LENOX, MA. -- The stage actors at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox have been rehearsing day and night for a new production. In order to play the part, they're pretending to be in another time and place. Soon enough, though, they really will be.
"Today, we're in the last phases of construction on this magnificent building, which we've converted from what used to be a gym, an ice hockey rink, into a production and performing arts center," said Shakespeare & Company managing director Nick Puma.
The $7.5 million renovation will provide more rehearsal space for the actors and a 180-seat theatre. The state of the art facility also boasts another nice feature – it’s sound proof.
"It has incorporated the artistic, the technical ends of Shakespeare & Company under one roof," said architect Stephan Green.
A group of stage actors at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox have been hard at work rehearsing for an upcoming play. And as our Ryan Burgess tells, when the curtain opens later this season, they hope to be performing on a new stage to call home.
"It has everything you would need to set up a theatrical production. From the readings of the scripts, to the actual rehearsals," said Puma.
They say investing $7 million in the project was a huge commitment, but it's one they hope will start paying off in a matter of months.
"These new facilities give us the ability to develop new plays. They give us the ability to do literary adaptations, which we're very strong at. Also, with this new theatre, we have space for different corporate and different organizational events," said Shakespeare & Company communications director Mike Clary.
And as soon as construction ends on June 9th, they hope to start cashing in. But until then, it's just another day of rehearsals.