Blithe Spirit - Williamstown

Williamstown Theatre Festival
July 25, 2007

Solid, professional, sharp fare at this flagship east coast summer festival. WTF has some fun with an old Noel Coward gem. Well done, but well chosen? I guess you have to work with your audience. No more beautiful place to see a play, that's for sure, than the lush Berkshires and this idyllic New England valley.

Interesting signs of increased and growing collaboration between Williams College (my alma mater and the festival's landlord) and WTF. Several years ago Williams completed a huge renovation of its theatre spaces. The result is several gorgeous spaces as good as anything you would find in Ashland or any other rural arts center. WTF must be very happy with their new digs.

In years past, the college and WTF were semi-hostile partners who tolerated each other but did not always work together. Now things seem better. One cool offshoot is that the college runs a new Summer Theatre Lab, where theatre students stay on campus for the summer and work on plays which are then performed on WTF stage.

I could not help but think of the possibilities if this partnership with the college continues to grow - or even if a Williams alum were to become the WTF Artistic Director some day? The result could be a major force in regional rep and college teaching.

Williams is already known for its "art mafia" - alumni such as Tom Krens and Kirk Varnedoe (among others) have led many major NYC institutions over the years. Could a similar influence, boistered by a Williams / WTF partnership, emerge in theatre? If nothing else, WTF feels poised for continued health, though audience age (as everywhere) is a real problem.

In addition to this play, I caught a Friday afternoon reading (every Friday at 3 PM) of the fabulous GOLIATH by Karen Hartman. The play covers the final days of the Israeli pullout from Gaza. The police come to evict settlers and one impassioned true believer teenager won't budge. Very well done, and could not be more relevant. Deeply moving, saddening, enraging. Great theatre. And only $5. Yes!