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November 4 - 24, 2021
After lots of closures in the last two years, new performances spaces are opening up! CitySpace is reopening the first floor performance space in the Old Town Hall in Easthampton - and it's now available for rent! More details about the space can be found here. Plus there's Bombyx in Florence, and a new theatre space at Gateway City Arts. Read Chris Rohmann's write up on the new Gateway space here.
The next issue will include events from November 11 - December 1. 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
Exit Descartes: Reimagining Theatre Training Through an Embodied Lens
by Eve Bernfield
From the article:
“I want people to pay attention to what happens in the body,” my teacher, the remarkable writer/performer/teacher/activist Robbie McCauley, told me a few months before her death: “Pay attention to tension. Pay attention to release. Pay attention to feelings. To be able to speak what is happening through their bodies, be able to transmit what's happening through their bodies.”
Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
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Play Incubation Collective invites you to a fall ARTS SALON at Park Hill Orchard, Thursday Nov. 4th, 5:30-7pm. We will gather by the fire and hear brand new works-in-progress from a curated selection of local writers and musicians. There is also an open mic portion of the evening where any artists are welcome to present works (under 5 min). This gathering is a wonderful opportunity to connect and have conversations with other artists and see PIC's development process in action. This event is free but we encourage you to sign up in advance. Feel free to email Sarah or Rachel with any questions. (sarah@playincubation.org, rachel@playincubation.org)
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DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER AT THE MAJESTIC THEATER
NOVEMBER 4 – DECEMBER 5
The second show of the Majestic’s 24th Season opens this Thursday. Don’t Dress for Dinner, a madcap French farce written by Marc Camoletti (who wrote Boeing Boeing, a recent Majestic production) runs through December 5.
The comedy is set in renovated French farmhouse two hours from Paris. Bernard is hoping to send his wife Jacqueline off to her mother’s place for the weekend so that he can romance his mistress Suzanne, a Parisian model. He’s also hired a Cordon Bleu cook, Suzette, as an alibi, and he’s invited his friend Robert to dinner. Jacqueline, though, is becoming suspicious, and in a phone conversation with Robert it’s revealed that they, too, are also having an affair. Suzette, the caterer, arrives, and Robert introduces her as his mistress. Bernard is furious because of the mix-up, and Jacqueline feels betrayed because she thought she was Robert’s only mistress. Suzette is convinced, for a little extra money, to go along with the deception — but then Suzanne arrives and she now has to pretend she’s the cook!
The cast includes Jack Grigoli (Bernard), Scott Renzoni (Robert), Bethany Fitzgerald (Jaqueline), Elizabeth Pietrangelo (Suzette), Alexandra O’Halloran (Suzanne) and Shaun O’Keefe (George). Danny Eaton is producing director, Stephen Petit is the director/production manager and Greg Trochlil is set designer. Costume designer is Dawn McKay, stage manager/associate producing director is Sue Dziura, and Dan Rist is lighting designer.
In accordance with regulations from the Actors' Equity Association, an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance, the Majestic Theater requires all attendees to wear masks at all times (except when eating and drinking), to be fully vaccinated against COVID, and to present their vaccination card (or a photo of it on their cell phone) upon arrival. At this time, no food or drink may be brought into the theater, and needs to be consumed in the Majestic Café.
Tickets range in price from $31 - $37 per show, and are available for sale at the box office in person Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 10am – 1pm; or on the phone at (413) 747-7797.
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Pirates of Penzance plays the first 2 weekends in November at the Academy of Music, Northampton. One of the most-loved of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas and subtitled, “The Slave of Duty,” it tells a story about Frederic, who, on turning 21, is released from his apprenticeship indentures with a band of tender-hearted pirates. Frederic aims to live blamelessly henceforth and falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Of course, an obstacle to love appears when Frederic learns that he was born on February 29 — in a leap year — so, technically, he has a birthday only once every four years. Since his indentures specify that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, not his 21st year, he must serve the pirates for another 63 years. Mabel agrees to wait for him, and then a hidden truth revealed by Ruth brings all to a happy conclusion.
Pirates of Penzance will be performed at the Academy of Music in Northampton on November 6, 12, and 13 at 8:00 p.m. and on November 7 and 14 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale at aomtheatre.org. In typical VLO style, all audience members can expect wonderful music, costumes, sets, and dancing!
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SILVERTHORNE’S THEATER THURSDAY 2021 PLAY READING SERIES
WRAPS UP IN NOVEMBER
Two powerful plays by playwright Ellen W. Kaplan round out the 2021 Theater Thursday play reading series: Someone Is Sure to Come (November 11) and Testimonies (November 18). Both readings begin at 7:30 pm and are free to the public. The live readings take place in The LAVA Center at 324 Main Street, Greenfield and will also be filmed for viewing on YouTube following the reading. Hilary Dennis directs both readings.
Because seating is limited, reservations are requested and may be made through Eventbrite. The link for reservations may be found on our website at https://silverthornetheater.org/play-reading-series/ Attendees will need to bring their
vaccination card, or a photo of it, along with a corresponding state or federal ID for entry.
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As described by the playwright: Someone Is Sure to Come “ is a play by Kaplan and incarcerated men and women across the U.S. Monologues and poetry written by people currently on Death Row or serving Life Without Parole, many of whom have been in solitary confinement for decades. Their words are woven into a lyrical play that looks at life ‘inside’ and ‘out.’ Fantasy, humor and poetry combine to create a kaleidoscopic vision of serving hard time, and to question the responsibility we have when society imprisons people and ‘throws away the key.’” Someone Is Sure to Come was presented in NYC at La Mama Annex and published in the Tacenda Literary Magazine.
Testimonies is based on interviews with Ezidi (Yezidi) women in camps in Northern Iraq, in 2019. The Ezidi are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who trace their roots back to ancient Mesopotamia. They practice a pre-Islamic religion, that draws inspiration from Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Traditionally, Ezidi are farmers and shepherds, but in the mid-seventies Saddam Husain had Ezidi villages destroyed and their inhabitants transferred to collective settlements. In August 2014, the Ezidi (Yezidi) people were subjected to genocide: thousands were massacred, kidnapped, enslaved, raped and tortured by the Islamic State (ISIS).
Following each reading, audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback to the playwright. Instructions for online viewing will be posted on the Silverthorne website: https://silverthornetheater.org/play-reading-series/
Kaplan is Professor of Theatre at Smith College. She previously directed Silverthorne’s premiere production of Peter Wortsman’s solo show, The Tattooed Man Tells All in 2018, which was filmed and streamed in 2020. In July 2021, she directed a radio adaptation of Dawn King’s Foxfinder for the Company.
She has been a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, Fulbright Senior Specialist in Romania and Hong Kong, an actress, director and playwright. She performs and directs internationally, having worked in China, Israel, Costa Rica, Argentina, Puerto Rico and across the United States, and has been guest professor at Tel Aviv University; Hong Kong University, where she was a distinguished writer-in-residence in 2016; the Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Costa Rica; Heredia University (Costa Rica); and the University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, Romania. During the pandemic, she taught virtual classes at Rojava University in Syria.
Kaplan’s book, Theatre Responds to Social Trauma comes out in 2022.
About Silverthorne Theater
Silverthorne Theater Company, resident professional theater at the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, is a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization founded in 2014. Our mission is to present adventurous, thought-provoking theatrical experiences, including productions of new and classic work for traditional audiences and diverse populations. Contact us at silverthornetheater@gmail.com or 413-768-7514.
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K and E Theater Group Presents CABARET
Leave your troubles outside – life is beautiful at Cabaret! John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff’s Tony®-winning musical is about following your heart while the world loses its way. K and E Theater Group will continue its supersized season with the timeless “masterpiece of musical theatre” (Chicago Tribune) Cabaret onstage, live at Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, in Northampton, November 12-14 and 18-20, 2021.
In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920's draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the cabaret. With the Emcee's bawdy songs as wry commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin's natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Cliff, a young American writer newly arrived in Berlin, is immediately taken with English singer Sally Bowles. Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider, proprietor of Cliff and Sally's boarding house, tentatively begins a romance with Herr Schultz, a mild-mannered fruit seller who happens to be Jewish. Cabaret has some of the most memorable songs in theatre history, including “Cabaret,” “Willkommen” and “Maybe This Time.”
K and E Theater Group's production of Cabaret features Eddie Zitka as the Emcee and Myka Plunkett as Sally Bowles, Christopher Marcus as Clifford Bradshaw, Becca Greene-Van Horn as Fraulein Schneider, Gene Choquette as Herr Schultz, Jay Torres as Ernst Ludwig, and Carina Savoie as Fraulein Kost. Cabaret also features Brenden Bartlett, David Cavallin, Kelsey Collis, Natasha Ellis, Dominique Libera, Hannah McCluskey, Andre Ruiz, Beth Siegling, David Webber, and Jami Wilson.
Bill Martin is the Musical Director leading a band of eight musicians. Chris Webber serves as Stage Manager. K and E Theater Group Artistic Director Eddie Zitka is the Director and Choreographer.
Tickets are general admission for $27.00. There is no reserved seating. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit KETG.org/cabaret.
* This production includes strong sexual content, smoking, and depictions of violence. Strobe lighting will be used. Parental guidance is suggested.
** Proof of vaccination and face coverings that cover the nose and mouth will be required for entrance and while seated at the Northampton Center for the Arts.
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UMass Theater's presents Dance Nation, a play about dance, ambition, and growing up
Dance Nation
by Clare Barron
Directed by Dawn Monique Williams '11G
Nov. 12, 13, 18, 19 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.
The Rand Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts (formerly the Fine Arts Center), UMass
Tickets sold through the Fine Arts Center Box Office and at the door.
Prices: $15 general admission, $5 youth, students, and seniors |
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Being thirteen feels like being between two worlds: playing with toys on the one hand, and burning up in the heat of a first crush on the other. In Clare Barron's Dance Nation, competitive dance becomes a backdrop and a metaphor for the internal complexities and contradictions of young teenager-hood.
"What I love about the play is its honesty; it exposes the complexity and vulnerability of girlhood. The humor is an added bonus," said Dawn Monique Williams '11G, who is Associate Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA, and whom we are thrilled to welcome back to campus to direct this production.
The story centers on a dance troupe, their coach, and their parents, as they gear up to present their newest number. The dancers, an ensemble of different races, ethnicities, body types, and gender presentations, navigate conflict, negotiate the demands of their own ambitions and confront the challenges of growing up.
"It's shockingly and darkly funny, touching and vulnerable, and so lovely," said production dramaturg Bianca Dillard, a student in our MFA program.
Meanwhile, the casting adds a layer of meaning, as none of the actors playing the dancers are actually 13, but are all in fact well past pubescence.
"The actors' older bodies are haunting these thirteen-year-old characters," Dillard said — and vice versa — making this a sort of ghost play, in Barron's terms.
The result is a play that, like its subjects, is by turns compelling, hilarious, ferocious, and touching — and a must-see event.
This is a dance party you won't want to miss.
Get your tickets today!
Content Advisory: Gore, coarse language, depictions of self-harm, simulated masturbation and descriptions of masturbation, sex and sexual violence |
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Ja'Duke Theater presents All Together Now!
November 13 at 6:00 PM and November 14 at 2:00 PM
Ja'Duke Theater
Join us for a night of community and live theater! This review show is sure to be a night to remember. We will make our way through Broadway favorites as we raise money for the Children's Advocacy Center. This event will feature many special guests from our beautiful community and is underwritten by Greenfield Savings Bank.
Ticket Prices
General Admission (Adult) - $15
Children (12 and under) - $12
Senior Citizen (65 and over) - $12
All Star (General + Donation) - $25
https://www.jaduketheater.com/
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