OLLI Players

   
The Last Romance, September 2025 and Mum Bett’s Minute and The Loyalist, October 2025

The OLLI Players is a project of the Performing Arts Initiative of Berkshire OLLI, presenting Readers’ Theatre events throughout the year. The Performing Arts Initiative aims to develop and present theatre events and experiences for the OLLI membership.

Theatre-based OLLI programming is supported through the generous philanthropy of Nancy and Michael Vale, whose bequest established Michael and Nancy Vale Performing Arts Fund at OLLI at Berkshire Community College.

Mission:

An all-volunteer group, the mission of the OLLI Players is:

• To provide live theatre in a “Readers ’ Theatre” format utilizing the theatre expertise of OLLI members;
• To provide OLLI members opportunities to participate in Readers’ Theatre performances;
• To present polished readings of dramatic literature, both old and new, to enrich the theatre knowledge and experience of OLLI members
• To emphasize learning and education in its productions and ancillary events such as panel discussions.

OLLI PLAYERS EVENTS – Fall 2025

The OLLI Players had two in-person staged readings in the fall of 2025.  The shows were held at the Koussevitsky Arts Center, Berkshire Community College.

The Last Romance, a tender romantic comedy by Joe DiPietro

Director: Jeannie Marlin Woods

The Last Romance

The Loyalist and Mum Bett’s Minute, two history plays set in the time of the American Revolution

by Jesse Waldinger

Director: Barbara Waldinger

Mum Bett’s Minute and The Loyalist

ABOUT THE ARTISTIC DIRECTORS OF OLLI PLAYERS

Dr. Barbara Waldinger and Dr. Jeannie Marlin Woods are Co-Artistic Directors of the OLLI Players.

Dr. Barbara Waldinger holds a Ph.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Program in Theatre. She taught at Queens College, Hofstra University, and Marymount Manhattan College.  Currently she teaches for OLLI, where she is a founding member of their Performing Arts Initiative, the Play Reading Shared Interest Group, and the OLLI Players.  She has collaborated with playwrights on original scripts as Artistic Director of HRC Showcase Theatre (for twenty years), a director for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's New Play Festival, the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, and Berkshire Voices Skills Labs. She is also a reviewer for the online publication Berkshire On Stage. 

Dr. Jeannie Woods has enjoyed a long career as a scholar, actor, director, and theatre educator. She also holds a Ph.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Program in Theatre. For 29 years she was a Professor of Theatre at Winthrop University and at Western Illinois University. Dr. Woods was a Fulbright Scholar at the Taiwan National University of the Arts. She is the author of Theatre to Change Men's Souls—The Artistry of Adrian Hall and Maureen Stapleton: A Bio-Bibliography.

Jeannie served 20 years as Artistic Director of the New Stage Ensemble Theatre Company and the Starry Night Repertory Theatre. Since moving to the Berkshires in 2021, she has directed for the Schenectady Light Opera Company (SLOC), Bennington Theatre, and the Berkshire Voices Playwright Skills Labs. She has taught several theatre courses for OLLI and is a reviewer for Berkshire On Stage.

GET INVOLVED—AUDITION!

We hope to see you at the show with OLLI Players!