Ventfort Hall play offers human glimpse at Gilded Age

LENOX – In addition to Ventfort Hall’s traditional “Tea and Talk” series, this summer, you can get a closer glimpse at the people of the Gilded Age.

The era comes to life through the one-woman show Morgan O-Yuki: The Geisha of the Gilded Age, which is running at Ventfort Hall.

Mayu Iwasaki stars as the titular character, a Japanese geisha who married George Denison Morgan, son of Ventfort Hall owners George Hale Morgan and Sarah Spencer Morgan.

Born and raised in Japan, Iwasaki has enjoyed critical success in a number of New York City productions, including the leads in BASH (The Loft/East 3rd Production), Precipice (Chashama) andTransplants (Big Sky Works).  She has studied at the SITI Company, Atlantic Theatre Company, NIDA in Sydney, Australia, and University of New South Wales, Australia.

In 2010 she was a nominee for the Alex Broun Best New Talent Award in New York.

The one-woman show tells the life story of Yuki Kato, from her training as a geisha through her relationship with Mr. Morgan to her death.

The play was written by Natsuko Ohama for Ventfort Hall in 2006 for the original production of the play.

The 2013 show is directed by Shakespeare and Company’s Enrico Spada.

Since 2007, Spada has been an education artist for Shakespeare & Company, directing and designing numerous plays including Hamlet, Antony & Cleopatra, Twelfth Night and Right You Are.  He has also appeared on the company’s stage.

Tickets to Morgan O-Yuki are $25 and can be reserved by calling (413) 637-3206.

Performances run Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. through Sept. 1.

For more information on the show, visit gildedage.org.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on July 18, 2013. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry