Though the calendar says summer is over, Berkshire Theatre Group is helping to keep our sun-filled memories alive with its upcoming production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn’s “Summer, 1976.” This 90-minute, two-character memory play, directed by Isadora Wolfe and starring two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin and acclaimed stage and screen actor Jennifer Van Dyck, is a funny and sharply observed exploration of friendship, motherhood and personal ambition — and how differently we remember the events that shape our lives.
During America’s bicentennial summer, Diana (Van Dyck), an iconoclastic artist and single mother, and Alice (Baldwin), a free-spirited young housewife, form a close, temporary bond through their young daughters, who share a babysitting group. The play looks back on the months the two women shared, and their recollections reveal the lasting repercussions of the relationship.
The play’s original 2023 Broadway production by Manhattan Theatre Club was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, praised for its “bittersweet depth” and as “sharply observant and subtly, insistently feminist.” The Times called it a “story of profound connection and awakening disquiet.” The women belong to “a generation who came of age in time for the sexual revolution and took advantage of that freedom pre-Roe v. Wade … they question what’s gone wrong with their American dreams and they start, with poignant imperfection, to put things right.”
“It is an exquisite piece of writing — smart, funny and poignant — brought to life by two of the finest actors on our stages today, Kate Baldwin and Jennifer Van Dyck,” Wolfe said.
Kate BaldwinProvided
Baldwin recently completed an acclaimed run as Roxie Hart in the Broadway revival of “Chicago.” She is a two-time Tony Award nominee and four-time Drama Desk nominee, having starred on Broadway as Irene Molloy in the 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!” and as Sharon McLonergan in the 2009 revival of “Finian’s Rainbow.”
Van Dyck has appeared in many BTG productions, including “Dracula,” “The Goat,” “The Petrified Forest” and “Coastal Disturbances.” She has performed recently at Clubbed Thumb Summerworks, Powerhouse Theater, Transport Group and Primary Stages’ Fresh Ink series. Her Broadway credits include “Hedda Gabler,” “Dancing at Lughnasa,” “Two Shakespearean Actors” and “The Secret Rapture.” She also frequently collaborates with Charles Busch and Sharon Playhouse’s artistic director Carl Andress.
Jennifer Van DyckProvided
“The play is so much about perspective — as well as the wonder and regret of roads not taken,” Wolfe said. “It asks what it means to be an artist, to be successful and to put oneself out into the world, all against the backdrop of the nation’s bicentennial: a cocktail of celebration and disappointment, freedom and glass ceilings. I’m thrilled to be working on this piece.”
Patrons who purchase tickets to eligible performances of “Summer, 1976” also receive access to discounted tickets for The Incredible Naumkeag Pumpkin Show. The holiday event transforms the historic property into an illuminated celebration of artistry and imagination.
“Summer, 1976” runs Oct. 7-31 on the Larry Vaber Stage at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. For tickets and additional information, visit berkshiretheatregroup.org.
Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.Provided
