three years of development, it was fantastic to see this epically intimate work finally enjoy a full production. The piece was inspired by a short story called ‘Lacrymosa’ by Gerald Elias, a former Boston Symphony Orchestra musician and local author. Anne originally conceived of the piece as a solo show, an older Constanze Mozart looking back on the death of Wolfgang and her mandate to, by hook or by crook, get his unfinished Requiem in D Minor completed and credited to him.
I feel that the arch of Madame Mozart’s evolution from idea to production highlights the commitments made by many—playwright, theater company, designers, audiences, and funders—to bring a new play to fruition. Over time and several public readings of the play, it evolved into a two-hander with one female performing Constanze and a male actor playing all the other characters in the story. Finally, Anne conceived of the play with a younger Constanze, coming at the story not as memory but happening in the moment. Finally, she added another character, a live pianist on stage embodying the ‘Spirit of Mozart’ to inspire the action of the play. Quite the journey to our summer 2025 production!
FRANGIONE
Our theater faces some particular challenges related to our longtime home at the Daniel Arts Center on the Simon’s Rock campus that’s up for sale. I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll return to the Simon’s Rock theaters at some point in the future, but we have some plans we’ll announce soon about an interim space for summer 2026 in downtown Great Barrington. I feel like our audience has been onboard for the new work we produce, and I suspect they’ll continue along that journey with us as we try to secure our home for the future. Do you have any thoughts on that?
BRAHA
Agreed! Worrying about and dreaming on space… always a challenge for theater companies to wrangle. We are also reading some exciting new plays, thinking about our Winter and Spring Chat GBPT conversations, developmental adventures and Berkshire Voices play readings for May. Securing our home for the future remains front and center.
FRANGIONE
Thanks Judy. And a very special thanks to all the artistic directors who gave their time and reflections for this article.
