A bare stage, tables, chairs, a file cabinet, three wastebaskets and four disciplined actors create an exciting and dynamic theater experience at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. The 1914 voyage of the ship “Endurance” commanded by Sir Ernest Shackleton, from which the play takes its title, is ingeniously woven into the story of four men employed by an insurance company in present-day Hartford. Presented by the visiting Split Knuckle Theatre, the play evolved outside the normal creative process. There is no formal playwright and no director. The four actors, with input from a writer, a musician, designers and a stage manager, improvise to explore contemporary social issues. The work is refined and rehearsed until it develops a theatrical form. The issue in “Endurance” is the devastating effect of the economic crisis that has blanketed the country these last several years. The insurance claim adjusters and their boss, Walter Spivey, who has recently been promoted to manager, are witness to administrative firings and subjected to excessive work demands with salary and benefit reductions. Yearning to be a strong leader, Spivey searches the library for business management handbooks. In a very funny riff mocking leadership guides and management jargon, Spivey rejects the modern mumbo jumbo and discovers Shackleton’s diary. The details of how Shackleton saved the lives of his 27-man crew while spending almost two years on the ice floes and bergs of Antarctica after their ship had been destroyed becomes the model for Spivey to cling to in a desperate attempt to save his division. The two plot lines evolve separately at first as Spivey finds inspiration in the commander’s words. The events from 1914 and the 21st century mirror each other until both eras are on stage at the same moment. The sailors face their hardships with the knowledge that this day may be their last, while the insurance agents are concerned about surviving the economic squeeze and aiding aged parents. But inspired by Shackleton and Spivey, the ship’s crew and the adjusters move ahead. The staging and acting of the play is as stimulating as the provocative plot line. The four actors (Jason Bohon, Andrew Grusetskie, Michael F. Toomey and Greg Webster) play multiple roles morphing into other characters with the addition of a hat or a scarf as they remain in their professionally-correct business suits and ties. Their facial expressions and vocal qualities transform them instantaneously giving life to different personalities. The movement of the set pieces to form offices, restaurants, buses, the ship and ice floes is choreographed as are the workaday chores so that there is no wasted movement. This is a production to behold with awe!“Endurance” runs through July 15. For reservations call 413-637-3353 or visit www.shakespeare.org.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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