Pioneer Valley Theatre News May 6, 2021

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Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser May 6 - 26, 2021 There are a couple new audition and other opportunities in the newsletter this week - make sure you scroll all the way down or open the email in a browser to make sure you see everything! Check out the recent issue of the Valley Advocate for a peek into some upcoming live theatre performances this summer.  The next issue will include events from May 13 through June 2. 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 YOUR EVENT HERE $5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing! Email me to reserve your dates. Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Google Calendar Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS: from Howlround Speculating Black Queer Futures by JD Stokely and Nkenna Akunna From the article:  Nkenna Akunna: I read the first chapter of Christina Sharpe’s In the Wake yesterday, a book that interrogates how white supremacy and chattel slavery have produced a climate for anti-Black violence and gratuitous Black death. I had to fall asleep. It was too much. I feel like my body was recognizing that everything Black people are doing, all the ways we are existing, is not necessarily living. It’s all in the wake of death, in the space left behind by so many legacies that wanted to, and still want to, kill us. Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com PERFORMANCES From the New England New Play Alliance: Virtual Theatre and Audio Plays   The Huntington Theatre presents Best Day Ever by Jacqui Parker directed by Summer L. Williams   Sisters Kenya and Kadesia navigate the "Karens" of the world as they drive to Nantasket Beach to celebrate their shared birthday on July 28, 2024. Steam now: free.   Munroe Center for the Arts presents A Revolutionary Encounter in London By Debbie Weiss May 8    A Revolutionary Encounter in London explores the largely unknown meeting of enslaved, African-American poet Phillis Wheatley and American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. It took place in London in 1773, when Ms. Wheatley was there to promote her book, Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Despite seeming to be polar opposites, they had much in common and shared many interests. Tickets: free, suggested donation, registration required.   The Huntington Theatre presents The Black Beans Project by Melinda Lopez and Joel Perez May 11-30 directed by Jaime Castañeda Mariana and Henry meet virtually to share a secret family recipe that forces them to reveal secrets of their own. The siblings transform pandemic panic to renewal in this tender comedy about family, food, and finding the strength to move on. Tickets: pay what you can.    The Wilbury Theatre Group presents Whose Name Was Writ in Water by Becci Davis now-May 15 Becci Davis' Whose Name Was Writ in Water features dual narratives woven together: the interrogation of history through an imagined conversation with the artist’s enslaved 4th great-grandmother and a rite of passage for her teenage son. Water serves as the device that connects them through time and space. Presented as a 360° Virtual Experience using technology by New York-based virtual event production company Musae, audience members will be able to view the production on their phones, tablets, or computers, or may elect to receive a VR headset with their ticket purchase. Tickets: pay what you can, $5-$100.   Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents Boston Theater Marathon XXIII now-May 28 Boston Theater Marathon XXIII: Special Zoom Edition features 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 productions begin at noon each day, with the exception of Sundays. A question-and-answer session follows each play. This week's plays:   Home for the Holiday by Karla M. Sorenson May 4 sponsored by Boston Open Theatre Project Ariadne Unbound  by Tofer Carlson May 5 sponsored by Moonbox Productions Where the Fireworks Come From  by Michael Pisaturo May 6 sponsored by SpeakEasy Stage Company Ipswich  by Sophie McIntosh May 7 sponsored by Fort Point Theatre Channel Monster Mother-in-Law  by Marisa Smith May 8 sponsored by Hovey Players Something I Know To Be True…  by Alexa Derman May 10 sponsored by Theatre on Fire 178 Ludlow Street  by Cayenne Douglass May 11 sponsored by Sleeping Weazel Tickets: free, click "purchase Spring Studio Productions: Shapes and Stanzas by Ken Preuss Tuesday, May 11, 7:30 p.m., Virtual Event through May 15 The Smith College Department of Theatre presents Shapes and Stanzas by Ken Preuss as part of its 2021 Spring Studio Productions directed by Madison VanDeurzen. In the play, friends meet three times across 60 years, exploring poetry, geometry, romance, and other complicated things. The Smith Studio Productions feature student directed one-acts. This year’s productions will be recorded and premiering online. To register for the free, virtual event: springstudios.eventbrite.com Spring Studio Productions: Blackademics by Idris Goodwin Wednesday, May 12, 7:30 PM Virtual Event - May 14 The Smith College Department of Theatre presents Blackademics by Idris Goodwin as part of its 2021 Spring Studio Productions directed by Cate Boram. Blackademics is a sharp, surreal satire about navigating academia as Black women and about who gets a place at the table. Smith Studio Productions feature student directed one-acts. This year’s productions will be recorded and premiering online. To register for the free, virtual event: springstudios.eventbrite.com Spring Studio Productions: A Number by Caryl Churchill Thursday, May 13, 7:30 PM Virtual Event - through May 15 The Smith College Department of Theatre presents A Number by Caryl Churchill as part of its 2021 Spring Studio Productions directed by Fiona King. Bernard learns that he’s a clone and his father knew all along. Smith Studio Productions feature student directed one-acts. This year’s productions will be recorded and premiering online. To register for the free, virtual event: springstudios.eventbrite.com SILVERTHORNE THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS READING OF NORTHAMPTON PLAYWRIGHT JAMES McLINDON’S WHEN WE GET GOOD AGAIN Silverthorne Theater is proud to present the 2021 iteration of our Theater Thursdays play reading series, beginning on May 13, with When We Get Good Again by Northampton playwright James McLindon, directed by Mark Dean. This free event will be available to watch starting at 7:30 p.m. on the Silverthorne Theater Company YouTube channel. Following the reading, audience members are invited to attend a live Zoom discussion with the playwright, director and cast members. The links to the reading and the post-show discussion will be posted on the Silverthorne website at https://silverthornetheater.org/play-reading-series/   When We Get Good Again Description “… Tracy can’t wait to graduate and leave the rich kids at her prestigious school in her rear view mirror. In fact, she’s planning on graduating in three years, and only partly because that’s all the college she can afford. But there’s one problem: Tracy needs to keep her 4.0 GPA intact to get into a top law school to have even a chance of getting one of the few public interest jobs available to represent the poor. And the only way she can get all her work done by the end of the semester while holding down two work-study jobs is to take a short vacation from her ethics and buy a term paper from Hire Education. … When We Get Good Again is a play about integrity, excuses, and doing the right thing ... as soon as you can figure out exactly what that is.” James McLindon is a member of the Nylon Fusion Theater Co. in New York. When We Get Good Again won the Playhouse on the Square’s New Works @ The Works competition and premiered there in Memphis this past January, winning an Ostrander Theatre Award for Best Original Script. His short piece Choices  was one of the top plays in Silverthorne’s Short & Sweet Festival of (tiny) New Plays presented online in mid-February this year. In 2020, his full-length play, Distant Music,  was streamed as the third in STC’s Theater Thursdays series.  The cast of When We Get Good Again includes Jen Campbell (Holyoke), Michael Garcia (Bondsville), Kevin Tracy (Holyoke) and Alexandra O’Halloran (NYC). Director Mark Dean (Northampton) is well known in Valley theater circles with his work as actor and director at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, New Century Theatre, and lately for Silverthorne Theater. Campbell, Garcia and Tracy were recently seen in STC’s live Zoom production of The Waiting Room.  Silverthorne’s Theater Thursdays play readings program was launched in 2019 as a series of free rehearsed readings of new (or new to us) plays, followed by audience discussions. The purpose of the readings is to give a platform for new work to be heard, and when possible, to be able to give playwrights direct audience feedback.  It also provides Silverthorne a look at plays that we might consider fully producing in future seasons. This year’s 2021 series is supported in part by a grant from the Greenfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Conway, Deerfield, Northfield, and Shelburne Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. For questions and further information, please contact us at silverthornetheater@gmail.com,  call 413-768-7514, or visit https://silverthornetheater.org/play-reading-series.  I MET GOD (AND THE DEVIL) IN AN UBER by Daniel Rendón ‘21  Directed by Ron Bashford Senior Honors Project in Playwriting & Acting for Daniel Rendón Release date: May 14, 2021 The Amherst College Theater & Dance Department is proud to present I Met God (and the Devil) in an Uber, an original drama by Daniel Rendón ‘21, directed by Ron Bashford, with scenic design by graduate design assistant Lauren Thompson ‘19, costume design by Lorelei Dietz ‘20, lighting design by resident lighting designer Kathy Couch and sound design by Julian Brown ‘23. How much pain and suffering can we take as human beings before we reach the end of the line? What is the price of being good? What is the price of being bad? In Daniel Rendon’s new play, Santiago, a down-on-his-luck Uber driver, is pushed to find the answers, but will he? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rendón’s play was adapted into a teleplay. “Because of COVD, we decided last summer to re-work Dan’s play script into a teleplay. Seven student actors, working both remotely and in-person in a controlled environment, have been introduced to acting for the camera through this process. It’s been a wonderful adventure transforming our theater stage into a TV studio and learning how to shoot with remote participants. Hats off to the resourcefulness of all of the students involved, especially our wonderful in-person student crew,” said faculty director, Ron Bashford. I Met God (and the Devil) in an Uber will be released for streaming on May 14, 2021. For more information, visit https://www.amherst.edu/go/performance. Howling at the Moon June 8-12 Howling at the Moon will take place in early June at Double Edge's Farm Center. Mythic tales and ancestral visions will be shared fireside by Ensemble actors Travis Coe, Milena Dabova, Jennifer Johnson, and Carlos Uriona, interwoven with a musical and visual world of aerial flight and fantastic beings roaming the land under the starry sky. Author, musician, storyteller Larry Spotted Crow Mann of the Nipmuc Nation, will lead us into the performance with his own ancestral story drawn from his play Freedom in Season. This performance is co-presented by the Ohketeau Cultural Center. General Box Office opens on May 8 Member tickets on sale here! AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Come audition for Plague Wedding! Plague Wedding, written by Abigail Weaver and directed by Ezekiel Baskin, will be a spectacle of song, drama and survival -- an examination of how a community attempts to sacrifice their most vulnerable members for the benefit of the powerful, and how the would-be sacrifices fight back. Auditions will be held May 5th at 7:00pm and May 6th at 5:30pm via Zoom. Performances will be July 8-10 in Florence, MA. The show will be an interactive livestreamed production, with the potential for a small in-person audience, depending on COVID safety and performer and production team comfort levels. Rehearsals will begin via Zoom, followed by outdoors in-person rehearsals in Western MA, and move into the (large, well ventilated) space for tech and production. We know this will likely be the first in-person production for many team members since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will hold space for both the feelings and the safety concerns that come along with that. Actors will be paid a $100 stipend for their work on this project. Available roles include: The Wedding Jester: Joe Petoski. A rhyming, vaudeville clowning, two-bit comedian with an unwitting sense the divine. More emotional than the conditions really allows them to be. Think divine messenger archetype finds out how to be human by watching too much late night tv. The MC: Cal Harrison. A showman, cavalier, maximalist. Barely capable of masking his brutality when the cameras are rolling. Think used-car salesman goes to divinity school. The Bride: Hannah. A pathologically realistic young adult who lives in a graveyard. ANGRY. Think Leah from “The Dybbuk” meets Riot Grrl. The Groom: Silas. Intuitive, grounded and open where Hannah is tense and guarded. An older wheelchair-bound veteran. We are looking to prioritize casting a disabled actor for this role; the specific nature of the character's disability may change dependent on casting. All roles are open to actors of all gender and racial identities~ Sign up to audition here: https://forms.gle/MUzYpnYPxSfWt948A Facebook event. ELF Student Engagement Mini-Grants April 13, 2021 OVERVIEW Easthampton Learning Foundation (ELF) and Easthampton Public Schools invite proposals for projects, initiatives, and activities that provide enriching experiences to students in collaboration with school administrators. The activities must take place outdoors, during school hours, and must follow COVID-19 safety protocols as prescribed by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). GOAL Let’s connect our community of talented artists, musicians, science buffs, historians, etc., and dream up some fun, safe, enriching outdoor activities during the school day for our school community SPECIFICATIONS Easthampton Public Schools serve children of all abilities between Pre-Kindergarten and 12th grade, and successful proposals should specify the school and grades it aims to serve. ● Maple School: Pre-Kindergarten - 4th grade ● Center and Pepin Schools: Kindergarten - 4th grade ● White Brook Middle School: 5th - 8th grades ● Easthampton High School: 9th - 12th grades PROPOSALS MUST INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING: ● Educational or enrichment objective of project ● Project timeline ● Nature of student involvement ● Short budget outlining planned expenses ● Description of past and/or current experience working with children and teens EXAMPLES OF MINI-GRANT PROJECTS ● Arts and crafts (mural painting, visual arts, theater, creative writing, music, etc) ● Sports, dance, exercise (Yoga, Thai Chi, playground games, obstacle courses, etc.) ● Science ● World Languages AWARDS Successful awardees will receive a grant, which could include materials and/or staff compensation. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. ELF is actively committed to supporting BIPOC* artists and educators. BIPOC applicants strongly are encouraged to apply. *BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, People of color NOTE: All individuals are required to have a CORI check prior to working with students and/or receiving any funding. To submit a proposal, please visit https://elfhelps.org/apply-for-a-grant.html, and attach your CV. If you have any questions, please reach out to Sara (908-892-4104; amoroso.sara.l@gmail.com) or Jenny (413-695-8680; jenny.papa@gmail.com). Assistant Production Manager, Five College Dance (Post-Baccalaureate) The Five College Consortium seeks an Assistant Production Manager to provide production management support for Five College Dance (FCD) events on the multiple campuses within the consortium. This is a non-exempt, benefited, 11-month position (August-June), with a two-year appointment beginning early August 2021 and ending late June 2023, with the possibility of a one-year extension. This position is intended to be an in-person onsite role that may begin as a remote position due to pandemic-related restrictions. Job Summary The Post-Baccalaureate Assistant Production Manager provides production management support for Five College Dance (FCD) events on multiple campuses. More details here. For sale is a prop car for the musical Chitty Chitty Bang bang. The wings deploy manually from inside the car, raft inflates, headlights and interior lights work.  Its on a platform with casters and is manually moved around the stage.  A scissor lift can be added to elevate the car.  I'm looking for 2,000 or best offer. It is currently stored in Monson ma. Contact Jay Pollack at pollackplayhouse@yahoo.com for more information  WORKSHOPS & CLASSES Happier Valley Comedy Lunch & Laugh: Mindsets For Intentional Living May 7 at 12:00 PM Happiness Mindsets are intentions that promote mindfulness. Like the sailors use the North Star to steer their ship, Mindsets create intentional guidance for our personal wellness and growth. Come try a few! In this entertaining and enlightening series of short free lunchtime online interactive presentations, Head of Happiness Pam Victor guides you in an exploration of key evidence-based positivity practices to support your happiness, resilience, and self-care. Individual workshops give you a bite-sized taste of one specific Happiness Habit from "The 30-Day Happiness Experiment Program" using playful learning exercises and engaging group connection. All workshops are improv-enriched, interactive, and super fun! Grab your lunch and join us for a delightful time that just might change your life for the better. More info Happier Valley Comedy Resilience Through Joy: The 30-Day Happiness Experiment May 8 at 11:00 AM How's your happiness and resilience going? If you just groaned or sad-chuckled incredulously, Happiness Coach Pam Victor has your back. This online 30-day program provides simple, game-changing self-care and happiness practices and the support to make them a lifelong habit. First, you attend a fun, engaging interactive presentation where you experience all eleven of the evidence-based Resilience & Happiness Habits. Then you pick 1-2 Resilience & Happiness Habits to do every day for 30 days. We're talking a commitment of about 1-10 minutes each day. Just for 30 days. True happiness is more than an escape. It is a practice to bolster (not bury) resilience and grit. But this flavor of mindful happiness doesn’t just magically happen, friends. Together, we can strengthen these well-being muscles to establish a lasting  practice of joy and resilience. The 30-Day Happiness Experiment is remote and completely customizable, so you choose the Resilience & Happiness Habits, time commitment, schedule, accountability aids, and connection style that works best for you. Safe, easy, self-directed, introvert- and extrovert-friendly. And FUN! More info Getting Un-Lost Just because the theater industry is at a standstill doesn’t mean you have to be. This is the perfect time to reassess your life and career, identify new goals, and design an exciting plan that will help you move forward with confidence and joy. Beginning with a one on one call we will dive into identifying your immediate goal, then over the course of 4 weekly individual coaching sessions you will be guided to take consistent massive action toward your goal, and we will conclude with a final one on one call to be bring closure to our journey together. You will be empowered to take control and go after what you really want, while also being provided with accountability along the way. And, if you have no idea what you want, then we will dig into that! This class is open to all ages and all levels of experience. You just need to be ready to put in the work that is specific to you and your goals. Being lost doesn’t have to be scary. It can be a wonderful opportunity to discover a new place that you’ve never been before, and who knows, that big personal breakthrough may be closer than you think! By the end of the class, you and Kareem will have created a map and built a compass, so that if you ever get lost again you’ll have a strong set of resources and tools to get yourself un-lost. Sunday nights from 6-9pm, starting May 9th on Zoom. 4 weeks. $290. Open to 6 Students. In this class, each student will receive a 30 minute one on one Zoom session each week. They will also receive two 30 minute phone sessions, one before the class starts and one after. All in all, each student will receive a total of 3 hours of one on one coaching over the course of the class. Sign up! Register for Summer Classes   If you are considering enrolling in Arts Extension Service's Online Summer classes, this your reminder that registration is open.  Courses are available either for credit or non-credit, with the option of being taken individually or as a part of of one of AES' online Degree or Certificate programs.  This summer's online offerings include: Session One (May 17 - June 25) Introduction to Arts Management Arts Fundraising​ Session Two (July 6 - August 13) Grantwriting for the Arts Start planning for Arts Management Core or Professional certificate and register for AES courses for this summer, today!  WORKSHOPS TRANSFORMING YOUR WRITING BY RESTING YOUR MIND a meditation and writing workshop with JUANITA ROCKWELL MAY 15 - 16, 10am - 1pm EST and/or JULY 10 - 11, 1pm - 4pm EST Whether we write for our own pleasure or for others, to be read on the page or to be spoken aloud, we want our writing to reflect our experience of the world. But our habitual thinking and the ways we tell these stories become a kind of spell of doing, of busy-ness; a spell that binds us, separates us from others, and limits our authentic expression. If we release this imprint of Doing, what might happen if we can rest in the stillness, silence and spaciousness of our Being? In this two-day, small group workshop, you will learn practices that will ... Read more...   TRANSFORMING YOUR WRITING BY CLEARING YOUR MIND (level 2) a meditation and writing workshop with JUANITA ROCKWELL JULY 17 - 18, 1pm - 4pm EST This workshop provides opportunities to deepen the work begun in Transforming Your Writing by Resting your Mind, Read more... Drama Studio Summer Programs July 5 2021 - August 13 2021 41 Oakland Street, Springfield, MA The Drama Studio is a unique community where young people come to grow as artists, leaders, and individuals. Now offering a variety of on-site and online acting and theater programs in a safe environment, including Fantastical Scenes, where students will stage scripted and originally written fantasy scenes, build fairy houses, and prepare for a final performance /sharing. In TeenScene: Thinking Outside the Blackbox teens will study Immersive Theater and work together to create ideas and content for a socially distanced, outdoor performance. Other classes include Acting Up: Summer Sun Stories, SummerSlam: Improv Week, and an Online Class: Improv for Actors. No prior acting experience required. Summer enrollment now open! Space is limited. dramastudio.org/summer-programs Hampshire Shakespeare Company Educational Theater Workshop August 2-6 at 9:00 AM Virtual & Williston School In this half day program students will learn age-appropriate storytelling and performance skills from home for the first few days, and work together to present on Friday. Come practice acting, public speaking, empathy, creative writing, prop making, costume designing, resiliency, and play (just to name a few!) with us. More info. Submit your workshop, class, audition, performance, or any other theatre opportunity here! Pioneer Valley Theatre Companies Academy of Music Theatre Arena Civic Theatre Black Cat Theater Chester Theatre Company CitySpace Cold Spring Community Theatre Completely Ridiculous Productions Drama Studio Double Edge Theatre Eggtooth Productions Exit 7 Players Franklin County Youth Theater Ghost Light Theater Greenfield Community College's Theater Department Hampshire Shakespeare Company Happier Valley Comedy Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center Ja'Duke Center for the Performing Arts K and E Theater Group Ko Theater Works/Ko Festival of Performance Majestic Theater New Century Theatre No Theater Northampton Community Arts Trust Northampton Playwrights Lab PaintBox Theatre Panopera Pauline Productions Real Live Theatre Red Thread Theater Royal Frog Ballet Serious Play Theatre Ensemble Shakespeare Stage Shea Theater Arts Center Silverthorne Theater Smith College Department of Theatre St. Michael's Players Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. Strident Theatre TheatreTruck Turbulent Times Theater UMass Department of Theater UMass Theatre Guild Valley Light Opera Westfield Theatre Group Wilbraham United Players 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 TV/Radio and News Column 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|*