This Place. These Hills.
Mixed Company Theatre in Great Barrington
Written and directed by Joan Ackerman
“Richard Redux”
Joan Ackerman’s quartet of plays are fascinating studies of our region and its people. Played by a company of familiar names, faces, and voices, the evening is a splendid example of her work, her place in the community, and her understanding of the way things work in the Berkshires. Each play is geared toward a season of the year, and each one uses its place in time to give us a sense of how things happen here. It is truly a Berkshire evening in the theater.
In the first play, “SPRING/Peepers,” two women confer about selling a house. Roz is the owner, and Alice is the agent. As they talk about the property, the conversation takes them to many other places, and the very natural conversation is a tribute to the author’s clear vision of how people here chat and make their own history happen. It is a fascinating look at how people work and how their minds drift among subject matter that is neither important or relevant to the moment.
The second play, “SUMMER/Ithaca,” takes us to the end of a typical summer theater season in the region. Laurel is driving the playwright whose new work has just premiered and the actor who played the lead role to the train station in New York. One man is uncomfortable talking about the experience, and one cannot shut up about it. Ultimately, the two different points of view must meet, and confrontation is the name of the game.
The second half of the evening brings us “WINTER/This Place. These Hills.” Here two men are camping in the woods, and their evening together brings up issues and histories and sour developments in their lives.
It is followed by “FALL/Richard Redux,” a play that examines the minds of an actor, a director, a playwright, and William Shakespeare. This is a comic and dramatic look at Ackerman’s own world, the theater, and how it functions and malfunctions at its best. Richard III is at the center of this work in every which way he can be.
Anyone watching this quartet will find something familiar, something or someone to identify with over the two-hour (one-year) span of time. These one-act plays are complete experiences and never feel short or limited, a tribute to the way in which Ackerman writes. She is fortunate to have a cast of accomplished actors who bring honest life to the characters. They include some of my regional favorites, including David Joseph, Dana Harrison, Gray Simons, Deann Simmons Halper, Thom Whaley, and Daniel Osman. The remaining group of performers may be among your favorites too: Julie Webster, Caitlin Teeley, Ryan Marchione,, M.J. Asprey, and Mae Hedges Boyce.
Mixed Company, Ackerman’s own production company, is over 40 years old and has been shuttered since the COVID pandemic, but with this show they are back and as important as they ever were. The designers are back as well, including Carl Sprague. Being in the historic space was a kick and a delight. This three-week run is about to end, so you may still have a chance to see these great people in this delightful play before the month ends. Go for it!
“This Place. These Hills.” plays at Mixed Company, 37 Rosseter Street, Great Barrington, MA, through May 18. For information and tickets, visit the theater’s website.
