Western Mass Theatre News July 17, 2025

Your source for theatre events in Western Massachusetts.

Western Mass Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser July 17 - August 6, 2025 This weekend: The Comeuppance opens at Silverthorne and catch Not In Charge at Happier Valley Comedy (Don't forget: Happier Valley Comedy is offering a 50% off special summer ticket discount for newsletter subscribers: use the code "westernmasstheatre" to get your discount!) Ja'Duke's Chicago continues next weekend. Here is Max Hartshorne's review.  The next issue will include events from July 24 - August 13. Submit upcoming events via the link below or by emailing me before Tuesday at midnight. Any questions, comments or feedback? Email me at westernmasstheatre@gmail.com Submit Your Theatre Event The Wedding Jester July 25-27 at CitySpace in Easthampton Tickets and More Information Silverthorne Theater Company presents The Comeuppance July 18-27 at Emily Dickinson Hall, Hampshire College Tickets and More Information JaDuke Theater presents auditions for Noises Off July 30 & 31 at Ja'Duke in Turners Falls More Information Torch Song July 25-August 3 at Northampton Center for the Arts Tickets and More Information YOUR EVENT HERE $5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing! Email me to reserve your dates. Click to Access: Western Mass Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet PERFORMANCES Silverthorne Theater Company The Comeuppance 7/18, 7/19, 7/24, 7/25, 7/26 @ 7:30 PM; 7/19, 7/20, 7/27 @ 2:00 PM Emily Dickinson Hall, Hampshire College, 893 West St, Amherst, MA Silverthorne Theater Company presents the final production of our 2025 season, The Comeuppance. Join us at our summer home on the Hampshire College campus for this electrifying comedy, directed by Cordelia Winter Dwyer.  From the mind of 2025 Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins comes a hilarious, piercing meditation on impermanence, nostalgia, and isolation. Fueled by jungle juice and pot, five former high school classmates, the self-declared Multi-Ethnic Reject Group, swap memories and confront past resentments at an unforgettable porch pre-game to their 20th high school reunion. Get your tickets now at comeuppance.eventbrite.com and join us for The Comeuppance!  Starring Sandra Blaney*, Kyle Boatwright, Gabriel CiFuentes, Tahmie Der, and Donovan Stanfield, with designs by Lara Dubin (lighting), Matt Whiton (scenic), Hanh Rioux (costumes), and Sean Buenaventura (sound). comeuppance.eventbrite.com This production is made possible by the generous support of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the Mass Cultural Council and the Amherst Cultural Council, Pelham Cultural Council, Hadley Cultural Council, and South Hadley Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Not In Charge: Improv Comedy Inspired By True Stories Saturday, July 19 @7pm Don't miss this talented group of friends in an improvised show inspired by true stories from the cast! Not In Charge is Mandy Anderson, Maddy Benjamin, Sally Ekus, Julie Waggoner, Jim Young, and Kate Zak. Special Summer ticket offer for Western Mass Theatre News readers! Enter code "westernmasstheatre" for 50% off your ticket purchase! Offer for online ticket purchases only. Get tickets here The Wedding Jester Jul 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM 7/26 at 7:30 pm and 7/27 at 3 pm CitySpace in Easthampton It is 1970, and director Norman Jewison is in a little village in Croatia to make his film of the hit Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof. One of his extras, a stand-up comedian, has wrangled a meeting with the director by promising to fix some serious errors in the script. But he wants something in return from the director... Tickets here. Shakespeare & Company August Wilson's The Piano Lesson July 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM August 24 70 Kemble St, Lenox MA 01240 Set against the backdrop of 1936 Pittsburgh during the Great Depression, August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning The Piano Lesson explores the lives of the Charles family, and vividly portrays an enduring conflict between siblings.  The family piano at the heart of the argument is an heirloom intricately carved by an enslaved ancestor. Determined sharecropper Boy Willie is eager to sell the piano to purchase land on which his ancestors endured hardship, while his sister Berniece fiercely maintains that the piano is where their heritage lies.  A testament to the complexities of family, history, and legacy, 2025 Elliot Norton Award-winning The Piano Lesson is an explosive and incisive inquiry into the struggle between what we owe to our past and how we build our future. Tickets and more information Sliding-scale tickets now available for Harvey Fierstein's TORCH SONG at the Northampton Center for the Arts, July 25-August 3rd. Produced by an independent collective of mostly queer + trans artists, Torch Song is a hilarious, heartwarming and at times heartbreaking story that follows the journey of Arnold Beckoff, a New York City drag queen, as he navigates love, identity, and the meaning of family. An unexpected visit from his overbearing mother throws things in to disarray, forcing Arnold, and the audience, to consider the nuances of chosen and biological family, and what it looks like to heal— hilariously!  Please reach out to torchsongrevival@gmail.com with any questions or access needs. Hope to see you at the show!  LOCATION: Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley; Flex Space TICKET INFORMATION: Sliding scale tickets with a free option. 15-20% of proceeds from the show will be donated to groups supporting LGBTQ+ communities. Tickets are available now, or click on the date you want below!  DATES AND TIMES Friday July 25 @8pm Saturday July 26 @8pm Sunday July 27 @2pm (Matinee) Thursday July 31 @8pm Friday August 1 @8pm Saturday August 2  @2pm (matinee) Saturday August 2 @8pm Sunday August 3 @2pm (matinee) Website Instagram LAVA Center The Comedy Project Review Jul 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM LAVA Center, 324 Main Street, Greenfield Friday July 25, The Comedy Project Revue returns to LAVA with all new sets:  Stories from Master Storytellers Marian Kelner and Berte Isser  Bad Dad Jokes from Shannon (not a dad) Chabot  Kendra Corrie  Andrea CK  Paul Bennett  Kate Lewis  Hosted by Andrea CK and produced by Christine Benvenuto and Andrea CK. https://thelavacenter.org/events/the-comedy-project-revue/ A new monthly queer open mic night, Smack Dab, to begin at The LAVA Center in August WHAT: Smack Dab Queer Open Mic WHEN: First Friday of the month starting August 1; September it will be held on Thursday, July 18; sign-up at 6:30 p.m. and performances start at 7 p..m WHERE: The LAVA Center, 324 Main St., Greenfield Facebook event The LAVA Center is excited to announce a new monthly queer open mic night, Smack Dab, hosted by Jules and Avery. Smack Dab Queer Open Mic is a free 18+ LGBTQIA community open mic in Greenfield, MA with the slogan “All genders, all the time.” Your hosts are Jules and Avery. Join us every first Friday of the month starting August 1. (September it will be held on Thursday, July 17.) Sign-up at 6:30 p.m. and performances start at 7 p.m. Smack Dab Queer Open Mic is modeled after the now defunct Smack Dab in San Francisco, founded in 2003 by Kirk Read and Larry-bob Roberts at Magnet, the gay men’s health clinic in the Castro. If you’d like to perform at the open mic, please come sign up and bring five to seven minutes of whatever you want to share: stories, poems, a song, dance, your art or, perhaps you’d simply like to join us as audience? We’re the friendliest open mic you’ll find, but we pay attention to time. Questions? Contact Jules and Avery at smackdabqueeropenmic@gmail.com. Springfield Community Theater of MA Annie August 2-3, 1:30 pm 52 Sumner Avenue, Springfield, MA Springfield Community Theater of MA presents its first annual family musical, Annie! This 50 member cast brings outstanding dancing and singing and the message we all need ...that there is always hope. 52summer.com We are always looking for passionate, fun, talented people who love theater and want to see it flourish in Springfield! Bring the family! Experience the joy! eMail: SCTofMA for how you can be a part of our new community! Additional Updates from the New England New Play Alliance:    Great Barrington Public Theater presents Madame Mozart, the Lacrimosa written by Anne Undeland now-July 27  The McConnell Theater Great Barrington, MA directed by Judy Braha Constanze Mozart, wife of the great composer, struggles mightily in the wake of his too-early death in 1791. She must not only feed her children but survive her own grief and secure her husband's musical legacy by completing his masterwork, the Requiem in D Minor. With the odds against her, the perennially underestimated Constanze digs deep to find a way to prevail and triumph. Tickets: $35-52.00 Williamstown Theatre Festival presents The Gig: After Moise and the World of Reason conceived and directed by Will Davis July 17-Aug 3 The Rink North Adams, MA "A distinguished failed writer at thirty has suspended the climax as if it were a sentence that he had the audacity not to complete." This is Tennessee Williams live on an ice rink - a wholly original, site-specific performance about making a plan and leaving the world of reason. Conceived by Director/Choreographer Will Davis (Men on Boats, Colossal) with Ice Choreographer Douglas Webster and featuring special choreography by U. S. Ice Dancing champions and two-time Olympic medalists, Maia & Alex Shibutani. Tickets: $50. Williamstown Theatre Festival presents Spirit of the People by Jeremy O. Harris July 17-Aug 3 MainStage Theatre Williamstown, MA In “one of the most hotly anticipated events in theatre” (GQ), visionary playwright Jeremy O. Harris returns with his first world premiere after his record-breaking Slave Play. Tickets: $35-130. Berkshire Theatre Group presents Out of Character written and performed by Ari'el Stachel now-July 26 The Unicorn Theatre Stockbridge, MA directed by Tony Taccone Hailed as both funny and deeply affecting, Out of Character is a riveting journey of self-discovery that explores identity, mental health, and acceptance with raw honesty and humor. Through heartfelt storytelling Ari'el Stachel invites audiences to witness his struggles and triumphs, ultimately celebrating the beauty of embracing who we really are. Tickets: $75-$90. Barrington Stage Company presents fuzzy: A new musical written by Jeff Talbott music and lyrics by Will Van Dyke now-July 27  St. Germain Stage Pittsfield, MA directed by Ellie Herman A teeny tiny musical about the great big things in life. Fuzzy is a furry little puppet who has come home to take care of his ailing mother. What begins as a reluctant reunion becomes a touching tangle of the complex ties that bind us. fuzzy is a big-hearted bittersweet comedy about stories themselves--why we tell them, how we tell them, and what they mean to us. Tickets: $35-70 AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES JaDuke Theater Auditions Noises Off Jul 30, 2025 at 6:00 PM 7/31/25 6-9pm Ja'Duke Performing Arts Center, Industrial Blvd, Turners Falls MA Auditions for "Noises Off." Show dates are October 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th. https://www.jadukeshows.com/auditions This is a non-equity show. All roles are available. See a breakdown of roles at the link provided and reserve an audition spot on the 30th or 31st. Please prepare a brief monologue. Genre not important and memorization is not required. You may also be asked to read a side from the show. Rehearsals will be limited to three weeknights per week until we get closer to show dates. Tentatively Tue-Thurs, 6-8:30pm. Please email any questions to nick@whai.com. Submissions Opening Soon! Submission Opportunities for PIC PIPS and Development Workshops for the 2026 season will be opening July 14th. What is PIC PIPS?  PIPS stands for Plays In Progress Series. Plays that have been selected as part of PIPS receive a single developmental worksession with actors and a dramaturg, followed by a public reading of their piece and developmental conversation with the audience. PIC assembles the cast and assigns a dramaturg from our roster of artists. The playwright and a dramaturg work together to develop questions to share with audience after the reading as part of the developmental conversation, and in this way the audience serves as a sounding board for further development of the piece. PIC also provides extensive notes from this conversation so that they playwright can focus on engaging with the audience and hearing the feedback. This program is reserved for scripts in a variety of developmental stages. ​What types of pieces are a good fit for PIC PIPS?   Plays that have a full and complete draft. The draft could be in its first or final draft, or anywhere in between but, regardless of stage, the playwright would benefit from seeing how it sits with an audience. A play written a while ago that would benefit from a new/modern audience. A full draft the playwright has had for awhile and would benefit from hearing it one last time before sending it off into the world for potential production. Submit here. Submissions Opening Soon! Submission Opportunities for PIC PIPS and Development Workshops for the 2026 season will be opening July 14th. What is the Development Workshop? The Development Workshop is reserved for pieces that have a first full draft and could use an intensive period of writing and hearing the work out loud with actors. This opportunity provides a minimum of 8 hours of developmental work sessions with actors and other support artists over multiple days, culminating in a reading and developmental discussion with an audience. As with PIPS, PIC provides extensive notes from the discussion. ​What types of pieces are a good fit for the Development Workshop?   A full draft that needs an overhaul which could be achieved by having actors and other artists in the room. The necessary work could be on the entire script or specific sections. A play that was written a long time ago and needs an update for a modern audience. A script by a playwright interested in what actors’ perspectives will provide for the characters A script that needs further development of character arcs   Submissions are open to anyone within a one hour radius of Hampshire County Mass. Submit here. Valley Players seeks play submissions for Take Ten, a staged reading showcase of new plays celebrating the Valley’s rich and diverse local writing talent. Take Ten will feature five brand new 10-minute plays written by Valley playwrights, chosen by leaders of the Valley theater community, directed by five Valley directors, and featuring a cast of Valley actors. Half of net ticket sales from the staged reading evening in October will be donated to The Literacy Project to support their work serving education and literacy needs across western Massachusetts. Playwrights seeking to submit a play for consideration must live in Franklin, Hampshire, or Hampden County and only one submission per person will be considered. Plays must be no more than 10-12 pages, feature a cast of no more than three actors, and have not been performed, published, or received a public reading.  There is no entry fee and no limitation on the topic, style, or genre of the play. Playwrights whose work is chosen will receive a cash honorarium in addition to the staged reading. Additional rules and instructions are available at www.valleyplayers.org. Submissions must be received by email to info@valleyplayers.org no later than July 31, 2025. The mission of Valley Players is to enrich the quality of life in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts by producing nimble, meaningful, and accessible community theater. Valley Players is a volunteer-run 501(c)3 nonprofit that relies on the contributions of donors and business sponsors. To donate or become a business sponsor, join Valley Players’ contact list, or find more information about the group, visit www.valleyplayers.org. Salmon Falls Climate Action Performances Oct 14, 2025 porches of Shelburne Falls and Memorial Hall in Shelburne Falls We are looking for directors and actors for three performances in October/November of about 12 five-minute climate related plays in Shelburne Falls. They are moving, surprising, and, at times, funny. It's part of the Climate Change Theater Action. We can choose from 60 skits written by people from all over the world. shelburnejackieb@gmail.com WORKSHOPS & CLASSES Theater enthusiasts are invited to go Behind the Curtain this spring and summer, through Shakespeare & Company’s series of discussions led by Shakespeare scholar Ann Berman. Held on select Saturdays throughout the spring and summer at the Shakespeare & Company campus, these free public talks offer audiences insight into the creative process of Season 2025’s productions, featuring directors, cast, and design team members as they explore themes, artistic choices, and behind-the-scenes stories. Behind the Curtain talks begin on Saturday, March 8, and continue through Saturday, August 16: July 19, 10:30 a.m. – The Piano Lesson with director Chris Edwards (Rose Footprint Theatre, outdoors) August 2, 10:30 a.m. – The Taming of the Shrew with directors Tina Packer and Allyn Burrows (Rose Footprint Theatre, outdoors) August 16, 10:30 a.m. – Mother Play with director Ariel Bock (Rose Footprint Theatre, outdoors) For more information and to reserve free tickets, visit shakespeare.org/talks-tours, or call the Box Office at 413.637.3353. Photo Caption: Ann Berman, far right, leads a series of free Behind the Curtain talks in the spring and summer at Shakespeare & Company. Pictured are director Dalia Ashurina (far left) and playwright/cast member Awni Abdi-Bahri of Three Tall Persian Women, which debuted at Shakespeare & Company last year. Photo by Eran Zelixon. Registration is now open! Is your creative kiddo ready for a fun-filled summer of channeling their inner wild creature, creating their own fairy tale, and discovering their inner clown? Does your tween or teen enjoy making things up on the spot, working as a team, and creating their own performances? Registration is now open for PIC Kids Summer with options for rising 2nd-9th graders. Younger artists (rising 2nd-5th graders) will adventure through the creative process as they explore theater, movement, visual art, and more. Each week follows a different theme, and all weeks will culminate in a sharing of the young artists' original work on Fridays at 2:30. Keep scrolling for detailed descriptions of each week. JUL 21-25        Growl and Groove JUL 28-AUG 1  Fairy Tale Mashup! AUG 4-8          Theatrical Clown 1 AUG 11-15       Theatrical Clown 2 9am-3pm each day  $350/week Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, 130 Pine St, Florence   Older youth artists (rising 6th-9th graders) will spend each morning playing comedy improv games, and then apply those skills and concepts to the afternoon sessions, working as an ensemble to create (devise) their own original performance. With improv you never know what's going to happen, so these creative kids will be taking risks, laughing, and figure it out as they go! All of this collaborative fun will culminate in a sharing at 2:30pm on the Friday of each session. AUG 4-8       Improvise and Devise 1 AUG 11-15 Improvise and Devise 2​ 9:00am-3:00pm each day  $350/week Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, 130 Pine St, Florence ​ Learn more and register! Summer Theater Workshops August 4-8, 8:30am-4:30pm 33 Hawley Street, Northampton MA This is a one week process-focused theater workshop that is tailored to the group's interest and skills. Ages 7-12 will explore storytelling, group work, improvisation, how to stage a theater production, and building social-emotional skills. Ages 15-18 will focus on monologues, partnered scene work, and how to create a character. Both groups perform for family and friends at the end of the week. Ages 7-12 is full day and Ages 15-18 is half day. https://www.nohoarts.org/theatre-and-film Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training will host a 9-Day Intensive at its Lenox campus from Wednesday, August 20, through Friday, August 29.  Designed for mid-career actors, educators, directors, and others seeking professional and artistic development, the 9-Day Intensive is inspired by Shakespeare & Company’s Month-long Intensive. Director of Training Sheila Bandyopadhyay said the workshop offers participants an opportunity to immerse themselves in Shakespeare training and make connections with like-minded artists in a robust, accessible format.  “The 9-Day intensive is a unique opportunity for mid-career artists to enjoy a workshop which is both professional development and a replenishing creative retreat,” said Bandyopadhyay. “The training is balanced between focused studio time, theater-going, and building lasting connections.” The daily schedule includes classes in Linklater Voice, Movement and Dance, Monologue and Sonnet work, Structure of the Verse, and the Actor-Audience Relationship, and the format and tuition include admission to three Shakespeare & Company shows staged at the height of its 2025 performance season.  Tuition is $1,495 with partial scholarships available for BIPOC artists. Early payment, alumni, and union member discounts are also available. Limited on-campus housing is available on a first-come, first-served basis for an additional $400. For more information or to apply, visit shakespeare.org or call 413.637.1199, ext. 114. Photo Caption: Director of the Center for Actor Training Sheila Bandyopadhyay and Month-long Intensive alumnus Davis Brinker at Shakespeare & Company's campus in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training will host a 9-Day Intensive in August. Submit your workshop, class, audition, performance, or any other theatre opportunity here! Western Massachusetts Theatre Companies Academy of Music Theatre Amherst Community Theater Arena Civic Theatre A.C.T. Youth Theatre Barrington Stage Company Berkshire Theatre Group Chester Theatre Company CitySpace Completely Ridiculous Productions Drama Studio Double Edge Theatre Easthampton Theater Company Eggtooth Productions Exit 7 Players Ghost Light Theater Great Barrington Public Theater Greenfield Community College's Theater Department Hampshire Shakespeare Company Happier Valley Comedy Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center Human Agenda Theater Ja'Duke Center for the Performing Arts K and E Theater Group Ko Theater Works/Ko Festival of Performance Majestic Theater Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre No Theater Northampton Community Arts Trust Northampton Playwrights Lab PaintBox Theatre Panopera Pauline Productions Performance Project Phantom Sheep Players Play Incubation Collective Plays In Place Real Live Theatre Serious Play Theatre Ensemble Shakespeare & Company  Shakespeare Stage Shea Theater Arts Center Silverthorne Theater Smith College Department of Theatre South Hadley Players Spindrift Theatre St. Michael's Players Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. Theater Between Addresses Theatre Guild of Hampden TheatreTruck UMass Department of Theater UMass Theatre Guild Unity House Players Valley Light Opera Valley Players WAM Theatre Ware Community Theatre Westfield Theatre Group Wilbraham United Players Williamstown Theatre Festival World and Eye Want to know even more about events in Western Massachusetts and beyond, including reviews, interviews, and previews? In the Spotlight, Inc. Berkshire on Stage Stagestruck ArtsBeat TV/Radio and News Column Local Theater Critic Max Hartshorne Copyright © 2025 Western Mass Theatre, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive the Western Mass Theatre Newsletter. This newsletter is published weekly on Thursdays and all information about upcoming performances and auditions is reader submitted. The newsletter is limited to information about theatre in Western Massachusetts. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences