June 30, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS THE WRITING ON THE WALL, FEATURING NOTED STARS OF STAGE AND SCREEN
James Naughton, Maria Tucci, John Benjamin Hickey, and Julie White
offer readings from celebrated authors
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute hosts the return of the literary celebration The Writing on the Wall on Sunday, July 20 at 3 pm, featuring a quartet of award-winning actors performing short fiction readings. This special program combines art, theater, and the written word. The event takes place in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
James Naughton, Maria Tucci, John Benjamin Hickey, and Julie White star in a new program featuring dramatic and comic readings taking on searing and sublime subjects. Naughton delivers Michael Cunningham’s stunning coming-of-age story “White Angel.” Tucci offers Margaret Atwood’s devastating parable “Death by Clamshell,” in which Hypatia of Alexandria, a real-life figure who was murdered in late antiquity, narrates the story of her life and death at the hands of a mob. Hickey presents Thomas Meehan’s classic comedy of wordplay "Yma Dream," and White takes on Lynna Williams’s “Personal Testimony,” about trouble in Bible camp as a preadolescent preacher’s daughter begins writing testimonies for her fellow campers.
Actors subject to change.
James Naughton is a two-time Tony Award-winning actor (City of Angels, Chicago) and is known for his long career on the stage and on television. He has an extensive history with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, having been in over twenty productions through the years. Naughton has directed two critically acclaimed Broadway productions: Arthur Miller’s The Price, which was nominated for a Tony, and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, starring Paul Newman. He has worked extensively in film and has recorded voice-overs for decades. In May, he was the special guest at Williamstown’s Images Cinema’s “Remembering Christopher Reeve” event.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Cunningham’s novels include The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, A Home at the End of the World, and most recently, Day. The Hours was made into an Academy Award-winning film, and an opera production was staged at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022. Cunningham’s short story “White Angel” was included in Best American Short Stories 1989. He lives in New York City and teaches at Yale University.
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is known worldwide. Other fiction includes Cat’s Eye, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, and The Testaments. She has also published many books of nonfiction, short fiction, poetry, two graphic novels, and several children’s books. Honors for her work include two Booker Prizes, the National Book Critics Award, and Canada’s Governor General’s Award.
Thomas Meehan (1929–2017) wrote the books for the musicals Annie, The Producers, and Hairspray (all Tony winners) as well as Young Frankenstein and Cry-Baby. He co-wrote the books for Elf: The Musical and Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin. He also wrote Emmy-winning television comedy, collaborated on screenplays, and contributed many pieces to The New Yorker (including “Yma Dream”).
Lynna Williams (1951–2017) taught English and creative writing at Emory University. Her short fiction appeared in The Atlantic and other publications. Her 1992 book Things Not Seen and Other Stories was a New York Times Book of the Year.
The Writing on the Wall is produced by Kay Cattarulla.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of nearly 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Sunday from September through June and daily in July and August. Admission is free to all from January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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