Remembering Karen Beaumont

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA—A memorial celebration for Karen Beaumont, Professor of Theater at Bard College at Simon’s Rock for 30 years and a well-known actress, will be held in the McConnell Theater in the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock on Saturday, Apr. 27 at 4:00 p.m.

A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Karen studied acting, mime, and movement in Montreal, Paris, and London as well as while working as a professional actress at Stratford Festival, Ontario before moving to the Berkshires in 1981. She became a core member of Shakespeare and Company in 1983 and continued her affiliation with them until her death in January. Leading roles with the company include Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor and Emilia in Othello. She joined the Bard College at Simon’s Rock faculty in 1989 and directed over 80 plays at the school while continuing an active professional career.

As Associate Director of the multi-media performance of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind up Bird Chronicles, she was involved with the international tour to Edinburgh and Singapore. Karen also participated in the development of Carol Gilligan’s stage adaptation of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, playing the role of Mistress Hibbins.

Karen was a beloved teacher to generations of theater students at Simon’s Rock and her classes in Clown, Movement, and Mime were a distinctive part of their theater training. She also taught in the training program at Shakespeare and Company and served as movement director on productions. In recent years, she focused her teaching on Somatic movement training.

The community at Simon’s Rock welcomes anyone who knew or was touched by Karen to come and celebrate her generous creative life and work with us.

(press release and photo sent to WSBS from Bard College at Simon's Rock for online/on air usage)