Actor and singer David Joseph, who is celebrating his 10th season at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, currently can be seen playing five different characters in the company’s Henry V, which is up at the Bernstein Theatre until August 23. The self-proclaimed “Berkshires boy," who was raised in Hancock and now lives in Lanesborough, MA, also holds an MBA and runs Cedar Tree Investment Group. I grew up in the town of Hancock, MA but we were so close to New Lebanon, NY that my siblings and I actually attended schools in Columbia County. After graduation, I attended UMASS where I acted in school productions but studied for and earned my degree in business. I then moved to New York City and lived there for six or seven years, where I worked a day job in the business field and also had the opportunity to act in a lot of musicals. Then came September 11th, where I lost two friends, and I moved back to the Berkshires. I didn’t have plans to continue acting, but I was encouraged to join Shakespeare & Company by Elizabeth Aspenlieder, as both an actor and, for six years, the director of sales and special events. Having performed mostly in musicals, I started out at S&Co. with comedies, where there’s more singing and a lot of physical work like fight scenes. Much like an athlete, there’s a lot of conditioning and constant training that comes with that level of physical work, but it makes it more enjoyable for the audience and we as actors get to tell great stories. I like working here because it’s easy to learn and grow as an actor in this environment.
The play I’m in right now, Henry V, is what is called a “bare Bard" version – eight actors portray 30-40 characters. I, myself, play five different characters. The scenery is very simple, just chairs and drapes, and, at the beginning of the play, the chorus encourages the audience to use their imagination. We sing all the music, and do scene changes right on stage. Henry V is one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote and you can really tell that he was at the top of his game. Our region has a really high-caliber arts scene. It’s rare to have this many theater companies in one area putting out such high-grade work. As an actor, I get to work all the time, and not just at S&Co., but I also participate in readings at other companies like Berkshire Theatre Group. Plus, if I have an audition in NYC, it’s only two and a half hours away. At the same time, I get to be close to my family – my parents and siblings still live here – and I can go mountain biking, hiking and swimming whenever I want. I’m a big fan of Kennedy Park, and I like to stop by the Arcadian Shop in Lenox, where you can sit in the café and look at maps to see where you’d like to go hiking that day. The owner, Larry, is the nicest guy and they have a wonderful, very friendly staff of people there.
