Outdoor theater coming to a lawn near you! Venues in the Berkshires are hot with live, outdoor performances as well as PS21, the Center for Performing arts in New York, and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Company.
“Our Town” at the Phoenicia Playhouse (June 18, 19, 25, 26)
Although the Phoenicia Playhouse won’t be hosting inside productions this year, the historic 1887 building’s front porch will be the suitably quaint setting for its presentation of the beloved, perennial Thornton Wilder classic.
Philipstown Depot Theatre (June 5-October 8)
With its outdoor Pop-Up Patio Performance Series, Garrison’s Philipstown Depot Theater is all aboard with musical evening “Viva the Divas!” (June 5) and short plays festival “Liberty Speaks” (June 11-12). Fall brings a one-act play festival by Aery Theatre Company (September; check website for dates) and Timothy Haskell’s “A Dark House” (October 8).
The Center for the Performing Arts at Rhinebeck (June 3-August 22)
After taking it outside last season, the Center for Performing Arts returns with outdoor performances of “As You Like It” (June 3-20), Julia Cho’s tragicomedy “The Language Archive” (June 3-20), kids’ comedy “Bad Auditions for Bad Actors” (June 12), “Bye Bye Birdie” (July 24-25), and “Our Town” (August 21-22).
Williamstown Theatre Festival (July 6-August 8)
The Williamstown, Massachusetts festival’s 67th season has “Outside on Main: Nine Solo Plays by Black Playwrights” (July 6-25) on the front lawn of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance; the world premiere of the musical “Row” outside at the Clark Art Institute (July 13-August 8); and the world premiere of the outdoor, immersive, town-wide “Alien/Nation” (July 20-August 8).
PS21 (through September 4)
Alongside the many other inspiring arts events at PS21 in Chatham are the US premiere of “The Dark Master” by Japanese writer and director Kuro Tanino and his company, Niwa Gekidan Panino (June 18-20), Nicole Ansari’s “I am every woman” (August 13-15), and the modern opera “Ipsa Dixit” (September 3-4).
The Theater Barn (June 3-September 19)
Old-fashioned summer stock is alive and well at the Theater Barn in New Lebanon, which is bringing back a summer’s worth of “music, murder, and comical mayhem.” Going straight for the laughs, we’re looking forward to “Fully Committed” (June 24-July 4), which had a run on Broadway in 2016. One brave actor gets to play 40 characters in 90 minutes, starting off as the struggling actor who works as a reservations clerk at a very trendy restaurant.
Barrington Stage Company (through October 17)
Outdoors at BSC Production Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Barrington Stage Company has the George Gershwin revue “Who Could Ask for Anything More?” (June 10-July 3) and “Boca” (July 30-August 22). Indoors on the Boyd/Quinson Stage are “Chester Bailey” (June 18-July 3), “Eleanor” (July 16-August 1), “Sister Sorry” (August 12-29), and “A Crossing” (September 23-October 17).
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This article appears in June 2021.
