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October 22 - November 11, 2020
Some good news for job searchers: ARTSEARCH is now free! Take a look at the post in the opportunities section for a note from TCG regarding this change.
Looking for a show to see this weekend? There are a bunch below. I'm excited to be working on the virtual devised theatre presentation called Stagehand. I'm not sure there are tickets left, but we hope to be able to do this again in the future.
The mask making workshop featured below is also this weekend - consider adding that to your weekend agenda!
The next issue will include events through November 18. 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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MASK MAKING AND PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP
Sat. Oct. 24 3-5pm / Tues. Oct. 27 7-9pm / Fri. Oct. 30 7-9pm
Learn More
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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
From Nicety to Necessity
by Jack Reuler
From the article:
The death of theatre has long been predicted. When films—especially talkies—were invented, people thought theatre would perish. When broadcast TV arrived, the funeral was planned. When cable and VCRs hit the market, the death knell was again sounded. The internet, it was hypothesized, would be the final nail in the coffin. VR and AR were the latest plagues to threaten. But time after time, theatremakers have all been certain we’d find a way to morph and even benefit from new technology. And now will this pandemic not seal our fate as archaic? It may just be the great equalizer.
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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Smith College Department of Theatre
New Play Reading Series
HAVING THE GREYSONS and Other Food for Thought
Written and directed by Marty Bongfeldt
Thursday, October 22 at 7:30 PM
Free, registration required
A live, remote reading of four short-form plays presented in concert. Alfred Hitchcock said, “What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?” These four short pieces present moments, choices, and consequences viewed through the lens of navigating relationships.
Register here.
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Eggtooth Productions, The Academy of Music Theatre of Northampton, and The Shea Theatre of Turners Falls present a Live Theatrical Video Game called Stagehand. The show takes place on Zoom on October 22, 23, 24, and 25th at 7 pm and 9 pm each night.
Tickets are $10 at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stagehand-tickets-123681447539. Access to a computer with microphone, camera and speakers, a basic understanding of Zoom, and a good internet connection are required. Audience members should be 14 years and older.
Staged as a live performance, audience members of Stagehand join the show from home via Zoom to experience this intimate adventure from home. Discovering the unusual powers that come from exploring a live environment via a virtual interface, groups of four will be connected to an in-show avatar that allows the group to search an entire theater full of stories, objects, and characters.
Developing a relationship with their in-world avatar, audience members make choices about where to go, what to look at, and who to engage with, much in the style of a first-person video game. As director John Bechtold offered, “We are exploring that blurry line between a live action video game that blends into live theatrical experience. What stories are possible when you leverage the immedicacy of theater with the powers of virtual connections? We think there's an exciting playground here to bring the human dynamic into a remote world. We hope that theater lovers, gamers, and brave adventurers will come on this adventure with us. We've created this work at a time where two jewels of the Valley - The Shea Theater and the Academy of Music - sit mostly dormant. Even in this time, however, these theaters retain the power to inspire their visitors. Stagehand makes these spaces primary characters amidst an ensemble cast of wonderful Valley performers. We look forward to inviting you in."
Upon arrival, participants check in via a private Zoom call and are sent into this world as a character named Charlie - a stagehand put on a mission by their elusive director. Across the night, the members of the cast, who have taken to various corners of the building while the director is out. Very quickly, a host of mysteries and oddities surface for the audience to unravel.
Working from a new and exciting form, Stagehand offers live engagement with characters, explorable spaces, and a building full of questions waiting for answers. As a Valley-based theater company, Eggtooth is excited to produce a show that is also a love-letter to our local theaters that we love and miss.
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Kand E Theater Group
"Whispers From the Wings" Spooky Storytelling Series
K and E Theater Group's Facebook page, IGTV and YouTube Channel
Fridays 10/23, 10/30 at 8:00 PM
After a successful, all-virtual Local Spotlight Series featuring over fifty theater personalities this summer and an ongoing virtual class series School’s In Session, K and E Theater Group is excited to produce online programming with an October-long presentation of Whispers from the Wings, a series of short terrifying stories presented by fifteen local storytellers.
These horrifying tales premiere every Friday night this October to set the mood and get our audiences psyched for Halloween. K and E Theater Group will present five original short stories that have been written and performed by fifteen local storytellers. Every storyteller will perform their written part of an original scary story without knowing what the preceding or next storyteller wrote or performed.
The local storytellers that are featured in this series include Ryan Bird, Emily Bloch, Stephanie Carlson, Cate Damon, Joe Dulude II, Lindel Hart, Peter Kennedy, Josh Mason, Howard Odentz, Lisa Parker, Josh Prouser, Konrad Rogowski, Kevin Tracy, Seana Walsh, and Christine Zdebski.
Our scary stories can be found on the K and E Theater Group Facebook page, IGTV or their YouTube channel at 8:00 PM every Friday in October.
Our production is in part supported by Easthampton City Arts through the Easthampton Artist Grants Initiative. K and E Theater Group welcomes and appreciates any donations throughout the series and future programming that will help us fund our 2021 season, By Invitation Only. To learn how to help, please visit www.KETG.org.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kandetheatergroup
IGTV https://www.instagram.com/kandetheatergroup/channel/
YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UCjboOVgFra2Ef1DL0X6PXPA
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Journey down memory lane with us as we share filmed performances of all five past Naked I productions this fall, culminating with the world premiere virtual production of The Naked I: Revitalized!
TICKETS HERE
Screening Details
Register for a ticket for one or all six Naked I productions and you will have access to view the filmed performance on each weekend specified below for the entire weekend - from Friday night through Sunday! You can experience the show on your own schedule, any time you like, pausing as needed to refill the popcorn! We will also provide a link to a PDF playbill so that you can follow along and learn titles of the pieces and the artists involved.
Accessibility
Closed captions have been created by 20% Theatre are available and recommended for all to use. Additionally, our brand new production screening in mid-December, The Naked I: Revitalized, will offer ASL virtually as well.
Pay-What-You-Can
Registration for each production is pay-what-you-can, and no one will be turned away. Our plays & events have been $5-$25 Sliding Scale for many years, and we ask you to contribute what you can for yourself and any household viewers joining you.
Panel Discussions
Stay tuned for information about live panel discussions with some of the artists involved in these productions over the years - hosted by Artistic Director, Marcela Michelle.
Questions?
Email us anytime: info@tctwentypercent.org.
The Naked I
Wide Open
2012 Performance on Film
OCTOBER 23-25, 2020
A world premiere original production by 20% Theatre Company
Originally produced in February 2012 at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis.
Inspired by our ground-breaking, sold-out 2009 production of The Naked I: Monologues From Beyond The Binary by transgender playwright, Tobias K. Davis, The Naked I: Wide Open is a brand new play made of monologues and short scenes, featuring the talents of over 60 local transgender/gender non-conforming artists and allies. Fresh, sexy, humorous, gut-punching, and unbelievably honest stories that you don’t want to miss.
The Naked I
Insides Out
2014 Performance on Film
NOVEMBER 13-15, 2020
A world premiere production by 20% Theatre Company
Originally produced in February 2014 at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis
Filmed by Ben McGinley
The 3rd in a series of Naked I plays, The Naked I: Insides Out explores queer and trans experiences through monologues, short scenes, and spoken word poems. This production features the work of nearly 100 LGBTQ artists and allies - including contributing writers, directors, performers, designers, technicians, and more!
Original 2014 production postcard artwork by Archie Bongiovanni.
The Naked I
Self-Defined
2016 Performance on Film
NOVEMBER 20-22, 2020
A world premiere production by 20% Theatre Company
Originally produced in February 2016 at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis
Filmed by Ben McGinley
Building community both locally and nationally, The Naked I: Self-Defined aims to highlight the voices and experiences of trans/queer/otherwise non-cisgender and/or non-heterosexual people through the production of brand new, never before seen monologues, short scenes, movement pieces, spoken word poems, short film, and more - featuring the contributions of over 50 artists.
Original 2016 production postcard artwork designed by an amazing artist in the Mpls trans community who wishes to remain anonymous.
The Naked I
Recognize/d
2018 Performance on Film
DECEMBER 4-6, 2020
A world premiere production by 20% Theatre Company
Originally produced in February 2018 at Minnsky Theatre, Minneapolis
Filmed by Ben McGinley
The Naked I: Recognize/d is the 5th in a series of Naked I plays produced by 20% Theatre Company. Building community both locally and nationally, this production aims to highlight the voices and experiences of trans/queer/otherwise non-cisgender and/or non-heterosexual folks. Written, performed, and directed by LGBTQIAP+ people, this is a show for us, by us, and about us. The Naked I: Recognize/d features 20 brand new staged pieces including monologues, scenes, movement/performance pieces, music performance, and more, and includes the contributions of over 60 LGBTQIAP+ artists.
Original 2018 production postcard artwork by Joy Spika.
The Naked I
Revitalized
2020 World Premiere Production
DECEMBER 11-13, 2020
An original, virtual production by 20% Theatre Company
The Naked I: Revitalized explores queer and trans experience through brand new monologues, scenes, song, dance and movement, featuring the contributions of over a dozen local and national artists on topics including gender identity/ies, relationships, transgender/gender non-conforming experiences and all-around self-defined queerness.
This production was originally intended to be performed live back in April 2020 with many more actors and directors involved. Due to Covid-19, we postponed once, and then again, and then decided to go virtual, which meant shifting gears a bit. Some artists created and filmed their own solo work, and some were able to safely involve other artists. We took what was given to us and edited it all together to create this incredible virtual world premiere performance.
Featured writers/creators include Connie Chang, Sami Pfeffer, Forrest Mainville, Tobias K. Davis, Sea Thomas, Ayesha Adu, Hannah Stein, Rubin Hardin, Kitty Sipple, Nick Malakhow, and Johanna Keller Flores.
The Naked I: Revitalized is the 6th and final Naked I production to be produced by 20% Theatre Company.
Original production postcard artwork by Ethan O'Brien.
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This is a fast moving, funny, educational and moving look at an under represented corner of the Suffrage movement commissioned for the 2020 Centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment.
Catch a shortened version on October 10th
https://themarsh.org/shows_and_events/marshstream/misf-performer-jessica-litwak/
OR in its entirety:
The SOLO Show: Oct 22
With: Jessica Litwak, Kirsten Kammermeyer and Karla Mosley
(An alternate political engagement to the Debate) will be available after on Youtube
The ZOOM Reading: Oct 26
In this Version a group of 11 actors come together to read the play in order to stir up action and discussion. With: Gina Alvarado, Melinda Buckley, Paola Irun, Kirsten Kammermeyer, Joan Lipkin, Jessica Litwak, Ashley Marinaccio, Camille Mazurek, Karla Mosley, Miranda Jane Williams, Nick Sholley
The Discussion: Oct 29th
Citizens (who have watched one or both of the 50,000 Mice offerings) come together to discuss voter suppression, voting rights and what we can do to Get Out The Vote in the last days before the 2020 Election.
The ZOOM Reading: Oct 26
www.theheatcollective.org/suffrage
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From the New England New Play Alliance:
Virtual Theatre and Podcasts
Eventide Theatre Company presents
a virtual reading of
Impossible?
by Lee Roscoe
October 24 at 4:00pm
Sarah St. Mimsey is an artist who struggles to make ends meet. Her lover, Dave O’Sulley, owns a local radio station. Their best friend, Landon Eldredge, is a farmer. As the play progresses, their relationships undergo profound alteration as the newly elected President, Eddie Fabuloso—urged on by his adviser, Nikki Mugg—loses his mental stability little by little as he rearranges a nation in his grip. O’Sulley's reporting on an incident at a Fabuloso rally connects the local action with that of the national scene. Streaming here.
Company One Theatre presents
a virtual production of
Downtown Crossing
by David Valdes
October 22-25
directed by
Summer L. Williams
On Marathon Monday, seven undocumented Bostonians cross paths on the Orange Line. When their train is delayed due to police action at Downtown Crossing, they share their stories—both hopeful and heart wrenching—in intimate, intersecting monologues that spotlight what it’s like to build a life while holding your breath. Tickets: pay what you can.
Catalyze Playwriting Group presents
Catalyze's Open House
October 24
Feeling housebound? Then come over to our (digital) house for some theater, fun, and alternate dimension discoveries. An evening of short theater pieces by local playwrights.
Gardeners of the Galaxy
by Nathan Comstock
Let Slip the Dawgs of Rawr XD
by Gillian Daniels
Maximillian's All-American Apocalypse
by Anna Waldman-Brown
Moon People
by Carl Danielson
Streaming here. The link will be live the day of streaming.
Suffolk University presents
a virtual production of
To Gather Apart
devised by Nael Nacer and the cast
streaming October 22-24
To mute, or not to mute? When's the last time you had a hug that wasn't with someone you live with? Peek behind the mask of a Zoom support group as they share stories of burritos, noisy neighbors, and the search for roses when you hit rock bottom. To Gather Apart is an online comic drama about creating relationships in a virtual world. Tickets: $0-$20, pay what you can.
Merrimack Repertory Theatre
presents
a digital performance of
Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak on It!
by Cheryl L. West
October 23-26
directed by Malika Oyetimein
How ‘woke to the vote’ are we in 2020? This electrifying, immersive call to action is inspired by the life of famed civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer—whose courage, humor and grit reminds us there’s courage in the face of fire, hope in tomorrow and that we all have a stake in our country.
For more information and registration, click here.
New Hampshire Theatre Project and Strawberry Banke Museum present
a virtual performance of
Well-Behaved Women
by Jes Marbacher
October 27, 10:00am
directed by Catherine Stewart
Playwright Jes Marbacher deftly crafts a work in two acts, the first focusing on Susan B. Anthony’s attempt to vote and subsequent arrest in 1872, and the second on Alice Paul and the suffragettes of the 1910’s. RSVP here.
New Hampshire Theatre Project presents
Elephant-in-the-Room Series®
October 22
online readings
directed by Genevieve Aichele
The Elephant-in-the-Room Series® presents play readings and community conversations about stigmatizing topics that we as a society often feel uncomfortable discussing in public. Following the reading, a facilitated audience conversation focuses on attitudes about ethical issues involved in the subject over time and today, and our responsibility as a society to bring these issues out of the shadows and into the cultural mainstream. Tickets: free.
A Wider Circle
by Mary Ellen Hedrick
October 22
A Wider Circle examines the complex challenges of substance misuse disorder. The reading and subsequent discussion are co-presented by Network4Health, South Central Public Health Network, and DerryCAM. Tickets: free.
Firehouse Center for the Arts presents
Fright Night Festival
streaming October 28
The First Annual Firehouse Fright Night Festival will boast six new shorts from New England playwrights, staged and presented to you in the comfort of your homes and sure to leave you chilled—not just because of the weather. The evening's program includes:
Delicious
by James Wilkinson
directed by Sally Nutt
The Resurrectionists
by Robert J. LeBlanc
directed by Jim Manclark
Camp Lumberjack
by Deirdre Girard
directed by Abby Seabrook
Circus Train Wreck
by Andrea Fleck Cardy
directed by Tim Diering
Whispering to the Dead
by Deirdre Girard
directed by Steve Faria
Meeting Kyle
by Lawrence Kessenich
directed by John Budzyna
Tickets: $5
Huntington Theatre Company presents
Dream Boston
now-October 28
Dream Boston is a series of short audio plays that asks local playwrights to imagine favorite locations, landmarks, and their friends in a future Boston, when we can once again meet and connect in our city. New performances are released each Wednesday.
Echoes
by Patrick Gabridge
directed by Rosalind Bevan
Friends make a late-night visit to the Old State House on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre on March 5, 2025. Streaming from October 21.
The Moment Before the Lights Went Out on the Rothkos
by John Kuntz
directed by Rebecca Bradshaw
Museum visitors encounter two Rothko paintings and discover the mystery of each other at the Harvard Art Museums on January 22, 2022. Streaming from October 28.
To watch previous episodes, click here.
Boston Podcast Players presents
Shameless Breathing
by Mimi Augustin
We sit down with playwright Mimi Augustin and chat about Milk on the Brain and On Being a Working Actress in Boston. Then we listen to an excerpt of her full length play Shameless Breathing. Just your average slice of life if you happen to be living in a mental facility. Stream the podcast.
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The FEAR Project
Written and Directed by Jessica Litwak
Based on interviews conducted by the actors: Amir Levi, Fiona Rene, Mariana ČÞková, Evangelos Lalos, Joan Lipkin, Zach Rothman-Hicks, Fiona Rene, Amir Levi, Elishka Soukupova and Jessica Litwak.
www.theheatcollective.org/thefearproject
The FEAR Project is a theatrical action based on interviews about fear. The experience includes pre-show interviews, the viewing of a play, and a post- show discussion with the artists about the 14 FEAR questions. The FEAR Project aspires to create an atmosphere of restoration by giving people a chance to communicate about fear in a safe and creative space. It has been produced in The Czech Republic, India, and the U.S. This time it is being performed virtually and internationally.
THREE CHANCES TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE FEAR PROJECT:
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OCTOBER 25th, 2020 EU 07:00 PM Europe (1:00 NY Time, 10:00 am CA Time)
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OCTOBER 30th, 2020 California 07:00 PM Pacific Time (10:00 NY Time)
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Join our theater witches
in COVEN-19 |
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Presented Oct. 29 & 31 at 7:30, Oct. 30 at Midnight
Free.
Visit the Fine Arts Center Box Office to register.
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When hard times hit, find your people and build a community to create joyful, resilient, magical art to share with the world.
That's what COVEN-19, Or, Magicks for Unprecedented Times aims to do, and its company of theater witches hopes community members join them in creating warmth and light in dark times. Led by dramaturgy MFA students Maegan Clearwood and Percival Hornak, and undergrad Helen Rahman, an online coven of 13 performers and creators are fusing witchcraft traditions, feminism, and theater into an online, immersive format.
"For me personally, magic is a source of healing and introspection," Clearwood says, and she wants to use it "to be with other like-minded people and figure out how to make the world a better place."
In keeping with that ethos, this will be a devised piece, meaning that rather than working from a script, the company builds the work by exploring questions and themes together. "It's a really nice opportunity just for us to experiment with ways of making theatre that are egalitarian and collaborative," says Hornak.
The finished piece will develop over the course of rehearsals, culminating in an interactive experience for the audience. After gathering to begin the performance, audience members will be led into separate break-out rooms via Zoom, where they'll find company members who will invite the audience to make magick with then, with experiences curated for the specific people present in the room with te performers.
While Clearwood reads tarot and has used her practice to help her puzzle out the answers to knotty problems on theater productions in the past, others in the coven/company are newer to witchcraft and theater and discovering how they interpret that connection. The coven is exploring a variety of types of magick, like sigil drawing, candle magic, kitchen witchcraft, and divination tools like tarot cards or rune stones.
Rahman expects skeptics in the audience, and welcomes people of all different belief systems. One of the things she's hoping to come out of this production is an opportunity to see where different religions and rituals intersect and to find commonality of belief. Developing confidence in one's own intuitions, for example, is an important life skill regardless of belief status, she points out.
COVEN-19 will perform around Samhain — the ancient holiday that predates and in some ways influenced our concept of Halloween — when the veil between our world and the other is at its thinnest. The time is ripe for magick-making: join us!
Presented live online Oct. 29 and 31 at 7:30 pm and Oct. 30 at Midnight.
This event is free. Visit the Fine Arts Center Box Office to claim your spot in the virtual audience now. |
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The Drama Studio
She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms
10/30 at 7:30 pm, 10/31 @ 7:30pm, 11/1 @6:30pm
She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms tells the story of Agnes Evans following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, she stumbles into a virtual journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was Tilly’s refuge. In this new adaptation of his critically acclaimed, high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies and nasty ogres, writer Qui Nguyen embraces the idea of digital storytelling to further blur the lines between ghosts and memories, fantasy and reality, and chaos and stability.
Directed by Dan Morbyrne
Designed by Austin Yelinek
More information
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The Fever by Wallace Shawn
October 31-November 1, 2020 at 33 Hawley
Performed by Peter B. Schmitz & Directed by John Hellweg.
10/31 & 11/1, 2pm sharp—no late seating will be permitted.
This is an in-person, limited capacity, socially distant performance. Attendees are required to wear masks, though the performer will not be masked. Seating will be 6 feet apart and attendance will be capped at 15 people. Show run-time is 1 hour, 45 minutes, no intermission.
RSVP is required to attend! Please email meredithbove@apearts.org to reserve your spot no later than Wednesday, 10/28, while space remains.
$10-15 suggested donation. Payable online via PayPal in advance (preferred) or at the door.
The Fever was awarded an Obie for Best New American Play in 1991.
From The New York Times: “Mr. Shawn exposes the contradictions and compromises of the urban liberal mind with a mercilessness that is sly and at times hilarious.”
We hope you can attend this sharing of Schmitz's and Hellweg's most recent investigation of The Fever.
Photo by Joey T. Schmitz.
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Silverthorne Theater Company
The Tattooed Man Tells All
November 13 at 7:30, and November 14, 2020 @ 7:30 p.m.
Silverthorne Theater is honored to once again bring to audiences an important piece of dramatic writing, The Tattooed Man Tells All - a vital voice in the telling of the stories of the Holocaust. Peter Wortsman's gripping solo piece, was woven from a series of interviews conducted, on a fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, in Vienna in 1975 with witnesses to and survivors of the Holocaust, the scene of Western Civilization's worst excesses. By condensing these accounts into that of a survivor who is committed to a no-holds-barred retelling, Wortsman gives us a fully fleshed out dramatic character, the Old Man, warts and all, for the audience to come to know.
Silverthorne's filmed version of the play will be broadcast online on November 13-14, 2020 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are available at https://stc.booktix.com/.
This production is a fundraiser for Silverthorne Theater Company. There will be a free live Zoom discussion with the playwright immediately following the viewing on Friday, November 13th. The Zoom link will be made available closer to the show.
Silverthorne’s original live world premiere performance of this play in 2018, starring Keith Langsdale, was directed by Ellen Kaplan. The play will be performed in Germany at the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen this coming December.
For questions and further information, please contact us at silverthornetheater@gmail.com, call 413-768-7514, or visit https://silverthornetheater.org/ .
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