By Helen Epstein

Shakespeare & Company’s new director Tony Simotes is in his last week of radiation and chemotherapy for throat cancer in Boston, but he was in the Berkshires this weekend to preside over the first read-through of Richard III.

The stellar cast, headed by John Douglas Thompson, includes many Shakespeare & Company veterans including Tod Randolph, Jason Asprey, Johnny Lee Davenport, Nigel Gore, Elizabeth Ingram, Annette Miller, and Rocco Sisto.

Speaking in a whisper, Simotes apologized for arriving late and described some of the side effects of his treatment, including difficulties in concentration and nausea. He brought along an unusual prop: a plastic spittoon, which he used frequently during the three hours that followed.

Unlike many cancer patients in the public eye and unlike the late producer Joe Papp, for example, Simotes believes it’s important to keep his actors and the company’s many associates and audience members apprised of his medical condition. The actors gave him a standing ovation when he entered Studio 3 at Shakespeare & Company’s campus in Lenox, MA. Then they sat down for a three-hour first reading of a production (opening on July 2nd) that promises to be the highlight of this summer season.

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Helen Epstein’s work, including her award-winning profile of art historian Meyer Schapiro, is now on Kindle.