Wednesdays

6/9, 6/16 & 6/23

11:30 am - 1:00 pm

& Monday 6/28

7 - 8:30 pm

Online

Four Sessions 

This course is offered online via the easy-to-use Zoom program.

Join us for a four-part exploration of Falstaff, described by scholar Harold Bloom as "the greatest personality in all of Shakespeare" and "the true and perfect image of life." Ann Berman leads us through his adventures in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor; Philip McKnight follows his escapades through various film clips; Maestro Brian Garman offers a taste of the Berkshire Opera Festival's upcoming production of Verdi's Falstaff; and Jonathan Epstein concludes with Falstaff's role in Henry IV, Parts I and II.  

Speaker Schedule:

Wednesday, June 9th, 11:30 am EDT: Philip McKnight
Philip McKnight has taught a variety of courses for OLLI, including "Shakespeare and the Law," and led an OLLI trip to England in July 2019 focusing on Shakespeare. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School; and has taught at Williams College, Smith College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Wednesday, June 16, 11:30 am EDT:  Ann Berman
Ann Berman holds a Master of Arts in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College, London.  She spent 30 years as a teacher and administrator at the Dover-Sherborn Public Schools and 8 years as a course facilitator at Lifelong Learning at Regis College in Weston, MA. She has taught several courses on Shakespeare for OLLI at BCC, including this semester's The Comedy of Errors course.

Wednesday, June 23, 11:30 am EDT: Maestro Brian Garman
Maestro Garman is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Berkshire Opera Festival, having conducted their inaugural production of Madama Butterfly, and subsequent productions of Ariadne auf Naxos, Rigoletto, and Don Pasquale.  He recently opened Seattle Opera’s season with La Traviata, and was on the conducting roster at New York City Opera.  Concurrently, he led runs of Un Giorno di Regno and L’Étoile at Wolf Trap.  He was the Resident Conductor at Pittsburgh Opera for ten years, leading productions of Roméo et Juliette, Rigoletto, Le Nozze di Figaro, and more.

Monday, June 28, 7:00 pm EDT: Jonathan Epstein
Actor, director, and teacher Jonathan Epstein has performed on and Off-Broadway, and in London’s West End, but is perhaps best known for his 33-year association with Shakespeare & Company. For the past eight years he has served as Teaching Professor of Classical Performance at the Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota, Florida.

Suggested Reading: Any edition of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV Parts I and II

Moderator Barbara Waldinger earned a Ph.D. in Theatre, City University of New York Graduate Center; taught at Queens College, Hofstra University and Marymount Manhattan; and for 20 years was Artistic Director of HRC Showcase Theatre in Hudson, NY. Currently she is a theatre critic and member of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association; a Berkshire Eagle correspondent; co-founder of OLLI's Performing Arts Initiative; and co-leader of OLLI's Playreading Shared interest Group.

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