Shakespeare & Company has announced the cast of Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s The Approach, which will be performed at the company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theater from May 6-29.
Co-directed by Mark Farrell and Shakespeare & Company founding Artistic Director Tina Packer, The Approach follows the story of Anna, Cora and Denise as they chat over coffee about their childhood together and coming of age. medium in full swing, with a lot of things left unsaid. The cast includes:
Ansari has worked on both stage and screen in Europe and the United States, starting as a nine-year-old in his native Germany on crime drama Tatort. In the United States, she is best known for playing Josiane in the HBO Original series Deadwood. Ansari has performed at the Public Theater in Vienna, Austria, on Broadway at the Bernhard B. Jacobs Theater and in London’s West End, and has co-produced two feature films: Blumenthal, a comedy about the world of New York theater with her husband Brian Cox, and the thriller As Good As Dead starring Andy McDowell. She co-produced and directed the web series Messy, which recently won numerous awards including Best Director and Best Comedy Drama at the British Web Awards and Best Web Series at the NY International Film Awards. Ansari is the creator of ACTORS RISING, a program for actors and speakers fusing the spiritual path with the arts.
Elizabeth Aspenlieder
This is Aspenlieder’s 24th season at Shakespeare & Company, during which she has appeared in over 40 productions, including God of Carnage; Mother of the Maid (in which she created the role of La Dame de la Cour); parasitic drag; Merry Wives of Windsor; Dangerous Liaisons, and many more. She has also appeared in productions staged by Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Simon’s Rock, Oldcastle, Barrington Stage and other venues. In addition to acting on stage, screen and as a voice-over artist, Aspenlieder has also directed and produced, including producing an upcoming feature film titled Mumbet, with executive producer Octavia Spencer.
Michael Joyner
This will be Joyner’s second season at Shakespeare & Company. Alumnus of Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training, she is an actress, writer and director who has appeared in several feature films and TV shows such as Cliffhanger, Outbreak, Bones and Quantum Leap. She performed and directed for the Berkshire Playwrights Lab Radius Festival and Theater Fest which premiered her play Asking for a Friend, and is a repeat performer on The Moth. Joyner runs The Long Table, a women’s writing group in Los Angeles and the Berkshires, and writes You Can Go Home Again, a column for the Berkshire Edge.
Generously co-sponsored by Steve Bader and Cathy Monoxelos, The Approach will be presented in person with tickets ranging in price from $37 to $67; preview performances are $10 less.
Online, The Approach will be available live at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday May 14, and via recorded broadcast will be available on Saturday May 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday May 22, at 3 p.m.; Saturday May 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday May 29 at 3 p.m. Tickets for virtual performances are $27.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Tickets page or call the box office at (413) 637-3353.
