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April 1 - 21, 2021
Warmer weather ahead, but PLEASE stay safe as COVID cases are not falling like they were there... Hampshire county is still at very high risk, as are nearby counties. It's not time to see your friends yet! Hopefully vaccinations will be on the horizon soon, but hunker down and watch some Zoom theatre in the mean time!
This is the final weekend to catch The Waiting Room, presented by Silverthorne Theater Company. Read Chris Rohmann's notes on the play here.
The next issue will include events from April 8 through April 28. 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
Envisioning Change
by Andrea Kovich
From the article:
The global pandemic has highlighted societal injustices and devastated the arts. It has forced organizations to pause and reflect, providing people with a challenge and the opportunity to redesign theatre with equity and inclusion in mind. However, there’s a tendency to think about recreating what we once had instead of seizing the opportunity to create new accessible—and therefore more inclusive—practices. Will we simply try to retrace our steps to get our theatres up and running, or will we deliberately choose a new path and cover new ground?
Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
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From the New England New Play Alliance:
Virtual Theatre
and Audio Plays
Boston Theater Marathon XXIII: Special Zoom Edition features readings of 10-minute plays by New England playwrights in collaboration with New England theatres. Audiences are encouraged to lend their support to area theatre companies and to the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, which provides financial support to theatres and theatre artists in need. The readings begin at noon each day, with the exception of Sundays. A question-and-answer session follows each play. This week's plays:
Okay
by Laurie Lee
April 1
sponsored by Boston University School of Theatre
Ora, Kala, Aurora, and Yonder join a walk-in Zoom meeting to find comfort in new strangers during a pandemic, but they are hindered by past estrangements.
A Nasty Piece of Work
by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro
April 2
sponsored by Asian American Playwright Collective
A bitter actress rants about her terrible co-star, revealing more about herself than anything else.
The Ark is a Metaphor
by Andrea Fleck Clardy
April 3
sponsored by Cohasset Dramatic Club
Two women argue about the meaning of bad weather as a violent storm comes closer and closer.
The Grand Reality
by Jeanne Beckwith
April 5
sponsored by Liars & Believers
When two strange faces show up on her laptop screen, Abby learns that every choice matters. Every decision counts. The fate of the whole universe is at stake.
First Date, QT Style
by Donna Sorbello
April 6
sponsored by The Wilbury Theatre Group
A comic piece about middle age online dating that doesn’t go where you think it will.
Tickets: free, click “purchase tickets” to join the reading.
Silverthorne Theater Company presents
The Waiting Room
now-April 4
written and directed by Steve Wangh
The Waiting Room invites audiences to enter the Bardo, the liminal space between one earthly life and the next. It’s a fantastical live-on-Zoom play, and a comedic, gender-bending, theatrical tour-de-force in which actors and audience can all reflect on the repercussions of the annus horribilis we’ve just endured and perhaps even alter our personal karma. Creatively testing the limits of the Zoom platform, this dramatic experiment in cyber-rebirth takes us beyond our personal and societal divisions to affirm the very essence of what it means to be a human. Tickets: $15.
The Wilbury Theatre Group presents
God Talks to an Agnostic
written and directed by Don Mays
now-June 6
Pitted against the backdrop of the racial and cultural issues of today, this innovative twelve-part audio play explores the impact of religion on race, Black culture, and a collective need for faith in something larger than ourselves. Episodes premiere each Sunday at 3:00 pm on WNPN 89.3 FM and are then available the next day on all podcast streaming platforms. Stream here: free.
tiny_Theater presents
March Madness
now-April 3
tiny_Theatre celebrates one year of performing plays from a closet with March Madness: a one-page play performed live on Facebook every day throughout the month of March and into early April. There's no set time for performances (it is March Madness, after all). However, if you aren't online when they go live, you can stream each performance after the fact on the tiny_Theatre Facebook page. The New England playwrights featured in this week's performances are:
March 31
And All That Jazz
by Rosanna Yamagiwa Aifaro
April 3
Tinted Glasses
by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro
Stream here: free.
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UMass Theater's Visionary Futures speculates on what it takes to make a more just world
Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theater for Social Justice Movements
April 1, 7:30 pm: Gender Experience TM by M. Sloth Levine
April 2, 7:30 pm: Unity by Phaedra Scott |
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What kind of future do you envision? The trio of visionary playwrights that have been commissioned by the UMass Theater department offer a glimpse of the futures they envision in Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theater for Social Justice Movements series.
Starting March 24, audiences can see one, two, or all three of the works that comprise this series: Unity, by Phaedra Scott; Beyond Reform, by Jaymes Sanchez, and Gender Experience TM, by M. Sloth Levine.
Creator Josh Glenn-Kayden, a third-year MFA directing candidate, encourages you to join us in envisioning the intersection of science fiction and activism. Inspired by “Octavia’s Brood,” a short story anthology named for writer Octavia Butler that explores the connection between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change, this project sits at the intersection of theater and activism. Three professional playwrights — Phaedra Scott (Good Hair), M. Sloth Levine (whose Interrobangers was a popular Play Lab entry last spring), and Jaymes Sanchez (The Cucuy Will Find You) — have each written a 30-minute play and have been paired with activists (TreaAndrea Russworm, Finn Lefevre, and Eli Plenk, respectively) whose work intersects with the content of the play. These teams met regularly throughout the writing process to create plays that speculate on how societies may reimagine concepts like gender, justice, and identity in the future. (Visit our website to read bios of the artists as well as updates about our activtists, cast, and play titles.)
“I think there's something inherently hopeful about Visionary Futures,” says Tatiana Godfrey, dramaturg for the project. “Both the activist and the playwright are asking the same question, 'What does a more just world look like?'”
Glenn-Kayden and Godfrey are also asking these questions, building a new, inclusive process of play creation. This integrative experience allows the activists to be involved in the writing process and trajectory of the play, rather than being brought in to consult afterward.
“We're creating a new model of collaboration that includes more voices in the generative process and are excited to develop plays that are imaginative and forward thinking while still having roots in the activism work of our present moment,” says Glenn-Kayden.
Each performance in March and April is a fully digital production, with virtual aspects designed by Streaming Producer Leanna Keyes.
Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theater for Social Justice Movements will be livestreamed to YouTube. Join us as we embark on this imaginative journey into envisioning a new world.
This event is free. Visit the Fine Arts Center Box Office to claim your spot in the virtual audience now.
Support our productions with a donation.
(Image by Tatiana Godfrey) |
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SILVERTHORNE THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS "THE WAITING ROOM": AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE PLAY IN TWO WORLDS
Silverthorne Theater is proud to present the World Premiere of the unique, written-for-Zoom play, THE WAITING ROOM, by Steve Wangh. During each of the six live online performances, audience members will have chances to interact with the actors. The shows are scheduled for April 2, and 3 at 730 pm and April 4 at 3 pm. Tickets are available now at Eventbrite.com and on the theater web page at https://silverthornetheater.org/special-events.
THE WAITING ROOM is set in two worlds. On one level, it takes place in the Bardo - a liminal reality between one life and the next, where souls gather to await their next earthly assignment. On another level, it occurs on the Zoom platform, in which actors and audience members exist in separate "rooms" but share the fiction of being together. It will be performed by a diverse cast of Western MA actors under playwright Wangh's direction in conjunction with veteran STC director Chris Rohmann.
Silverthorne's production of THE WAITING ROOM continues its mission of engaging with artists bringing new work to the stage. In this case, the piece is ideally suited to current performance conditions. "At the time we started work on the play, live performance venues were still shuttered," said STC producer Lucinda Kidder. "The Waiting Room enables live audience participation in a truly unique theatrical experience from any location!" The Company has launched several successful online performances throughout 2020, and it recognizes that it may be some time before patrons will feel comfortable returning to live productions.
THE WAITING ROOM reflects contemporary society in whimsical but often unsettling ways. Characters speak as the person they were when last on earth, but they may inhabit a body differently gendered or of different ethnicity or race. They enter and exit their Zoom rooms as they are called to be born in a new body. In the course of the play, actors and audience members meet up in Breakout Rooms for conversation and questions.
In its examination of the cycle of life and death, the play proposes a different take on mortality that will spark reflection and discussion among all ages and persuasions of theater lovers. It wipes away all personal and societal divisions to affirm the very essence of what it means to be a human as each new arrival departs to be born once more with a clean slate. Such a premise prompts the most basic of existential questions- as well as humorous reactions to the mixed bag of reassignments.
Residing in Brattleboro, Steve Wangh has been a playwright, director and teacher of acting throughout his highly successful career. He was associate writer for Emmy-nominated The Laramie Project, and penned the influential acting text, An Acrobat of the Heart, detailing the training methods of Jerzy Growtowski. He maintains his connections with New York University’s Experimental Theatre Wing as professor emeritus. He is the author of fifteen plays and was dramaturg for Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecencies: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.
The cast includes Kyle Boatwright (Amherst), Jen Campbell (Holyoke), Mark Dean (Northampton), Michael Garcia (Bondsville) and Kevin Tracy (Holyoke). Ethelyn Friend (New York) plays the unseen Stationmaster who oversees the Bardo. The technical director is John Iverson (Bernardston), assisted by Maggie Donovan (Mt Holyoke College).
For ticket sales, questions and further information, please contact us at silverthornetheater@gmail.com, call 413-768-7514, or visit https://silverthornetheater.org/special-events .
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Springfield College Theater presents
Tartuffe: the Hypocrite! by Moliere
April 8, 9, 10 at 7:00 pm and April 10 at 2:00 pm
Springfield College Simpson Fine Arts Series Zoom Webinar - 993 9943 8926
The funniest comic masterpiece ever about how good people can be deceived by a dangerous hypocrite who only pretends to be virtuous! Orgon, the father of a normal family, forbids the joys and engagement wishes of his children in obedience to his cherished house guest, the righteous and puritanical “man of faith,” Tartuffe! What will happen when he discovers this so-called “godly man” has illicit interests in his own wife?
This production will be presented online combining live actors and recorded scenes, and delightfully incorporating the homespun techniques of Toy Theater, featuring simple flat puppets, in a playfully imaginative Zoom-scape.
Join the Springfield College Theater actors for this delightful event!
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Theater Between Addresses
Staged Reading: These and Those by Ruth Geye
April 15 at 7:30 PM
Written by Ruth Geye, directed by Abigail Weaver.
Six college students pile into a small basement apartment for Shabbat lunch, but they can’t keep the outside world from showing up uninvited.
This is a public reading and tickets are free, however we invite attendees to donate to the Trans Asylum Seekers Support Network in lieu of tickets. (https://givebutter.com/tassn)
This play contains some strong language that is not suitable for young theatergoers.
Starring:
Alice Zelenko
Dylan Hoffman
Amelia Annen
Ben Natan
Nic Sanchez
Jake Krakovsky
Theater Between Addresses is a constellation of theatre artists and writers working together to foster, workshop, and produce new work. Brought together out of a necessity for connection and creative outlet, this collective produces original theater for the end of the world. If you would like to get involved, message this page or write to us at
theaterbetweenaddresses@gmail.com
https://theseandthose.brownpapertickets.com/
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Restoring Community: Valley Writers Inspiring Theatre
APRIL 18
6 - 7 P.M.
Western Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s most esteemed literary figures. Artistic producer and playwright Emily Wiest reintroduces us to some of these writers’ works through new interpretations from actors— Phanésia Pharel, Annelise Lawson, Tony Aidan Vo, and Austin Jones, performed especially for this series. Explore the relationship of the Connecticut River Valley’s history and language through a series of captivating performances. David Foster Wallace, Ocean Vuong, and Charlise Lyles are amongst the esteemed authors whose works are to be performed.
In addition to the main event, enjoy a conversation with Glendale Ridge Vineyard, get in the mood with a carefully crafted playlist in your inbox, and receive delightful diversions in your mailbox. Finally, ticket holders will reap specials to Easthampton businesses to make your event experience complete.
Tickets are $25 per household / $40 for two events (through March 21)
CitySpace offers reparations pricing with reduced or free tickets available for BIPOC.
TICKETS
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