Hope you are all having a very merry holiday season! Hope to see you all at the Academy for First Night Northampton or at one of the many other great shows coming up.
The next issue will include events through January 22. 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
I was first introduced to the work of Polish playwright, painter, and theorist Stanisław Witkiewicz in the summer of 2018. I had recently joined CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) as associate artistic director, and we were in the early stages of adapting and developing his play Metaphysics of a Two-Headed Calf through an international collaboration with STUDIO teatrgaleria in Warsaw.
Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
A SKULL IN CONNEMARA
by Martin McDonagh
performed by no theater A dark comedy by the writer/director of "In Bruges" and the Academy Award winning film "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"
The December performances are sold out.
The Production has been held over.
January 2020 performances are Thursday/Friday/Saturday
January 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 8:00 pm
Performed by No Theater veterans Roy Faudree, Charles Holt, Jane Karakula and Tom Mahnken, the play takes place in McDonagh’s fictional rural West Ireland small town where people “smile at you ‘til you’re a mile away before they start talking behind your back."
A.P.E. Gallery, 126 Main Street, Northampton, MA
No Theater, the resident theater of A.P.E., takes its time working on its original scripts and productions of the published works of playwrights. No Theater presented three separate local productions of Richard Maxwell's CAVEMAN over a period of three years before its New York run in 2013. 2018's google gogol was the result of members of the community reading several translations and adaptations of Nikolai Gogol's Ревизор (THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR) for a year.
A SKULL IN CONNEMARA is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
A SKULL IN CONNEMARA was first presented as a Druid Theatre Company and Royal Court Theatre co-production in Galway, Ireland and then in London in the summer of 1997. "Mr. McDonagh's great strength is that he combines a love of traditional story-telling with the savage ironic humour of the modern generation.... In A SKULL IN CONNEMARA, a gravedigger, whose job is to disinter the bones of seven-year-old corpses and smash them to a pulp, is hotly suspected of killing his wife." THE GUARDIAN
Based in Northampton, No Theater has been presenting their new original experimental works in Western Massachusetts and around the world since 1972, alongside innovative productions of plays by such diverse writers as Shakespeare, Chekhov, Čapek, Kroetz, Gogol, Williams, Albee, Berkman, Maceda, Mullin, McDonald, and Maxwell.
House opens at 7:30pm. Performance starts promptly at 8:00pm. No late seating.
Running time approximately 90 minutes.
Limited seating (20).
Limited engagement, 4 performance only, Friday/Saturday, December 20/21 and 27/28, 2019.
The Happier Valley Championship! December 28th at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)
In this competitive comedy show, two teams of improvisers face off through scenes and games to see who can win the ultimate prize: an old trophy we found in someone's attic. Saturday, December 28th at 7pm at the Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). Tickets: $13 online and at the door.
For more info: www.happiervalley.com.
First Night Northampton
December 31
Downtown Northampton - Many Venues!
The Northampton Arts Council is delighted to present our city’s 35th annual New Year's Eve celebration and festival of the performing arts on December 31, 2019. First Night Northampton continues to be a special opportunity to celebrate the cultural vibrancy of our community while sharing time with friends, neighbors and visitors. The event falls on a Tuesday this year, we look forward to welcoming enthusiastic crowds at the venues and on the streets of downtown.
Once again, we will witness a spectacular display of fireworks at 6:15 pm—all visible from the heart of the city. As midnight approaches, we’ll gather together outside the Hotel Northampton for a unique “ball-raising.” A bargain-priced button is still the ticket to each performance at every venue, day and night. We ask you to join us, and our partners at PeoplesBank, by sponsoring this alcohol-free, family-friendly event.
The Understudies: An Improvised Musical! January 4th at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)
Be part of the fun as brave improvisers and their trusty musician create an entire musical from scratch. Saturday, January 4th at 7pm at the Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). Tickets: $13 online and at the door.
For more info: www.happiervalley.com.
Improvised Mockumentary January 11th at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)
A new limited run show inspired by The Office and Christopher Guest films! Saturday, January 11th at 7pm at the Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). Tickets: $13 online and at the door.
For more info: www.happiervalley.com.
AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
Mount Holyoke College, Department of Theatre Arts Jan 13
Looking for musical director for production of "Lizzie, the musical" at Mount Holyoke College. March 5-8
Paid position.
The Play Reading Co-op is currently seeking submissions of full length plays from New England writers for a monthly, ongoing reading series. The mission of the co-op is simply for local theater makers to have a chance to get in a room together to work on high quality material for our own learning, enjoyment, and camaraderie. It's also a great way to learn about new works and writers. The reading is intended to be informal and without an audience other than other co-op “members” and potentially a friend or colleague(s) of the writer. If the writer is looking for a discussion or feedback afterward, we are happy to make space for that as well. We are ideally looking for plays with at least 2 female identifying roles.
