BASIC Berkshires

Tinker Tots
2026-06-30 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-07-07 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-07-14 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-07-21 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-07-28 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-08-04 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-08-11 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-08-18 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) and 15 more dates | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Come tinker and explore with the library and Pittsfield’s CFCE!
Each week children ages 0-2 (siblings welcome) and their caregivers engage in child-centered play, art, music, storytime, and sensory activities to encourage social, fine and gross motor, and pre-literacy skills.
¡Venga a jugar y explorar con la biblioteca y el CFCE de Pittsfield! Cada semana, los niños y sus cuidadores participan en juegos, arte, música, lectura de cuentos y actividades sensoriales centradas en los niños.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: 413-499-9480, ext. 5.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

American Stories: Rebels and Revolutionaries of the Berkshires
2026-07-01 11:00 - 2026-07-29 17:30 | Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road Route 183, Stockbridge, MA, 01262, United States
Every Wednesday in July; Choose from 11 am or 5:30 pm sessions (each session will be 1.5 hours)
A Berkshire History Course
This summer when America is celebrating its 250th anniversary, join us for this historical and civic education program to learn how the Berkshires played a pivotal role in the founding of our nation.
American Stories: Rebels and Revolutionaries of the Berkshires examines the history of the American Revolution and its reverberating echoes in the region, nation, and world by highlighting the fascinating but complicated biographies of Berkshire County residents who impacted American history and culture from the late eighteenth century onward.
Sign up for the entire series of five classes held at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Each class will begin in the galleries of Norman Rockwell Museum’s American Stories: Revolution to Rockwell with a discussion of a work on view that connects to the theme of that day’s class.
Course Instructor: Justin F. Jackson is a lecturer and visiting scholar at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Classes and lectures include:
1) “Declarations of Independence”: Theodore Sedgwick, the Sheffield Resolves, and the Rise of Protest in the Berkshires
2) “Our America”: Daniel Nimham, the Stockbridge Mohicans, and the Revolution’s “Missing Indians”
3) “I Am, Amen”: Black Freedom Struggles in the Berkshires, from Agrippa Hull and Elizabeth Freeman to Samuel Harrison and W.E.B. Du Bois
4) “Do Unto Others”: Rev. Thomas Allen, Shays’s Rebellion, and a Sovereign People’s Constitutions in Massachusetts and America
5) “The Real Thing”: Herman Melville, the Magic of Memory, and Representing the American Dream

We Hold These Truths
2026-07-04 10:00 - 16:00 | Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road Route 183, Stockbridge, MA, 01262, United States
Free with admission
Outdoor public reading & Outdoor Music is free for those not entering the Museum
In collaboration with W. E. B. Du Bois Freedom Center, Norman Rockwell Museum will celebrate American independence and democracy with a special day of programming. Listen to a public recitation of the Declaration of Independence read by Berkshire County community residents and civic leaders. Reading will be introduced by Roberta McCulloch-Dews, Vice Chair, Norman Rockwell Board of Trustees and Marcus P. Smith, Du Bois Freedom Center, History and Interpretive Fellow.
Enjoy live music by performers Wanda Houston and Robert Putnam and folk singer Doug Mishkin. Visitors can experience Norman Rockwell’s iconic paintings exploring themes of freedom and civil rights and reflect on what these ideals mean today, as well as make their own art to celebrate America’s birthday.
Spotlight Gallery Talks: 10:15 am, 11:00 am, 11:45 am, 12:15 pm (Spanish), 3 pm, and 3:30 pm.
Pop up Music by Doug Mishkin – Four Freedoms Gallery: 10:30 am to 12:15 pm
Community Reading of Declaration – 1 pm Terrace
Music by Wanda Houston and Robert Putnam immediately after Reading- Terrace
Drop-in July 4th Artmaking Activities – Terrace
Picnic lunches are available for purchase at the Museum’s Terrace Café and visitors are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and enjoy the grounds all day.

Shakespeare & Company Presents: Twelfth Night
2026-07-04 19:00 - 2026-07-26 21:00 | Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre, 70 Kemble St. Lenox, MA 01240, Lenox, MA, 01240, United States
Shakespeare & Company Presents: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Directed by Kate Kohler Amory

July 4-July 26 at 7 pm at the Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre

Shipwrecks, disguises, and mistaken identities spark the joyful chaos of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s most playful romantic comedy. Love runs amok, wit flies, and nothing is quite what it seems in this sun-soaked tale of music and mischief. Performed outdoors July 4–26 at one of Newsweek’s Top 10 Outdoor Theater Venues in the U.S., this summer production invites audiences to relax, laugh, and revel in Shakespeare under the open sky.
Tickets are $40-$99 and on sale now at shakespeare.org, or by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353

Shakespeare & Company and Spirit of the Circus Presents: Circus & The Bard: The Next Chapter.
2026-07-16 11:30 - 2026-07-26 17:00 | Tina Packer Playhouse, 70 Kemble St., Lenox, 01240
Circus & the Bard: The Next Chapter bounces back July 16–26 at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm at the Tina Packer Playhouse!

Co-created by Allyn Burrows, Robin Eldridge, and Pedro Reis, Co-directed by Allyn Burrows and Pedro Reis

Shakespeare & Company and Spirit of the Circus reunite for a playful mash-up of jaw-dropping circus acts paired with Shakespeare’s beloved characters. When high-flying feats meet the Bard’s words, sparks fly, laughs abound, and something truly magical happens.

Tickets are $35 for adults, $22 for ages 13-22, and $15 for ages 3-12. Tickets are on sale now at shakespeare.org, or by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353

Join us on Wednesday, July 22, and Thursday, July 23, for relaxed, sensory-friendly performances.
What is a Sensory-Friendly Performance?
Sensory-friendly performances are adapted to be less overwhelming and to welcome individuals with a range of sensory needs, including people who are neurodivergent; those with cognitive, social, or physical challenges; first-time theatergoers, and others. These performances offer pre-show materials such as story synopses and “what to expect” guides, along with reduced-intensity lighting and sound, dimmed house lights, and clear theater maps. Performances are relaxed; audience members are free to come and go, and total quiet is not expected. These shows are open to all patrons.

Shakespeare & Company Presents: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
2026-07-30 14:00 - 2026-08-23 21:00 | Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
Shakespeare & Company Presents: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

By Terrence McNally, Directed by Nicole Ricciardi

July 30-August 23 at 2 pm and 7 pm at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre

Set over the course of a single late night in a small Hell’s Kitchen apartment, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a tender, funny, and deeply human play about two people standing at the edge of connection. Frankie, a guarded waitress, and Johnny, an earnest short-order cook, work together at a Manhattan diner. After their first date, they find themselves in bed—and talking through the night.
What unfolds is an intimate conversation filled with humor, vulnerability, and longing. Johnny, a hopeful romantic, believes he may have found something rare and real. Frankie, shaped by past disappointments, keeps her defenses firmly in place. As they circle each other—sometimes clashing, sometimes connecting—the play reveals the quiet courage it takes to risk love after life has left its marks.
Accompanied by the soft glow of Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” playing on the radio at Johnny’s request, McNally’s play blends gritty realism with gentle romance. Both funny and achingly honest, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune explores loneliness, resilience, and the possibility that even late in the night—and later in life—love may still be waiting.
Tickets are $40-$99 and are on sale now at shakespeare.org, or by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353
Content Advisory: Frankie & Johnny takes an honest, often funny look at two adults on the late-night hours of a first date. Please be advised that the production includes moments of sexual intimacy and brief nudity.

Shakespeare & Company Presents - Shake It Up: The Remix
2026-07-31 19:00 - 2026-08-03 21:00 | Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
A blend of modern music and Shakespearean verse. Co-created by Allyn Burrows and Jacob Ming-Trent, Directed by Allyn Burrows

July 29-August 2 at 3:30 pm, 6 pm, and 7 pm at the Tina Packer Playhouse

The hit that had audiences on their feet returns—revved up and remixed. The Tina Packer Playhouse transforms once more into the Elephant Lounge for Shake It Up: The Remix, an exuberant mash-up of modern music and Shakespearean verse. Audiences are invited to clap, sing, stomp, and dance in the aisles as the players unleash a breathless, rocking revue

Tickets are $25-$78 and are on sale now at shakespeare.org, or by calling the box office at (413) 637-3353

Shakespeare & Company Presents: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Directed by Ariel Bock
2026-08-13 19:00 - 2026-08-30 22:00 | Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
Shakespeare & Company Presents: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Directed by Ariel Bock

August 13-30 at 2 pm and 7 pm at the Tina Packer Playhouse

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most searching play—a gripping story of grief, conscience, and the cost of action. Haunted by his father’s ghost, a young prince must navigate a world of secrets, power, and betrayal, where nothing is as it appears. By turns thrilling, darkly funny, and deeply human, this August production brings Shakespeare’s language to life with clarity, physicality, and immediacy.

Tickets are $40-$99 and on sale now shakespeare.org, or by calling the Box Office at 413.637.3353
Free Youth Tickets are sponsored by the Harvey and Virginia Kimmel Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation. Learn more at shakespeare.org.
