Shakespeare & Company – Lenox, MA
Shakespeare & Company | 70 Kemble Street | Lenox, MA 01240 | 1-413-637-3353
Shakespeare & Company was founded in 1978 by Tina Packer. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Company offers performance, education, and actor-training opportunities year-round, and attracts more than 40,000 patrons annually with a core of more than 150 artists.
The mission of Shakespeare & Company is to deliver a sustainable, integrated, and vital program of Performance, Training, and Education for the audience, the artist, the Company, and the community. We embrace the classical ideals and visceral experience of Shakespeare’s work: collaboration, commitment to language, physical prowess and the embodied voice.
LOCATION: THE BERKSHIRES
From cozy B&Bs and old-time eateries to upscale resorts and hip new dining digs – we have it all in the Berkshires! Along with the abundance of arts and cultural attractions, the Berkshires also offer an eclectic and diverse array of places to stay, shop, dine and explore. You’ll want to spend the whole day!
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
OUR THEATRES:
The Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre
Shakespeare & Company has reimagined its legacy of outdoor performances with the creation of a 540-seat, open-air, terraced amphitheater on the sprawling Kemble Street campus it has called home since 2000. Set underneath towering spruce trees, the picturesque performance space features comfortable canvas seating, beckoning all to relax and enjoy everything the stage has to offer. The theater is accessible, and amenities include a free, paved parking lot; outdoor picnic tables and tented seating for pre- and post-show enjoyment, and an adjacent concessions stand and restrooms in the Tina Packer Playhouse.
The Tina Packer Playhouse
Inspired by the scaffold-and-canvas theaters of Shakespeare’s time, where everybody was close to the action, the accessible,climate-controlled Tina Packer Playhouse positions audiences in the round, on two levels. With box seats and comfortable, cushion-backed benches, the Playhouse seats more than 400. Amenities include a free, paved parking lot; outdoor picnic tables and tented seating for pre- and post-show enjoyment; an indoor bar and lobby; concessions, and restrooms.
The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre
This intimate space puts all audience members within five rows of the action, on three sides of the stage. It is accessible, climate-controlled, and has its own free, paved parking area adjacent to the theater. Outdoor, pond-side seating is available for pre- and post-show enjoyment, and inside, the spacious Jane Iredale Lobby includes an indoor bar, concessions and restrooms.
The Roman Garden Theatre
Shakespeare has always been closely linked with the outdoors. In Elizabethan times, the Bard’s plays were performed in the open-roofed Globe Theatre, and that tradition remains today at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe. The Roman Garden Theatre is a unique, 280-seat outdoor venue with a combination of cushioned benches and canvas chairs; the open-air seating allows patrons to enjoy the natural beauty of the Berkshires throughout the performance, and the neighboring Tina Packer Playhouse lobby provides amenities such as an indoor bar, concessions, Gift Shop, and restrooms. Free parking is also available in our free, paved parking lot. Seating Chart.
The Roman Garden Theatre is generously supported by The Dr. Gerald and Roberta Friedman Foundation.
The Rose Footprint Theatre
Our tented, outdoor stage is a reconstruction of the first level of Shakespeare’s first London theater, the Rose Playhouse. Situated in the beautiful Rose Meadow, the Rose Footprint features bench seating and removable “groundling” seating for up to 250, with restrooms nearby in Josie’s Place Cafe.
Theatrical Studios
Three, state-of-the-art theatrical studios, located in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, double as performance spaces. Each room is equipped with lighting grids (at 15? 9½”) with 400 amp stage lighting. Sprung floors are on neoprene pads, which make the airy rooms particularly suitable for dance, yoga, and other physical movement.
RENTALS:
Book Your Wedding or Special Event at Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company offers a one-of-a kind experience for guests that adds theatrical flair to any event.
Our amenities include accessible indoor and outdoor stages for ceremonies and receptions; dressing rooms; access to costume, prop, studio space, and scenery rentals; contemporary bar and lounge areas; ample on-site parking; golf cart rentals, and even the option to work with an on-site producer.
Production Resources, Theater, and Studio Rentals
Shakespeare & Company has some of the most creative and technically advanced spaces on the East Coast, as well as a full range of props, costumes, and other production resources. We also have a wide range of event and studio spaces available for meetings, workshops, seminars, and celebrations.
Props, Weapons & Furniture
Shakespeare & Company’s talented scenic and props artisans have over the years designed, built and collected a number of hand props, furniture pieces and other scenic elements from a variety of historical periods and styles. Chances are good that we’ll have something to fit your needs.
Hand Prop, Furniture Piece, and Scenic Element rental fees are on a per week basis, are available upon reques,t and are determined by the Production Staff. There is discount for long term, multi week, rentals.
Theater & Studio Spaces
Shakespeare & Company has a variety of theater, event, studio and production spaces available for rental. Whether you are planning a production, meeting, workshop, seminar or celebration, we have the perfect space for your group, right in the heart of Historic Lenox, Mass. See below for a complete list of our facilities.
Costumes
Shakespeare & Company’s stock consists of four decades worth of contemporary and period costumes, hats, shoes, masks, and accessories. There are more than 50,000 costume pieces in four rooms, carefully organized by type and color, and some by period. Costumes are not sized.
Actor Training Programs:
Actors, directors, writers, and teachers from around the world seek to work with Shakespeare & Company’s faculty, to train not only their voices and their bodies with a daily regimen of demanding classes, but also to delve deeply into their own imaginations, intellects, and emotional lives.
Shakespeare & Company’s aesthetic was also created within the Center for Actor Training – and is continuously investigated, redefined, and reinvigorated through its programs by a cadre of expert teachers.
Education Programs:
Heart-stirring, crowd-rousing, life-changing theater-in-education programs are a bedrock tradition at Shakespeare & Company. Our Education Program brings the classical poetry and plays of Shakespeare into the lives of students and teachers in ways that are personally meaningful, educationally inspiring, and theatrically compelling.