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July 2 - 22, 2020
I don't know about you, but I sure am grateful for the rain we've had the last few days. I hope you are all staying safe and dry and the thunder isn't terrifying anyone's dogs.
It still feels like reopening to safely see live theatre is a long way off. This video features a few theatres reopening soon - including Barrington Stage's plans for social distancing for their upcoming season.
The next issue will include events through July 29. Submit upcoming events via the link below or by emailing me before Tuesday at midnight. Any questions, comments or feedback? Email me at pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
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YOUR EVENT HERE
$5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing!
Email me to reserve your dates.
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THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS:
from Howlround
Lifting Up What We're Throwing Down
by Kirsten Greenidge
From the article:
I began my tenure as Mellon Foundation Playwright-in-Residence in 2016 with Boston, Massachusetts’ Company One Theatre (C1)—an organization that had been an artistic home to me long before I was part of the Mellon cohort. In a way, I grew up professionally with Company One, finding my footing as an emerging playwright both locally and nationally as C1 also grew in professionalism and reputation. One of the most fascinating elements of my work on staff here during the residency has been participating in C1’s revision of its mission to more transparently work for social justice and the subsequent programmatic adjustments in support of that mission. I’ve been part of department meetings, staff meetings, company retreats, production meetings, rehearsal processes, and community events where the coalescing questions are always: Are we being honest? Are we dreaming big enough? Is what we’re doing contributing positively to a healthier, more just, and more equitable Boston?
Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
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PERFORMANCES and COVID-19 RESOURCES
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Piti Theatre Releases Four Digital Pieces with the Toronto Fringe Collective:
Local Teen Podcasts Up First, July 1 - 3
Piti Theatre Company, an international touring troupe based in Shelburne Falls, has been busy re-inventing their theatre work in a digital format given COVID-19. One example of this new approach will be on offer through the Toronto Fringe Collective, an online festival that grew out of the cancellation of the Toronto Fringe Festival where Piti had planned to offer their pro-pollinator production "To Bee or Not to Bee" as part of the Fringe's KidsFest. Piti's pieces are part of a collection of digital work made by 50+ theatre companies from around the world and premiering from July 1 – 12 at fringetoronto.com. The Festival is operating on a "pay what you can" model where patrons can "tip" the artists.
The Fringe Collective is divided into Four Acts.
July 1 – 3: Piti's Valley Playwright Mentoring program for local teens wound up creating a series of podcasts based on stories from the teens lives. A selection of six of these scenes addressing themes like COVID-19, opioid abuse, mental health will be included in the Fringe Collective.
July 4 – 6: To Bee or Not to Bee: The Waggle Dance is a new podcast featuring characters and songs from Piti's live show teaching the young and young at heart how to do the "waggle dance" – the dance honeybees use to tell each other where to find nectar.
July 7 – 9: Sammy and "Le Grand Buffet": Making up Problems is a video from the world of Piti's solo clown performance which encourages all ages to create (and solve!) their own physical comedy "problems" using common objects found around the house.
July 10 – 12: Hawaii 5G: This is the first episode of a new Piti podcast series geared for ages 16+ inspired by the television series Hawaii Five-0 and the nationwide roll-out of 5G wireless infrastructure with no safety testing. The solo show culminating a year's worth of podcasts will premiere at the Ko Festival of Performance in Amherst next summer.
More about all of these performances at ptco.org. Teens interested in registering for Valley Playwright Mentoring can go to ptco.org/vpm
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Double Edge is dreaming and planning 6 FEET APART, ALL TOGETHER, a Summer Spectacle for the time of COVID-19. The spectacle is inspired by and drawing from the rich history and favorite moments of our past performances, as well as looking toward a future including an ode to nature and our living culture. The entire main site of DE’s Farm would allow for limited audiences to spread out on a reflective and invigorating walk through scenes in the air, in the labyrinth, by the stream, in the arbor, and in the garden. Visitors will interact with the land, visual installation, and small scenes from the past, as well as a look toward what we are creating together for the future. 6 FEET APART, ALL TOGETHER will be performed in rounds to allow for less than ten people per group, and will take place at the end of July and a few weeks in August.
Box office opens June 15.
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K and E Theater Group Presents Local Spotlight Series this Summer!
K and E Theater Group is excited to present its LOCAL SPOTLIGHT SERIES on Facebook, IGTV and YouTube celebrating Pioneer Valley’s theater artists. KETG Artistic Director Eddie Zitka hosts the summer series streaming online every Tuesday and Friday starting on May 26th and through the rest of the summer!
Stay tuned and check out our lineup by liking us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribing to our YouTube channel! See you in the spotlight!
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National Theatre Live YouTube Channel
Streaming will begin at 2 PM EST.
Les Blancs
Yaël Farber directs the final play by Lorraine Hansberry: a brave, illuminating and powerful work that confronts the hope and tragedy of revolution.
Streaming from 7pm on 2 July, until 7pm on 9 July.
The Deep Blue Sea
Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece contains one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama, played by Helen McCrory.
Streaming from 7pm on 9 July, until 7pm on 16 July.
Amadeus
Lucian Msamati plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s iconic play, directed by Michael Longhurst with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia.
Streaming from 7pm Thursday 16 July until 23 July.
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SILVERTHORNE THEATER ANNOUNCES
2020 THEATER THURSDAY PLAY READING SERIES
Following up on its highly successful Theater Thursday play reading series last year, Silverthorne Theater Company will take advantage of the use of online streaming to bring three new plays to the Valley and beyond this summer through the 2020 Theater Thursday Play Reading Series. All three plays in this year’s series will be streamed free to Silverthorne’s Facebook page and will feature live discussions with the playwrights following the readings. The series is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the generous support of the Greenfield, Hadley and Buckland Cultural Councils.
On Thursday, July 16, the second Theater Thursday play will be read as a co-production with the Chester Theatre Company and will be directed by CTC’s Danial Elihu Kramer. Northampton playwright Darcy Bruce’s Soldier Poet is a prize-winning piece that was premiered by Theatre Prometheus in 2017 at the Anacostia Arts Center in Washington D.C. The play centers on a gripping and timely story. In Aleppo two American Army Rangers rescue an injured Syrian woman about to give birth. At a nearby hospital, a neonatal nurse with an unwavering sense of duty struggles to save the lives of infants as her hospital is bombed.
The final 2020 Theater Thursday play, which streams on Thursday, August 20, is written by Northampton playwright, James McLindon – Distant Music. Penney Hulten directs this complex piece set in January 2000. On a snowy night in an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Connor, Maeve and Dev meet, each agonizing over an irrevocably life-changing decision. The three fight over religion and beer, whether truth exists at all, the differences between the Irish and Irish-Americans, the many failings (according to Dev) of the latter, and, finally, the capacity of stout to explain, metaphorically and metaphysically, most of life. The play, winner of numerous awards, has been produced across the country and is published by Dramatic Publishing. The playwright will join in for a live post-show talk about the play.
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From the New England New Play Alliance:
Virtual Theatre and Podcasts
Arlekin Players presents
State vs Natasha Banina
based on Natasha’s Dream
by Yaroslava Pulinovich
directed by Igor Golyak
July 5
In State vs Natasha Banina, a girl tells the story of her life in a small-town orphanage, and her desire to be free; to fly away and break from her vicious existence. From the inside of a "ZOOM" court room, she will make twists and turns through her unique appeal to audience as the jurors, letting them into her world, where she dreams about love, family, acceptance, adjusting, and her future. Ultimately the two worlds collide and you decide her fate. RSVP here.
Theatre@First present s
a Firstworks reading:
Changing Lanes
by Maggie Kearnan and Taylor Buehler
directed by Elizabeth Ross
streaming until July 31
Sam, a young drama teacher at a Catholic high school, is grappling with student-teacher boundaries in his new position. When personal tragedy brings his world to a halt, he turns to his students and mentors to reassess and recover. Stream the play.
Boston Podcast Players presents
Brother Nat
by Liana and Jabari Asim
In this sung-through, epic opera inspired by Nat Turner's historic slave insurrection, the hero toils and dreams of freedom until an angel appears and issues a divine directive: Rise and revolt! The sign that Nat has been waiting for arrives: a solar eclipse. In the darkness, he gathers his warriors and seizes the plantation. Against all odds, Nat dares to rise above injustice, revolt against slavery and believe in the redemption of humanity. Stream the podcast.
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