In Memory of Tina Packer
Announcements
01.27.2026
Revels is saddened to report the passing of Tina Packer, founder of Shakespeare & Company, the Lenox-based theatrical magnet for actors, directors, Shakespeare lovers, and audiences who appreciated her deep dive into Shakespeare’s plays. A scholar, actor, director, and passionate entrepreneur, she could charm, persuade, or fiercely promote her agenda. Her masterwork, Women of Will, described a sorority to which she belonged. She was also a good friend.
Tina and I met in the 1970’s in London when we were both teaching at L.A.M.D.A. We arrived in the U.S.A. around the same time, and in 1978, she founded Shakespeare & Company at Edith Wharton’s mansion in the Berkshires. Her inaugural production was a magical Midsummer Night’s Dream set amongst the tall pines and the rolling lawns of The Mount. In the 1980’s I was honored to direct her in Shirley Valentine at the Charles Playhouse, where she channeled the spiky-haired gamine that was Tina in Paris in the early 1960’s. That was when she lodged at the original Shakespeare and Company, the famous bookstore on the banks of the Seine, and hatched her idea for a theatre company of the same name. To avoid confusion (and legalities) she employed an ampersand in the U.S.-registered title.
To celebrate the turning of the second millennium, Revels joined with Tina and actors from Shakespeare & Company to present our version of The Mysteries, a retelling of the Medieval Mystery plays by Tony Harrison. The play, originally commissioned by Britain’s National Theatre, told the biblical stories from Creation to Doomsday in a secular folk tale style that resonated with the Revels mission. In our production, we chose music that ranged from American shape note to Gospel, to Celtic and Breton folk tunes. With chorus and actors backed with brass, keyboards, and a funky electric bass, the Revels threads wove easily through the play. There were four Padstow horses in the Isaac and Abraham story, and a longsword team sharpened their swords for the sacrifice. Audience members made up the tail of the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve. God arrived atop the forklift truck that was at the center of the maypole dance of creation. Akin to a mummer’s play was The Second Shepherd’s Play, a burlesque entertainment section that had the same appeal of serious fun.
It was a great pleasure to work with Tina and to have our respective communities intersect. Her legacy is the wonderful sprawling engine of Shakespearean research and performance in Lenox and the many, many actors, directors, and students who have experienced and been affected by her vision and the passion that ensures its longevity.
TINA PACKER
September 28, 1938 – January 9, 2026
-Paddy Swanson, January 2026
You can see a video collage of The Mysteries here.
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