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Finn Wittrock and Christopher Lloyd to be fellows of infinite jest

Finn Wittrock and Christopher Lloyd to be fellows of infinite jest
Finn Wittrock 
Photo by Quinn Jeffrey

Murder most foul! Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., will present a three-performance-only run of a staged reading of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,”  directed by Shakespeare & Company founding member Kevin G. Coleman in the Tina Packer Playhouse starting Friday, Sept. 1.

The anguished Danish prince will be played by Finn Wittrock, a Lenox-born native who grew up acting on the Shakespeare & Company stage. No stranger to specters,  psychodrama and "the devil's power to assume a pleasing shape," Wittrock has gone on to be a regular player in Ryan Murphy's acclaimed horror anthology “American Horror Story,” alongside Grace Gummer (who grew up in Salisbury, Conn.) where he earned an Emmy nomination for his murderous spree in the installment “Freak Show.” He has appeared in “La La Land,” “The Big Short,” “Judy,” and recently opposite Mila Kunis in the Netflix thriller, “Luckiest Girl Alive.”

Beloved character actor Christopher Lloyd, eternally recognized as the time-hopping Doc in Robert Zemeckis’ “Back To The Future” trilogy and Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family,” will take on the role of Claudius’ conniving counselor, Polonius. A Shakespearean veteran, Lloyd recently played the titular lead in the Lenox company's production of “King Lear” and starred as Malvolio at Shakespeare in The Park’s production of “Twelfth Night” at The Delacorte Theatre. For tickets go to www.shakespeare.org

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On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

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Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

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For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

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