Remembering Tina Packer: A Titan of Shakespeare Performance, Dies at 87

Tina Packer, an ardent and prolific interpreter of Shakespeare who left Britain in the 1970s to start a repertory theater in his name in the woods of western Massachusetts and ended up directing all three dozen or so of his plays, died on Jan. 9 in Pittsfield, Mass. She was 87. Her death, in a hospital, was caused by organ failure, said her son, Martin Asprey, an actor who worked with her. In 1978, Ms. Packer founded Shakespeare & Company with Kristin Linklater, a voice teacher; Dennis Krausnick, an actor, director and writer who later became Ms. Packer’s husband; and a group of other theater artists. By training an actress, Ms. Packer served as the company’s artistic director until 2009, as it presented a mix of Shakespeare’s works and other plays — classical, modern and new — first at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Mass., and, since 2001, at a nearby complex of five theaters, including one that was named for Ms. Packer in 2012. She helped oversee the growth of the company from a small outdoor troupe to a major regional theater with an annual revenue of nearly $4.9 million. “I wanted to set up a company that could be like Shakespeare’s company,” she told The New York Times in 2017, adding: “Shakespeare is so full of insight and so full of glorious poetry that we were inspired by him.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.