Pioneer Valley Theatre News September 27, 2018

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Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser  September 27 - October 17, 2018 Last weekend to catch the Play by Play festival at the Arts Trust on Hawley Street - three news plays this weekend! And you can catch She Kills Monsters in Ashfield this weekend if you missed it at Gateway City Arts.  The next issue will include events through October 24. 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 Submit Your Theatre Event Suggested Donation at the Door: $10-15 Tickets Available Now! THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS: from Howlround The Impact of Youth Theatre in Palestine by Ashley Marinaccio From the article:  “We are not producing artists; we are creating leaders in society." The words of the late Juliano Mer Khamis, founder and artistic director of the Freedom Theatre in Palestine, still resonate seven years after his assassination. This month, the Freedom Theatre will relaunch its Professional Theatre School after a year and a half hiatus, offering acting, devising, and cultural resistance education to youth in Jenin, the northernmost city in the West Bank—an area that has seen numerous conflicts over the years. Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com Want to know even more about events in the Pioneer Valley and beyond, including reviews, interviews, and previews? In the Spotlight, Inc. Berkshire on Stage Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet PERFORMANCES Smith College Department of Theatre presents  New Play Reading Series: BEAR HUG Thursday, September 27, 2018, 7:30 PM Acting Studio 1 Written by Siobhan McManamon ‘17, directed by Emma Laube ‘17. Callie and Diana come from two wildly different worlds, but that doesn't stop them from falling in love. In a modern retelling of a classic myth, the girls must navigate their feelings and society as only teenagers can -- until everything changes. Free and open to the public. Real Live Theatre presents She Kills Monsters written by Qui Nguyen directed by Dan Morbyrne presented by Real Live Theatre and Pauline Productions First Congregational Church, Ashfield: Thursday, 9/27 @ 7:30pm, Friday-Saturday 9/28-29 @8pm & Sunday 9/30 @4pm TIX: $25 tickets (with $10-$25 sliding scale available as needed), www.reallivetheatre.net SHE KILLS MONSTERS is a funny, irreverent, gory, sexy, and surprisingly touching journey into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and the fraught relationship between two sisters. When Agnes finds her dead sister's Dungeon Master notebook, she must join the campaign to save her sister's soul from Tiamat, and kill a ton of monsters along the way. Bugbears, Dark Elves, Demon Queens, Quantum Leap-obsessed devils, and cheerleading succubi, SHE KILLS MONSTERS has something for everyone! “JOHNNY GUITAR” TO RING IN MAJESTIC THEATER'S 22nd SEASON  September 27 Through October 21 The Majestic Theater celebrates the launch of its 22nd Season with the opening of “Johnny Guitar” on September 6. The madcap musical, by Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins, is based on the legendary Joan Crawford cult Western from the 1950s. The play is a send-up of fifties-style acting, melodramatic romance, and rough and tumble cowboy action, set to a doo-wop/country ballad musical score. The story follows what happens to a sultry saloon keeper and her jealous nemesis when a handsome stranger rides into town. Screwball comedy reminiscent of a Mel Brooks spoof is the result. The cast includes Billy Clark Taylor (Johnny), Myka Plunkett (Vienna), Bethany Fitzgerald (Emma), Michael Morales (Dancin' Kid), Walter Mantani (McIvers), Joe Duda (Turkey), Michael King (Bart), Steven Sands (Eddie) and Michael Garcia (Sam). The play is being directed by Producing Director Danny Eaton, and Mitch Chakour is the music director. Greg Trochlil is set designer, Dawn McKay is costume designer and stage manager is Gary Lamagna.  Tickets for these shows range from $24-$33 and are now available by calling or visiting the box office during its hours of operation, which are Monday through Friday 10am – 5pm and Saturday 10am – 1pm. Subscriptions are still being accepted for the five Season shows.For additional information, visit www.majestictheater.com. Silverthorne Theater Company presents DELECTABLE DURANG A Collection of Six Unruly Comedies September 27, 28, 29 and October 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 PM, September 30 at 2:00 PM Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main St, Greenfield This production will be an ‘homage to the theater‘ featuring Durang’s most pungent satirical takes on the world of the stage. The six plays are The Actor’s Nightmare, Women in a Play Ground, Nina in the Morning, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, One Minute Play & Medea. Every theatrical element will be in full view of the audience throughout, as the actors function as a mini-repertory company, portraying a variety of multi-dimensional characters with serious personal issues who fearlessly leap into Durang’s world of comic mayhem with emotional abandon and a bountiful sense of play. Tickets. The Northampton Playwrights Lab and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, in association with the Northampton Center for the Arts and A.P.E. Gallery Ltd.  present:   PLAY BY PLAY 2018   Third festival of readings of new plays performed by local professional actors with INAUGURAL performances in the Arts Trust Building FlexSpace Theatre!   September 28 – 30, 2018 FlexSpace Theatre, Northampton Community Arts Trust Building, 33 Hawley Street, Downtown Northampton   Featuring new plays by playwrights Leanna James Blackwell, Stephanie Carlson, Meryl Cohn, Harley Erdman, Peter Kennedy, Talya Kingston, and Tanyss Rhea Martula   All performances at 7:30 p.m.  Suggested donation at the door: $10-15   Schedule   Week Two: Friday, Sept. 28: Harley Erdman, INSTITUTION, directed by Talya Kingston Saturday, Sept. 29: Meryl Cohn, ALMOST HOME, directed by Will MacAdams Sunday, Sept. 30: Peter Kennedy, FAMILY GAME NIGHT, directed by the playwright     The Plays   INSTITUTION by Harley Erdman An academic search committee. A professor who refuses to retire. A case of champagne, and four colleagues with vastly different ideas for the future of their institution. These are the ingredients for a fast-moving, madcap 90-minute play that is a mirror of our times – and full of surprises.    ALMOST HOME by Meryl Cohn When Phoebe’s poet partner, Amanda, takes off with a young fan, Phoebe is left with Amanda’s teenaged daughter Jody. Both Phoebe and Jody are outraged at being dumped by Amanda, but is that enough to keep them together as a pseudo-family? Phoebe confronts her past and tries to launch her photography show, while Jody pushes against every boundary she can find. Will the two succeed in their struggle to recreate their relationship without Amanda?  Almost Homeis a drama/comedy about the search for a place to belong.    FAMILY GAME NIGHT by Peter Kennedy On the third Saturday evening of every month, the Mortons gather together for their traditional board game night at Mom and Dad's house. Tonight, however, will be a little different than the usual round of Monopoly or Clue.   What begins with a mildly irritating board game featuring glitter and Grim Reaper hand puppets suddenly turns darker as three generations of the Morton family struggle with articulating wildly different views about their individual end of life (and afterlife) choices. Double Edge Theatre presents 7 Songs of the Refugee, Grenland Friteater of Norway   September 28 and 29 at 8:00 PM Double Edge Theatre This September we welcome back Norway's acclaimed Grenland Friteater with two different performances. 7 Songs of the Refugee, created and performed by Geddy Aniksdal and directed by Tor Arne Ursin, will have its United States debut at the Farm after a sold-out run of Geddy Aniksdal’s My Life as a Man in 2016.  The drama takes us to China twelve hundred years ago to the downfall of the mighty Tang dynasty. We meet the hermit Tu, an old man who is "exiled forever." He fell from a position of high office at the Emperor's court: "It was a misunderstanding: I expressed myself too clearly." Now he is a refugee, living on the few herbs he can find under the snow. In a flashback he remembers his years as a soldier at the front, how he had to leave his family, and the bloody battles he fought. For tickets.   The HCC Alumni Players The Phillips Festival 2018 September 29 at 7:30 PM Leslie Phillips Theater, Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Ave, Holyoke, MA Please join us for the PHILLIPS FESTIVAL 2018, a celebration of creativity, friendship and original theater. For the third year, a talented group of HCC alumni, students, and staff, will showcase one-act plays that are produced, script to stage, in just 24 hours ... yes, ONE DAY ... for the delight of the audience and to honor the legacy of Leslie Phillips, founder of the HCC theater department Facebook event. Want to join the fun? Contact the HCC Alumni Players at hccaplayers@gmail.com or on the HCC Alumni Players Facebook Page or here. Double Edge Theatre presents "Mr. Fumblebody," Grenland Friteater of Norway September 30 at 1:00 PM Double Edge Theatre “Mr. Fumblebody” is a performance and a character created and performed by Lars Vik, an experienced Norwegian actor, director and playwright. Fumblebody is inspired by and is a hommage to the great silent movie masters Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin – and to the  French comedian Jaques Tati. The performance is the story of an ordinary day with Fumblebody at his “Help Agency”. People can call him up to get help in solving all kind of problems. No problem is too little, no problem is too big. The audience will pretty soon understand that Fumblebody himself is the one in need of help.   ”Mr Fumblebody” aims at people from five years and up. It will be performed in english. For Double Edge tickets This will also be performed at the Shea Theater Arts Centeron October 8, at 3:00pm For Shea Theater tickets SEASON KICK-OFF CELEBRATION: Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m. on the Rand Theater stage, Fine Arts Center, UMass FREE and OPEN to all, reservations encouraged. Visit the Fine Arts Center Box Office online. Reception to follow   Join UMass Theater for the Kick-Off Celebration set for Oct. 2   We're so thrilled about our upcoming season here at UMass Theater that we're throwing a party! Join us for our (free!) Season Kick-off Celebration on Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m., in the Rand Theater, located off the FAC Lobby. Book your seats now, at the Fine Arts Center Box Office!  We'll give you excerpts of upcoming shows, preview the backstage technical skill that goes into putting a complex production together, and introduce you to some of the main players in the department.  After the presentation, we hope you join us in the Fine Arts Center Lobby for a reception. The Fine Arts Center Box Office will be open until 7 to process single ticket and subscription orders. Mingle with theater artists as you enjoy appetizers at our reception! Pick up a season sticker! Enter to be one of the lucky few who will win free show tickets or season passes!  Our 2018-2019 season is going to be a powerhouse, featuring a slate of plays that consider the issues of our day from multiple perspectives, whether it's a futuristic comedy about nearly-extinct white people, a powder-keg drama about race and class, or a wildly relevant play about gender identity written in 1613. Emily Dickinson Museum presents Before You Became Improbable October 3, 4, 5, 6 at 6:30 PM Emily Dickinson Museum It took eight years of correspondence before Thomas Wentworth Higginson arrived in Amherst to meet his elusive advisee, Emily Dickinson. Before You Became Improbable reimagines the day of that meeting, offering audience members an encounter with her words and poems in a remarkably personal theatrical experience. This immersive journey returns to the Emily Dickinson Museum in October after sold-out productions in 2014 and 2015. Before You Became Improbable is not a stationary production, but a walking theatrical journey throughout downtown Amherst, en route to the Dickinson grounds. Equipped with a special pair of headphones, audience members are guided carefully through the show, following a path visible to only them, leading them through a series of compelling encounters. The journey ends in the Dickinson parlor, where participants gather to share insights and experiences with the playwright and each other. Please be advised that this production has audience members traveling on foot for the better part of an hour. Participants should feel comfortable walking for much of the time, occasionally on uneven ground. Due to the nature of some historic sites, parts of the show are accessible solely by stairway. More Information. JUST BACK from a month of performance at the 2018 FRINGE & much success - Catch Serious Play Theatre Ensemble's  RETURN FROM THE FRINGE October 5 and 6,  at 7pm  Flex Space/A.P.E@Hawley, Arts Trust building, Northamtpon Each evening two shows:  THE RED GUITAR with master guitarist John Sheldon,  & DO IT NOW: Manual Override with John,Tony Vacca & Paul Richmond  Both directed by Sheryl Stoodley (one 10 minute intermisson) Continue your support for the ongoing Serious Play / Edinburgh Fringe Performance Exchange Project Tickets: $18 at www.brownpapertickets.com               $20 at the door Thank you to this year's Performance Exchange sponsors: BJ Goodwin Fund / NAC, Tanyss & David Martula, Nancy Wheeler, Alyssa Wright Consulting & several anonymous others  THOMAS GLEISSNER photo credit Piti Theatre Company presents Greenfield’s Grumpiest T-Rex - part of the 2nd Annual Great Greenfield DinoFest October 6 at 11:00 AM Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main St, Greenfield, MA 01301 “Greenfield’s Grumpiest T-Rex” is an original play by Piti Theatre's Youth Troupe. It will be performed at Hawks & Reed, as part of DinoFest. DinoFest, presented by Piti Theatre Company and Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, is a celebratory day of performances, food, activities for children, a panel discussion, chalk art, dino films with live music and more! Facebook. New Century Theatre presents Life in the (413) October 7th at 7:00 PM Academy of Music The always popular Life in the (413) comes back to the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton on Sunday, October 7, 2018 at 7:00 pm. Join local actors and musicians as they celebrate the (413) communities as their home sweet home. The all-ages event is a fundraiser for New Century Theatre who are making plans for a 2019 season!  The evening features five original radio plays, penned by local authors and presented as old-time radio theatre - complete with foley style sound effects. Come hear tell of a (nearly true history) of the founding of the towns in the Valley; join a couple of poetry-loving bird watchers; drop in on a family preparing for the competitive world of children's book groups; see what happens when a new dating service in the Valley is introduced; and stop by a Saturday farmer's market that goes wrong during a student protest.  The celebration will feature musical guests Mitch Chakour, Eli Catlin, Stephanie Carlson, and Boston's Aimee Doherty.   Serving as Master of Ceremonies is actor Buzz Roddy, a New Century Theatre favorite, known for bringing his own original mayhem to any event. The radio plays star many of your favorite NCT actors and two surprise guests (we won't mention their names but their addresses are "Town Hall" somewhere in the 413!) This year's event was coordinated by Jarice Hanson who serves as the event's producer. Hanson describes the event as "the perfect antidote to these turbulent times - a place to gather with hometown friends, young and old, and celebrate what makes life here in the 413 so special."  Tickets are now on sale at the Academy of Music: www.aomtheatre.comor call the box office at 413-584-9032 ext. 105. Tickets for this fundraiser are $26; students $16. Smith College Department of Theatre presents  New Play Reading Series presents a few short plays Thursday, October 11 at 7:30 PM Acting Studio 1 THE CRASH, THE CLINIC, TRIO, FUZZ AND POWDER, JOHN 1:5, and an excerpt from NEVER CATCH A FALLING KNIFE. written by Rosemary Ewing '19J directed by Tari Owei '21 Fuzz and Powder—your typical late night stake-out but one officer has something heavy hanging over her head The Clinic—a visit to the college health services turns inappropriate The Crash—a couple copes with the aftermath of an accident Trio—will an affair with a serious age-gap lead to a broken engagement? an excerpt from Never Catch a Falling Knife—Hazel and Jane try to navigate early post-graduation lives while together they attempt to deal with Jane’s worsening mental illness John 1:5—pizza night goes horribly, horribly awry Free and open to the public. Happier Valley Comedy The Ha-Ha's & Friends: ImprovBoston's AllForm Cast October 13 at 7:00 PM Happier Valley Comedy Theater, 1 Mill Rd, Hadley, MA Longtime local favorites The Ha-Ha's perform a completely improvised comedy show on the second Saturday of every month! Each show has a new special guest - this month we welcome ImprovBoston performing their signature format AllForm! Saturday, October 13th at 7pm at the new Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). And stick around after for the 9pm showcase and open improv jam! Tickets: $13 online and at the door. For more info: www.happiervalley.com. AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Northampton 24 Hour Theater Project presents auditions for Northampton 24 Hour Theater Project September 29 at 1:00 PM 33 Hawley St. Northampton MA Announcing auditions for the Northampton 24-Hour Theater Project 2018!  We will perform five 10-minute plays written, directed, and produced within 24 hours. The focus in our projects is on the playwriting - the scripts are 10-minute plays, not skits, and are performed as written; they are not improvised.  We’re looking for actors to fill out our company. Actors in the Project work only one day, but it’s a long, arduous, albeit fun, day. You must be able to commit to the date of Saturday, November 3 from 8:00 am to the end of the second show, approx. 11 pm. We are seeking actors of all types, teen and above.  Auditions will take place Saturday, September 29, 1-3pm in the Arts Trust Building at 33 Hawley St. For questions or further information, please email s.apgar@gmail.com Facebook. CALL FOR THEATER DIRECTOR Black Cat Theater Inc, a community theater group based in South Hadley, MA is seeking letters of interest and resumes for the position of Director for their Spring comedy Blithe Spirit. Rehearsals are on Monday and Thursday evenings and begin January 7th. The show is scheduled for April 4 th -7 th . There will be a stipend for this position. To be considered, please email letter of interest and resume to blackcattheater@gmail.com by October 1, 2018. Request for Proposals Eggtooth Productions Radical Interconnectedness Festival Turners Falls, MA April 26, 27, 2019 We are seeking proposals from artists to address the concerns of marginalized communities.   We invite stories that engage issues of race, age, gender, religion, economic class, and those aspects of cultural identity that have been suppressed.   We seek a wide range of artistic expression: music, dance, theatrical, visual, immersive, installation.   Commission fee will be $500 and Eggtooth will provide the venue, the audience, and promotions for the work.   Email proposals to: lmciner@gmail.com Deadline is October 31, 2018 WORKSHOPS & CLASSES Submit your workshop or class or audition or performance or job or any other theatre opportunity here! Pioneer Valley Theatre Companies Is your theatre company missing? Email me! Academy of Music Theatre Arena Civic Theatre Black Cat Theater Chester Theatre Company The Country Players Eggtooth Productions Exit 7 Players Ghost Light Theater Hampshire Shakespeare Company Happier Valley Comedy Ja'Duke Center for the Performing Arts Ko Theater Works/Ko Festival of Performance Majestic Theater New Century Theatre PaintBox Theatre Pauline Productions Real Live Theatre Red Thread Theater Serious Play Theatre Ensemble Silverthorne Theater Smith College Department of Theatre St. Michael's Players Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. TheatreTruck Turbulent Times Theater Westfield Theatre Group Wilbraham United Players Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*