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February 17 - March 9, 2022
This weekend - catch the storytelling standup showcase at Happier Valley Comedy on Friday or go see Nunsense at Ja'Duke. There are still a handful of virtual performances coming up - a great way to support new theatre in New England beyond Western Massachusetts.
This is the 350th newsletter! Thanks for submitting your events over the years - maybe tell a friend about the newsletter today?
The next issue will include events from February 24 - March 16. 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
Walk with Amal: The Five-Thousand-Mile-Long Theatrical Provocation
by Verity Healey
From the article:
There are some, no doubt, in the United Kingdom’s media and across the European continent who rolled their eyes at the idea of the Walk with Amal project (WWA). It was quite possibly the world’s largest theatre festival which saw a 12-foot-high puppet refugee girl walk the refugee corridor from Turkey to the United Kingdom, passing through 8 countries and making around 140 stopovers in towns and villages along the way. Some possibly identified too much with Little Amal (as she became known) and saw her as a threat—like the Orthodox Church in Greece, who banned her from walking on consecrated ground. Others perhaps had issues with a female refugee child being presented as a puppet, although the team of puppeteers consisted of some refugees (such as Syrian Mouaiad Roumieh, who came to see the puppetry team as family). The producers, too, have always been open about what Little Amal stands for—not the literal and hostile experience that most refugees have, of course, but the experience that they might have, allowing those welcoming her to bring out the best in themselves and the best in her.
Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
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Happier Valley Comedy
HVC's Fun Fridays: Storytelling Standup Showcase
February 18 at 7:00 PM
Happier Valley Comedy's Next Door Lounge (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)
Watch Happier Valley Comedy talent try out their latest material, laugh together, raise a glass, and support up-and-coming standup comedians. Doors open at 5:30. Showcase starts at 7pm.
More info and tickets.
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Ja’Duke Theater presents "Nunsense" The Musical
2/19/21 at 7pm, 2/20/21 @ 2pm, 2/25 & 2/26/22 @ 7pm, and 2/27/22 @ 2pm
Ja'Duke Theater
Ja’Duke Theater is proud to present Nunsense, this year’s first Ja’Duke musical of the highly anticipated Ja’Duke 25th Anniversary Season. Nunsense is directed by Ja’Duke's founder Nick Wanyelovich with choreography by Eula Sagan. Nunsense will be presented in the brand new, state of the art, Ja’Duke Theater!
Nunsense is a hilarious spoof about the misadventures of five nuns trying to manage a fundraiser with a supporting cast of 20 nuns, the Little Sisters of Hoboken. Sadly, the rest of the sisterhood died from botulism after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia Child of God. Thus, the remaining nuns – ballet-loving Sister Leo (Jenna DiDonato), street-wise Sister Robert Anne (Samantha Myburgh), befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia (Rachel Howe), the Mother Superior Sister Regina (Judith Dean Kulp), and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert (Juniper Holmes) and the Little Sisters of Hoboken – stage a talent show in order to raise the money to bury their dearly departed.
Ja’Duke Theater is continuing its quest to bring laughter and joy into people's lives during these trying times. With catchy songs and irreverent comedy, Nunsense is sure to keep audiences rolling with laughter and wanting more. After all, Nunsense is Habit Forming!
For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit JaDukeTheater.com.
Admission:
General Admission (Adult) - $15
Children (12 and under) - $12
Senior Citizen (65 and over) - $12
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Silverthorne Theater is proud to present the 2022 iteration of our Theater Thursdays play reading series, beginning on February 24th at 7:30 p.m with Guilty by playwright Ellen Wittlinger (Haydenville), directed by Keith Langsdale. This free event will be held at The LAVA Center located at 324 Main Street, Greenfield, MA, 01301. Following the reading, audience members are invited to stay for a discussion with the playwright, director and cast members.
Seating capacity is limited to 35, please register for this free event on Eventbrite www.eventbrite.com/e/guilty-tickets-264465372047 Everyone who attends a Silverthorne event at the LAVA Center must wear face coverings while in the building and show proof of full vaccination for COVID-19.
Guilty Description
Instigated by a jury trial in which the white defendant is found to be not guilty, two couples who have been friends since college 15 years before begin to question what it is that has held them together all these years and whether they even like each other. In 24 hours, the relationships between all four of them fray and sometimes break.
Ellen Wittlinger is an author and a playwright. After receiving an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, she began, in the late 1970s, to write plays. In Boston, she worked for several years with Playwrights’ Platform, but eventually swerved into a career as a novelist for young adults and children. After a 35-year career and 17 novels, many of them award-winning, she returned to her first love: playwriting. For more information visit ellenwittlinger.com
A strong cast of local actors are performing including Al Neal, Brandon Lee, Carissa Dagenais, Jimmy Murphy, and Linda Tardif.
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Witch
by Jen Silverman
Directed by Rudy Ramirez
Feb. 25, March 3, 4, 5 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 26 at 2 p.m
In the Rand Theater, located in the Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts at UMass
Tickets sold through the Fine Arts Center Box Office and at the door.
Prices: $15 general admission, $5 youth, students, and seniors
Content Advisory: Strong language, violence, and blood
Would you dance with the Devil?UMass Theater's Witch examines the cost of our choices and the value of hanging on to hope. |
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When the Devil strolls into the town of Edmonton to bargain for people's souls, he figures that Elizabeth Sawyer, an accused witch, will be an easy mark. Turns out, he's wrong — while others in town are practically lining up to make bargains galore, she resists.
Find out what happens next when UMass Theater presents Jen Silverman's topical-and-funny play, Witch, directed by directing graduate student Rudy Ramirez in the Rand Theater Feb. 25-March 5.
“Witch captures several of the big existential questions we’ve been grappling with throughout the events of the pandemic with heart and tons of humor, empowering us to face our own devils — and perhaps even to laugh at them,” said dramaturgy graduate student Percy Hornak, who is the play's dramaturg.
Inspired by a Jacobean play that was in turn inspired by real events, UMass Theater's production of Witch filters the story through a funhouse lens — watch for a surreal set complete with working drawbridge and props that accentuate the humor in Silverman's writing — that invites current audiences to see how the themes of the tale overlap with concerns in our own world.
Why do the characters in Witch even consider a dance with the Devil?
As Hornak encapsulates it, there are some big questions being asked: "The notion of 'burn it all down': The play is asking us to think about what that means, and what it would cost for us to do that. What would you give up for things to be better?"
Inextricably linked to these questions are themes of power, agency, and above all, hope. Why think about what it would take to create a better future, without hope? Witch invites audiences to come up with their answer while they watch.
Get your tickets today!
Tickets can be purchased through the Fine Arts Center Box Office (click here to go directly to our events) or at the door before each performance. |
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BLITHE SPIRIT REVIVES MAJESTIC THEATER’S 24th SEASON
FEBRUARY 24 THROUGH APRIL 3
Blithe Spirit, a classic comedy by Noel Coward, will be presented at West Springfield’s Majestic Theater February 24 through April 3. The opening of the show follows a brief hiatus in the Majestic’s 24th season of live theater that was caused by an uptick in reported cases of COVID in the region.
The story focuses on Charles, a socialite and successful writer who is researching the occult for his latest novel. He arranges for clairvoyant Madame Arcati to hold a séance in his home, during which she inadvertently summons the ghost of Charles’ first wife Elvira, who has been dead for seven years. Only Charles can see or hear Elvira; his current wife Ruth doesn’t believe Elvira exists. The ghostly Elvira makes ongoing efforts to disrupt the marriage, including sabotaging Charles’ car in the hopes that he will join her in the spirit world. Instead, it is Ruth who is killed in the car, and her ghost immediately comes back for revenge on Elvira.
Producing Director Danny Eaton feels certain the play will lift the spirits of its audience. “We’re really glad to be reopening our doors after closing for a few weeks when COVID numbers were climbing in our area,” he stated. “We were very dismayed to reschedule our January play, Betty and the Patch, for June of this year, but it really made sense, given the circumstances, and our mission to help keep attendees, performers and staff in good health. We, along with everyone else, feel weary at times due to the pandemic, but Blithe Spirit will provide great laughs and we think audiences will really enjoy this solid comedy.”
Eaton reported that the down time was put to good use to upgrade amenities at the venue. “We’ve installed all new carpeting, stage lighting and sound equipment. New chairs have been ordered, and new HVAC systems are improving air quality throughout the theater and café. We’ve been very busy during the time we’ve been closed,” he stated.
The cast of Blithe Spirit includes Fleece (Ruth), Russell Garrett (Charles), Jeannine Haas (Madame Arcati), Sara Corbyn Woolf (Elvira), Stuart Gamble (Dr. Bradman), Christine Voytko (Mrs. Bradman) and Caelie Flanagan (Edith). Understudies include Myka Plunkett, Jack Grigoli, and Alexandra O’Halloran.
Sue Dziura, who is the associate producing director, is directing the play, Stephen Petit is production stage manager, and set design is by Greg Trochlil. Costume designer is Dawn McKay, Dan Rist is lighting designer and Aurora Ferraro is the associate production manager.
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The LAVA Center is proud to present a new series of presentations and performances, Social Justice in the Arts and Media: Theory and Practice.
The series will feature a variety of presenters speaking to the topic of social justice and how it relates to their own work as artists and media-makers. There will also be performances of social justice-themed plays. All presentations and performances will take place on weekends in March, April and May and will be held at The LAVA Center, 324 Main St., downtown Greenfield.
The Social Justice in the Arts and Media series will explore many of the social justice issues facing our citizens and our community today, and the creative ways local artists and media-makers have addressed them. By offering this series, we hope to entertain, educate, and inspire others to practice their social justice passions creatively.
The series will kick off at the end of February with an online reprise of two presentations on this topic that were given at The LAVA Center last year: GCTV’s Philippe Simon’s “Social Justice And Media: How Community Media Can Help” and GCC’s Lillian Ruiz’s “Ticket to Terror: Horror Film in the Age of Anxiety.”
Saturday, Mar. 5 and Mar. 12, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.: Listening Ear sessions
Christian McEwen’s “The Listening Ear” is a joyous and subversive antidote to a world increasingly dominated by cell phones and other entrancing devices, reminding us of the special pleasure to be found in long, meandering, face-to-face conversation, most especially with friends and family. It gives everyone a real chance to be heard and serves as a metaphor for the entire series, as we invite ourselves and our audiences to practice radical listening.
Saturday, Mar. 5, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Mar. 16, 3 p.m.; Saturday, Mar. 12, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Mar. 13, 3 p.m.: Bridges performance
In the West Bank and in Israel, the traumas of occupation are inescapable and never ending. Clinging to hope or overwhelmed by despair, these Israelis and Palestinians are determined to make their stories heard. Inspired by and drawn from verbatim transcripts from Compassionate Listening conversations. Produced by Theater Initiative of Temple Israel.
Saturday, Mar, 26, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, Apr. 2, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.: Every Moment of Every Day performance
Stories of women who relinquished their babies to adoption weave together to illuminate this landscape of loss, endurance and courage from the point of view of the birth mothers. Six stories are drawn from and represent the two dozen interviews conducted by playwright Lindy Whiton.
Saturday, Apr. 9, 1 p.m.: Eveline MacDougall presentation
Eveline MacDougall founded the Amandla Chorus (now known as Fiery Hope) in 1998 to support the then-growing campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. Since then, the chorus has added songs from many lands and in many languages to share the joy of singing in community and to take a stand for human rights.
Saturday, Apr. 23, 1 p.m.: MarÃa Sparrow presentation
MarÃa Sparrow is a painter, teacher and musician. She grew up in Iowa and Maine and was awarded a scholarship to attend Amherst College. In her work she is interested in representations of womxn and in themes of belonging and alienation. She had a bilingual gallery show at The LAVA Center last year titled “Ancestors/Ancestras.”
Saturday, Apr. 30, 1 p.m.: JuPong Lin presentation
JuPong Lin is an interdisciplinary artist-researcher, writer and educator working to shift climate colonialism through culturally-responsive contemplative arts. She is a PhD candidate in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England and a faculty member at Goddard College.
Saturday, May 7, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 14, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.: Most Dangerous Women performance
A one-act version of the play by Jan Maher celebrating over a century of women the world over working for peace and justice, featuring the words and songs of scores of women activists and allies, including Jane Addams, Jeannette M. Rankin, Coretta Scott King, Helen Caldicott, Joy Harjo, Holly Near, Shirin Ebadi, Malala Yusafzai and Greta Thunberg.
Saturday, May 28, 1 p.m.: Música Franklin presentation
Música Franklin’s after-school program is based on the belief that the pursuit of musical excellence teaches students to strive for excellence in all areas of their lives. It is modeled on El Sistema, a music and social change program that was started in Venezuela 40 years ago and is practiced globally, helping to lift up children and their families.
Details on how to access the series
The play performances will be available both in-person and online. Reserve tickets for either for a donation of your choice ($5-$10 suggested; $1 minimum). Seating will be limited for both plays and presentations. You can reserve a seat for the presentations with a donation or your choice ($1 minimum), or see it for free if there are seats available the day of. Everyone who comes into The LAVA Center to see a play or presentation must show proof of Covid vaccination upon entry. Space can be reserved at https://thelavacenter.eventbrite.com.
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Exit Seven Players Ltd.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
March 11, 12, 18, 19 @ 8pm and March 12, 20 2pm
Exit Seven Players Theater, 37 Chestnut Street, Ludlow, MA
Originally produced in London and on Broadway, the stage version of the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play.
“This adaptation by the acclaimed playwright Simon Stephens is intensely, innately theatrical; it is also funny and extremely moving…resonates with quality.” —Telegraph (London). “…just terrific…a profoundly moving play about adolescence, fractured families, mathematics, colours and lights…dazzling.” —Independent (London). “A beautiful, eloquent, dazzlingly inventive show about the wonders of life.” —Evening Standard (London).
Curious Incident follows a critical period in the life of fifteen-year-old Christopher, a young man with an extraordinary brain. He is exceptional at math but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, detests being touched, and distrusts strangers. Now it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher stands beside his neighbor’s dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a “garden fork” (British for pitchfork, as the story is set in England.) Finding himself under suspicion, Christopher is determined to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington, and he carefully records each fact of the crime. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a thrilling journey that upturns his life.
Through creative lighting and sound, clever staging and a versatile ensemble, Curious Incident invites the audience to embark upon a journey to understand the point of view of its unusual narrator and his completely unique way of interacting with the world. At times both comedic and heart-wrenching, Curious Incident is a timely examination of our assumptions about “normality” and neurodiversity.
Directed by Michael O. Budnick, Produced by Jami Wilson and Christine Greene
http://exit7players.org
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From New England New Play Alliance:
Virtual Theater
Lyric Stage presents
Mr. Parent
by Melinda Lopez
now-February 20
directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
A struggling actor turns to teaching for a steady paycheck, thinking "how hard could it be?" But as he careens from the Boston Public Schools by day to serious thespian at night, Mr. Parent starts to wonder where he really belongs. Based on the stories and real-life adventures of Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Mr. Parent is a deeply felt and hilarious solo performance about crushingly inequitable systems, the brilliance of every kid, and how we might all find the space to be ourselves. Tickets: $10-$25.
Portland Stage Company presents
Senior Living
by Tor Hyams and Lisa St. Lou
now-February 27
directed by Judith Ivey
At Riverdale Manor, a retirement community in the Bronx, seniors contemplate the possibility of dying from a broken heart, if divorce is even worth it at a certain age, and when is the right time to have sex again. A talent show, with the promise of cake for dessert, sets the scene for a series of life-changing vignettes that debate what to do with the time we have left. TIckets: $25.
Fresh Ink Theatre Company presents
Shrike
by Erin Lerch
now-February 25
directed by Josh Glenn-Kayden
After the Alien Legion came, all Sheena had left is an unlikely dream: the Rebellion. But the Rebellion has been shattered by the loss of its leader and pushed to increasingly desperate measures, including working with its alien enemy. As tensions mount, Sheena has to face the question: When you have nothing left, what do you fight for? Tickets: $10 and up.
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Winter PIC Art Salon:
Join PIC for an evening of brand new works in progress, and get a behind the scenes look into our collaborative process. On Monday February 21, we’ll gather from 7:30-9:30 pm to hear excerpts of new work by Nicole Orabona, Elliot Lazar, Stephan Fruchtman, and Tanner Tanner, followed by a curated feedback session with the presenting artists. This is a great opportunity to not only see our development process in action, but engage in conversation with PIC artists and serve as the first audience for new works.
Plus you're invited to participate in the open mic where anyone is welcome to present original works of 5 minutes or less.
Reserve Your Ticket Now
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