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Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter

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July 4 - 24, 2019

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you can spend the day not working, maybe some grilling and day drinking... but if you need to get out of the sun and into some a/c, there are some shows tonight.

The 28th Ko Festival of Performance, with the relevant theme of "Habitat: Human" opens tomorrow. They have an incredible lineup of performances by artists from across the country.

Click to access the PVTN Google Calendar - if you want to add your events, send me an email and I'll give you permission.

The next issue will include events through July 31. 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

The Final Say by Meryl Cohn - June 28-July 14
Get your tickets today!

Ko Festival of Performance July 5 - August 4
Tickets and More Information

YOUR EVENT HERE
$5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing!
Email me to reserve your dates.

THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS:

from Howlround
Creating an Intersectional Future: The Deaf Theatre Action Planning Session
by Jill Bradbury

From the article:

Thirty Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing (DDBHH) theatre artists, administrators, and scholars gathered in Boston 15-17 March 2019 for the Deaf Theatre Action Planning Session (DTAPS). The idea for DTAPS, one of four proposed convenings selected as part of the HowlRound Challenge, grew out of the 2016 National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) roundtable Creating Opportunities for Deaf Theatre Artists. The purpose was twofold: to develop a future-focused, action-oriented plan for a national network and to create training-to-production pipelines that will foster the long-term education and advancement of Deaf theatre artists. The Boston convening ended with working groups having been organized to develop projects such as a playwriting retreat, a community database, and a national organization to provide professional development opportunities for DDBHH theatre artists.

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?
Pioneer Valley Theatre Google Calendar
In the Spotlight, Inc.
Berkshire on Stage
Stagestruck
ArtsBeat Radio and News Colum n

Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet

PERFORMANCES

Hampshire Shakespeare Company presents Henry V
Directed by Noah Tuleja
July 4-7
7 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Adult: $15 | Student/Senior: $10 | Child: $7
No one turned away for lack of funds.

All performances take place at the Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies, 650 E Pleasant St, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

King Henry V is all in favor, and to this end he invades France. A good war? A just war? One of Shakespeare’s most beloved history plays offers us a most ambiguous hero, a dubious cause, against-the-odds victories, and one of the most rousing pre-battle speeches ever penned. Join us as we head “Once more unto the breach, dear Friends,” with this streamlined, small cast, ensemble production of King Henry V.

Tickets

Strident Theatre presents THE FINAL SAY
By Meryl Cohn
Directed by Jonny Epstein and Susanna Apgar
Actors: Susanna Apgar, Kyle Boatwright, Marty Bongfeldt, Jeannine Haas, Steve Pierce, Chris Rojas

July 4-7, July 11-14
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00 PM, Sunday at 2:00 PM
Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College

Naomi might finally get her play about her grandmother’s wartime survival and heroism produced – if only a bombastic musical with an eerily similar story line, written by her former mentor, weren’t just about to open off-Broadway. Naomi seeks the help, and friendship, of her late grandmother’s closest confidant, as she navigates a highly complicated road toward the truth. As Naomi decides how far she will go to protect her beloved grandmother's story, she discovers that a spunky production assistant, Martha, may be the key to untangling this mess …. and Naomi’s heart.

This comedy/drama attempts to answer the questions: Who owns a story? And can an idea really be stolen?

The Final Say was the winner of the Eventide Arts New Play Award, and the runner up for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award.

Tickets.

Chester Theatre Company presents Now Circa Then by Carly Mensch
July 4-July 14; Thursdays at 2pm and 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, Sundays at 2pm
Town Hall Theatre, 15 Middlefield Road, Chester, MA

A budding romance forms between two young historical reenactors as they become increasingly entwined with the lives of the immigrant couple they play at a New York tenement museum.

Tickets.

Ko Festival of Performance presents THE LAST RAT OF THERESIENSTADT
July 5, 6 at 8:00 PM, July 7 at 4:00 PM
Holden Theater, Amherst College

Lead Writer/Performer/Deviser: HILARY CHAPLAIN
Director/Deviser NANCY SMITHNER
Puppeteeers/Makers/Devisers: ARIEL LAURYN & MINDY ESCOBAR-LEANSE
Composer/Musician: SERGEI DREZNIN
Lighting Design: SABRINA HAMILTON
Scenic Design: JUDY GAILEN
Dramaturg: STEPHEN RINGOLD

Our 2019 season opens with THE LAST RAT OF THERESIENSTADT, a show about Sofia Brünn, a Weimar cabaret star from 1930’s Berlin who finds herself transplanted to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. In this completely foreign habitat, she forges an unlikely friendship with Pavel, a rat (played by a puppet), who despite the lack of food that has driven away the rest of his kind, remains out of love for her and her art.

THE LAST RAT is show about resistance and hope, and the need to fill the soul as well as the body. A black comedy, it’s a low tech, multi-media play with music, rod/bunraku style puppetry (our titular Rat), shadow puppetry, overhead projections (artwork from the camp used to set the scene and illustrate a landscape for our story) — and three performers.

Developed at Ko during a 2017 rehearsal residency, the piece was performed in New York at The Tank and to sold-out houses at two theater/puppet festivals in Poland. It won the Jury Grand Prize, Student Jury Prize, Audience Prize, A Moment of Beauty in Puppetry awards at the Lalka Tez Cztowiek Puppet Fest, Warsaw, Poland. It will be touring to Israel in the fall.

Tickets available online
kofestboxoffice@gmail.com
(413) 542-3750

Ghost Light Theater will present Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama How I Learned to Drive

July 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13 at 8:00 PM and July 7 at 2:00 PM in the Mark Landy Party Hall at Gateway City Arts, 92 Race Street in Holyoke. Directed by Sue Dziura.

How I Learned to Drive is a warm, tragic, funny, and strikingly perceptive memory play in which a young woman named Li’l Bit looks back on her warped experience with love and struggles to forgive in the face of her past sexual trauma. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 the matinee performance, and will be available at the door or online.

How I Learned to Drive addresses difficult subject matter but does so with compassion, sophistication, and gentle humor. Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play, as well as her second OBIE.
This play deals with difficult subject matter and is intended for mature audiences.

How I Learned To Drive is presented with permission from Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
#GLTHILTD

Facebook Event.

Happier Valley Comedy presents The Understudies: An Improvised Musical
July 6 at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater, 1 Mill Rd, Hadley, MA

Be part of the fun as four improvisers create an entire musical from scratch. Saturday, July 6th 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.

MAJESTIC THEATER SUMMER CHILDREN’S THEATER SCHEDULE:
ALL TICKETS: $9.50 each ($9.00 each if all three shows are purchased at the same time)

DISNEY MULAN JR.
Monday, July 8 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, July 9 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, July 10 - 10am, 1pm

Sunday July 28 - 1pm & 4pm
Monday, Juy 29 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, July 30 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, July 31 - 10am, 1pm

DR. SEUSS'S THE CAT IN THE HAT
Monday, July 15 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, July 16 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, July 17 - 10am, 1pm

Sunday August 4 - 1pm & 4pm
Monday, August 5 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, August 6 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, August 7 - 10am, 1pm

CHARLOTTE'S WEB
Monday, July 22 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, July 23 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, July 24 - 10am, 1pm

Sunday August 11 - 1pm & 4pm
Monday, August 12 - 10am, 1pm & 6:30pm
Tuesday, August 13 - 10am, 1pm
Wednesday, August 14 - 10am, 1pm

Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour in Northampton, presented by North Star
Four shows July 9 & 10 1:00 pm and 6 pm
Three County Fairgrounds, 113 Old Ferry Rd, Northampton, MA

Circus Smirkus is coming to Northampton, thanks to North Star! Circus Smirkus, New England's premier traveling youth circus, proudly presents its all-new show, “Carnival.” Come to the Big Top Tent for a spectacular lineup of unforgettable acts, with amazing acrobats, clowns,(Gate 4, 113 Old Ferry Road, Northampton) jaunty jugglers, and wondrous wire-walkers. Awe, delight, and side-splitting laughter awaits!

Tickets available locally at River Valley Co-op and A2Z Science and Learning Store and online. More information.

IMPROVISATIONAL COMEDY WITH THE MAJESTERS SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, July 10 - 7:30pm - $9
Wednesday, July 17 - 7:30pm - $9
Wednesday, July 24 - 7:30pm - $9
Wednesday, July 31 - 7:30pm - $9
Wednesday, August 7 - 7:30pm - $9
Wednesday, August 14 - 7:30pm - $9

Returning on Wednesday nights will be Improvisational Comedy with The Majesters, which features a troupe of the best improv comics from across the Pioneer Valley and beyond for an evening of unscripted comic mayhem. The program begins with improv scenes similar to "Whose Line is it Anyway," and is followed by a storyline that's developed with help from the audience. Improvisational Comedy with The Majesters takes place Wednesday nights at 7:30pm July 10-August 14. Tickets are $9 and are available at the door the night of each show.

Ko Festival of Performance presents OK, OK by Katie Pearl
July 12, 13 at 8:00 PM, July 14 at 4:00 PM
Holden Theater, Amherst College

Writer/Performer: KATIE PEARL
Additional Performers: LAURIE McCANTS, CARRIE J. COLE, SHEILA SIRAGUSA
Scenic Design: DEB O
Lighting Design: SABRINA HAMILTON

OK, OK is a performance reckoning with the racism of today through the lens of what Katie Pearl learned—and didn’t learn—about Oklahoma history while growing up in Tulsa, OK. Performed by Pearl with a local ensemble of four, OK, OK weaves together personal biography and civic narrative to crack open closed surfaces and get at what’s underneath. Hilarious, heartbreaking and informative, it reveals the truths and untruths we as a country tell ourselves about who we are, where we came from, and where we’re going.

OK, OK was developed, in part, during a 2018 Ko Festival Rehearsal Residency.

Running time: Approx. 85 minutes. Suitable for ages 12 and up.

Tickets available online
kofestboxoffice@gmail.com
(413) 542-3750

“WHAT WE SEE” THEATER WORKS AT 33 HAWLEY STREET AND SCDT

What We See
A.P.E. @ Hawley is launching "What We See", a month long project of five theater works in development at 33 Hawley Street and SCDT from July 7 – August 4, 2019.. “What We See” is designed to provide support for the evolving work of these five artists and artist groups. Each project will be provided a week of time and space in the flexible performance space at 33 Hawley St. and at SCDT, and will culminate in public showings at the end of each week. Each project was selected because of its unique vision- use of spoken language and movement, use of other mediums, choice of performers and audiences they hope to reach. “What We See” will assist each project deepen their investigations of what makes theater.

July 8-12(SCDT):
Andrew Pester’s Prelude to a Eulogy is an unearthing of queer ancestry through multidisciplinary archive, community storytelling, and performance ritual. The week-in-residence will be part improvisation and part composing, reading, and digesting.
Public showing and Q & A: Friday, July 12 at 7 pm. By donation.

Happier Valley Comedy presents The Ha-Ha's & Friends: Axolotl
July 13 at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater, 1 Mill Rd, Hadley, MA

Local favorites The Ha-Ha's perform alongside special guests from Boston Axolotl! Saturday, July 13th 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.

PUBLIC WALK THROUGH & CONVERSATION-
Serious Play Theatre Ensemble’s
Culmination of July Week of Dramatic Exploration
GETTING OUR FEET WET
First Step- MOVING WATER THEATRE PROJECT
* Saturday, July 13 at 7:30pm / Gathering in Downstairs Lobby
Donations toward continuation of this project at the door
The Big Space- Northampton Arts Trust- 33 Hawley St.

Following closely on the heels of Serious Play’s June presentation of THE WALL with Jessica Litwak, this July, five collaborating artists and a select group of ensemble actors, enter the spaces at the Northampton Community Arts Trust building as part of the July Block "theatre in development” residency series, “WHAT WE SEE” produced by A.P.E @Hawley. This is Serious Play’s intensive week of theatrical collaboration exploring the movement, sound, musical, visual and dramatic possibilities around our often invisible, yet extremely valuable resource…WATER...

Be added to the audience Walk Through & Discussion list for this event-
emailseriousplaytheatre@gmail.com OR phone 413-588-7439

TheatreTruck Meet & Greets are BACK by popular demand!
We've heard from lots of folks hoping to get together, so we are answering the call.

WHAT : A casual night out of chatting and networking. Grab a drink, say hello, talk up your latest project. We hope to see you there.

WHO: Performing Arts People of the Valley

Join us in Northampton for our kick-off. It's "community pint night" at the Brewery, so you can get a pint and choose which featured non-profit to support.

PLEASE help spread the word and add your company members and colleagues to the guest list.

This is a very low-key gathering. Come when you can, stay as long as you like. We will be there 6-9.

Tuesday, June 16
6pm-9pm at Northampton Brewery in the bar area
http://northamptonbrewery.com/community-pint-night/

Hampshire Shakespeare Company is pleased to present The *Annotated* Taming as a part of our 30th season of Shakespeare Under the Stars!

The *Annotated* Taming:
Or, Out of the Saddle, Into the Dirt
From Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew

Adapted & Directed by Toby Vera Bercovici
with music & lyrics by Old Flame

July 17-21 & 24-28
7 p.m.
Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies

Ticket Prices:
Adult: $15 | Student/Senior: $10 | Child: $7

For more info & tickets visit www.hampshireshakespeare.com
https://hsctaming.bpt.me/

Chester Theater Co. and Eggtooth Productions
Present
A new immersive theater experience created by John Bechtold

Gem of the Valley
July 18 at 3 PM, 19 at 6 PM, and 20 at 3 and 6 PM

Gem of the Valley is a headphones-based immersive theater piece that puts you on a walk through the town of Chester, en route to CTC stage. Designed for small groups of no more than six people at a time, you are set on an hour-long adventure that blurs the borders between theater, dream, and real life.

With a storied town as a central character, Gem is a tribute to Chester and its home-grown theater that celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer. The show is directed by John Bechtold, whose previous immersive works around the Valley include Sam's Place, Deus Ex Machina, Before You Became Improbable and The Winter's Tale.

How Do I Purchase Tickets?
Tickets should be purchased directly from Chester Theatre Company.

Strange worlds. Fantastical adventures. Mythic visions. Who is Baron Von Munchausen? Hero? Liar? Buffoon? Double Edge’s upcoming Spectacle is an ode to joy and a journey of the imagination indoors, outdoors, to the stars and back.

"Reality? Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I’m delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever," says Baron Munchausen.

I am the Baron is created by the DE Ensemble and directed by Matthew Glassman & Jeremy Louise Eaton.

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY

July 19 - August 18

PaintBox Theatre presents EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A PIRATE
Williston Theater
18 Payson Avenue
Easthampton, MA

They areeeeeeee back with more jokes, more treasure, and more shenanigINs-and-OUTs. Kelsey Flynn, Troy Mercier, Myka Plunkett, and (out on his maiden voyage with PaintBox) Gerrin Mitchell will be holding strong this summer on deck with all new jokes. You're always welcome to join the crew for the third installment of the saga that is PaintBox PIRATES !!!

July 20, Saturday, 10:30 & 1:00
July 21, Sunday, 10:30 & 1:00
Aug 7, Wednesday, 10:30 & 1:00

PIRATES TICKETS

“WHAT WE SEE” THEATER WORKS AT 33 HAWLEY STREET AND SCDT

What We See
A.P.E. @ Hawley is launching "What We See", a month long project of five theater works in development at 33 Hawley Street and SCDT from July 7 – August 4, 2019.. “What We See” is designed to provide support for the evolving work of these five artists and artist groups. Each project will be provided a week of time and space in the flexible performance space at 33 Hawley St. and at SCDT, and will culminate in public showings at the end of each week. Each project was selected because of its unique vision- use of spoken language and movement, use of other mediums, choice of performers and audiences they hope to reach. “What We See” will assist each project deepen their investigations of what makes theater.

July 14-21:
Long Bright Day is Karinne Keithley’s new play about political avatars and human community. A great leader decides to quit making pro-forma public statements so she can commune with an immensity on a boat by her lake house and rule her country in peace. A small community of political exiles wait and wait for their work to produce change. Everyone's done saying things the way they always said them. Everyone's watching the television. If they had bigger imaginations, they could say more. Or at least so says a chorus of cats out in the interplanetary light.
Community Playwriting Workshop
Mon-Fri July 15-19: 9:30am-12 noon, pay-what-you-will
Public showing of work in progress: Saturday 20th 7pm: By donation.

Happier Valley Comedy presents The Happier Family Comedy Show
July 20 at 3:00 PM
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (125 W Bay Rd., Amherst)

Monthly family-friendly improv comedy show, great for 5-13 year olds and their adults. It's funny for the whole family! Saturday, July 20th at 3pm at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (125 W Bay Rd., Amherst). Tickets at the door: $10/Adults, $5/Kids, Free/4 yrs and under (Reduced admission for museum members).
For more info: www.happiervalley.com.

Happier Valley Comedy presents Not In Charge
July 20 at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy Theater, 1 Mill Rd, Hadley, MA

Join the talented group Not In Charge for a polished, fast-paced improv show inspired by true stories from the cast and audience! Saturday, July 20th 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.

Ko Festival of Performance Story Slam
Saturday, July 20 at 8:00 PM
Holden Theater, Amherst College

Since 2011, Ko Festival of Performance has hosted story slams: a fast-paced evening of true stories. This year’s “Habitat” themed story slam can be seen for one night only on Saturday, July 20 in the Holden Theater at Amherst College. For reservations please go to kofest.com, call (413) 542-3750, or email  kofestboxoffice@gmail.com.

Ko Festival Artistic Director, Sabrina Hamilton says, "each summer the Ko Festival is curated on a theme that we think is timely and of compelling interest to people in the Pioneer Valley. The festival becomes a kind of five-week think tank, each week we present a different show that offers a different and entertaining lens on the theme.  Most of the Ko Festival artists come from across the country, but we like to get more local participation into the mix and thus, most of the Story Slam storytellers are local. The Slam is a chance to hear stories from our neighbors about their own experiences as they relate to the theme."

Stories must be true, first person (though they need not be about the storyteller, there does need to be some first-hand involvement or witnessing). and related to Ko’s season theme of “HABITAT.” Hamilton says “This year we’re interested in stories that have to do with human habitats – particularly changes in human habitats. For example, we might have a story that looks back at where someone grew up, or about move to a new locale or culture. It could be a story about you, or a story about someone or something you’ve personally observed, but somehow it must have that first-person element. There’s lots of room for lots of kinds of stories., but all stories must be 5 minutes or under and told without notes. A gentle warning tone is sounded at four minutes and a far louder chime at the cut-off point. Hamilton says laughingly, "storytellers are allowed to finish the sentence they’re in the middle of — but no run-on sentences!”  There are 3 sets of 5 storytellers.

Many of the performers will be telling stories that they have worked on in the 6-day “FIRST PERSON: Crafting Your Story for Performance” workshop that Ko offers each summer. The sold-out class is taught by Jerry Stropnicky, a multi-faceted theatre artist (director, writer and actor) who has traveled widely, creating original large-scale, site-specific performances in communities facing trauma, crisis, transition, or change. For this work, as well as for his role in co-founding the national Network of Ensemble Theaters, Jerry was honored as a United States Artists Fellow in 2010. More information about Stropnicky available at kofest.com

Others who are interested in pitching a story can email info@kofest.com with their contact information (including a phone number), a brief bio, and a description of the story they’d like to tell.  Most of the roster of storytellers will be set before the event, but Ko also saves at least one “wildcard” slot to be given away before the last set. If there are more people interested in these slots than there is space for on the roster - prospective storytellers audition their first lines and then the audience decide which story they’d like to hear in its entirety. In fact, the Grand Prize winner of Ko’s very first Story Slam, the “Secrets” one, Amherst resident Anne Burton, was so inspired by the stories she has heard that she found the courage to tell her own hysterically funny of her experience of moving from a desk job to a floor job at the Playboy Bunny Club in NYC.

Each audience member is given a ballot on the way into the Holden Theater, and they vote for winners in 3 categories: Most Poignant or Moving, Most Humorous, and Best Storytelling Skills. The person getting the most overall votes wins the Grand Prize. There are festive refreshments and prizes. Hamilton adds, “the story slam is immensely popular. It usually sells out - probably because we are blessed to live in an area rich with story and full of talented raconteurs. The event is also our annual fundraiser that is part of the funding package that allows Ko to bring a 28th season of exciting work to the Valley. So at the end of the evening - we feel that everyone is a winner."

The Ko Festival of Performance Story Slam will be held one night only: Saturday, July 20 at 8:00 PM. KoFest performances take place in Amherst College’s Holden Theater, located behind the Admissions Office off South Pleasant Street in Amherst, MA. Tickets are priced at: $16 General and $10 for SNAP/EBT cardholders. Tickets are available online at kofest.com, by email at kofestboxoffice@gmail.com  and by phone at (413) 542-3750. The box office phone line is staffed daily from 1-5 and 1 to curtain on performance days.

Ko Festival of Performance presents Mettawee River Theater Company's The Ring Dove
Sunday, July 21 at 8:00 PM
Amherst College Observatory Lawn. The backup rain space is Amherst’s Holden Theater.

This year, Ko Festival of Performance will present a special outdoor family friendly show for one night only. The Mettawee River Theatre Company has spent two years preparing a new version of “The Ring Dove,” which they first performed in 1988. An allegorical tale about friendship, it is drawn from The Panchatantra, a collection of stories whose origins reach back over 2,000 years, to ancient India.

The central characters of “The Ring Dove” are a crow, a rat, a turtle and a gazelle, whose behavior and relationships reflect many aspects of human nature. The production tells the story of the creatures’ growth in friendship with each other, as they achieve strength and harmony through cooperation and understanding.

The production will incorporate an array of giant figures, puppets, and masks and will be performed out under the stars in a landscape permeated with live music, song and a spirit of celebration. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and insect repellent, but leave the dogs at home.

The Mettawee River Theatre Company, founded in 1975, creates original theater productions which incorporate masks, giant figures, puppets and other visual elements with live music, movement and text, drawing on myths, legends and folklore of the world’s many cultures for its material. The company is committed to bringing theater to people who have little or no access to live professional theater. Each year Mettawee presents outdoor performances in rural communities of upstate New York and New England as well as performing in the New York City area. For more information visit mettawee.org

There will be one performance only, on Sunday, July 21 at 8:00 PM. The performance will be held on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street in Amherst. Rain Space: Amherst College’s Holden Theater. Tickets are $9 Adults / $7 Children (12 & under). Cash or check only. No credit cards at the door. Tickets and further information on the savings that come with the KoFest “Passes & Posses” program are also available at kofest.com or by calling the box office at (413) 542-3750.

AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

SCARLET SOCK FOUNDATION BEGINS GRANT CYCLE

Non-profit seeks to promote social-justice theater with $500 and $1,000 grants to qualifying theater companies and individuals

The Scarlet Sock Foundation is currently accepting grant applications. Theater companies and individuals with a social-justice focus are encouraged to apply online at scarletsock.org. Social-justice theater is a tool for promoting awareness of socially relevant topics. It’s a platform for the expression of individual differences and a catalyst for discussion for community members who fee marginalized and/or stigmatized. Companies whose work will include this focus will be considered for grants in the amount of either $500 or $1,000.

Children and/or young adults (ages 5-18) who are interested in attending theater arts camps, workshops, conferences, or other theater-related programs but are not able to attend because of financial need are encouraged to apply for individual grants.

Theater companies who receive Scarlet Sock Foundation grants will be invited to share their projects at the foundation’s annual gala in 2020.

The Vintage Cellar East

We are a large vintage mall in The Keystone Mill in Easthampton, MA. Check us out if you are a local playhouse or theatre looking to rent props or even buy props for period pieces that can be reused.

Please feel free to email or call 413 977 1978.

SILVERTHORNE THEATER COMPANY ANNOUNCES “SHORT & SWEET FESTIVAL OF NEW (tiny) PLAYS” FOR SPRING OF 2020

Silverthorne Theatre Company of Greenfield, MA, announces its Short & Sweet Festival of New (tiny) Plays, to be held in spring 2020, and invites submissions of original, unpublished works for the stage, in any style, with:

∙ No more than 20 minutes' playing time

∙ No more than four actors (reasonable doubling okay)

∙ Simple production values

Scripts selected for the Festival will be given full, low-tech productions. We will pay a small royalty. This is not a workshop opportunity. Submissions must be finished scripts, not works-in-progress.

Submission protocol:

∙ Electronically, in PDF format.

∙ The filename should be the title of the play (or a reasonable abbreviation).

∙ Include a title page and character descriptions.

∙ Number the pages.

Submissions that do not meet these and the criteria above will not be considered.

Playwrights are welcome to submit more than one script to the Festival, as long as they meet the guidelines.

Deadline for submissions: August 1, 2019
Send pdf files to Rebecca Daniels, STC Literary Manager: stcliterarymanager@gmail.com

JOB OPENING at UMass Amherst
VISITING ARTIST IN PLAYWRITING/LECTURER POSITION

The Department of Theater at the University of Massachusetts Amherst invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure-track lecturer in African American Theater and Playwriting/Playmaking. This is a spring semester initial appointment with the possibility of renewal for an additional year, beginning January 15, 2020. The Department seeks a candidate with experience in playwriting and/or playmaking, African American theater and/or African American cultural production and a demonstrated record of professional theater experience at the national level.
Responsibilities include: Teaching courses in playwriting/playmaking and African American theater, teaching undergraduate- and graduate MFA-level courses, and interacting with the Department’s multicultural curriculum and public outreach initiatives. This position is central to the Department’s interest in exploring and generating new theatrical works, both in workshop form and on our main stages as part of our production season. Candidate must have M.F. A. in Theater or equivalent professional experience. Salary is commensurate with experience.
To apply, please submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae (including email and phone contact information for references) and three current letters of recommendation to UMass Theater Chair Gina Kaufmann via email.

Springfield College Theater seeking Scenic Designer/Technical Director
August 26, 2019
Springfield Colllege scene shop and Fuller Arts Center theater

The Theater Program at Springfield College invites applicants for a position as Scenic Designer/Technical Director for the Springfield College Theater. The program produces one play each semester, and the position is contracted on a per production fee basis. To apply, please contact Professor Martin Shell, Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts department, at mshell@springfieldcollege.edu, with a letter of interest, CV, and references.

WORKSHOPS & CLASSES

Ko Festival Workshop TOY THEATER

July 8 – 13, 2019

with John Bell & Trudi Cohen of Great Small Works

A light-hearted lecture by Great Small Works’ own singing professor Dr. John Bell will introduce the 19th-century history of Toy Theater (also called paper theater) — the pleasures of its traditional practice in Victorian parlors, and contemporary revival on stages and in classrooms around the world. Participants will be shown some basic techniques and materials. We will discuss image and text selection and dramaturgy. And then they will break up into small groups and create their own original toy theater pieces. The workshop will culminate with everyone presenting the results of their efforts to each other.

Our workshop will present the history and practice of this intimate and highly accessible puppetry form. It will offer a chance to construct a toy theater stage and scenery and figures, and to put together a multi-scene story. Participants will learn the value of Toy Theater as a teaching tool, both in curriculum-based school environments, and in community programs. Most of all, they will discover the possibilities of this historic parlor entertainment for telling the grandest of tales with the simplest of means.

Anyone who would like to consider subject matter for their piece in advance of the workshop is encouraged to do so. A song, a poem, a location, an anecdote, a political idea, a hero, a news item, what I ate for breakfast, what I saw walking to the post office – there are infinite possibilities.

Register here.

STCC presents The Play's The Thing
Program runs July 29-August 2
$279
STCC Campus

A week of theater immersion for kids ages 11-14 that includes theater games, improvisation, and an adaptive short play performed at the end of the week for family and friends. This week of theater builds social skills, confidence, and self-esteem.

More information.

Real Live Theatre presents Choreographing Intimacy: a one-day intensive for all theatre practitioners
August 17 at 10:00 AM
45 Amherst Road, Sunderland MA 01375

“Intimacy Choreography” is a relatively new concept, having emerged out of a need to protect actors from unsafe working conditions and blurred boundaries. It is an important practice not only for the mental, physical, and emotional health of actors, but also for the experience of the audience: the more safe and grounded the performers, the more electric the scene. Utilizing techniques from multiple disciplines, including yoga, dance, and theater, Ellen and Toby will guide participants through a safe and specific process to develop choreography that feels motivated and appropriate for characters and situation, as well as authentic and dynamic in terms of external behaviors.

•As a performer, the take away will include language with which to speak to your director and co-actors and tools to create safe working conditions when there aren’t any.

•As a director, teacher, or choreographer, you will learn how to build a safe environment, lead exercises to create trust within that environment, and utilize specific skills for analyzing and staging intimate moments.

•As an arts administrator, you will learn best practices for ensuring safe working conditions for your employees.

Check out the website for all the logistics and to register. Register by July 20 and receive $25 off the workshop cost!

Email Ellen and Toby with any questions.