Mahaiwe to present ‘Hypnosia’
Great Barrington — The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present “Hypnosia: The Wonder Show of the Universe” on Friday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m.
The brainchild of Heather Fisch, “Hypnosia” is part old-style magic show and part boundary-pushing live theater experience. The show follows H.D. Psychek, a Napoleonic eastern-European stage hypnotist and her alluring assistant, Rhowena, as they turn the traditional magician-with-lovely-assistant dynamic on its head and shake out the coins from the pockets of its proverbial pants. The show will also feature New York City’s premiere drag king emcee Wang Newton, acrobat duo the Wonder Twins and O Jacaré, a Brazilian strongman who can dead lift 860 pounds. A full score of live music will include international musical artists Angel Espinoza of Puebla, Mexico; Tarcisio Ramos of Estância, Brazil; Brandon Vetrano of Brooklyn, New York; and surprise guests from the Czech Republic and beyond. Help will also come from set design ace Leo “Of Twenty” from São Paulo, Brazil; media design wizard Nicole Jaquis of India; and art and concept director Saadia Shaza of Barn Home.
Tickets are $19–$35. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Mahaiwe box office at (413) 528-0100.
–E.E.
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413Heart Music and Arts Festival
Dalton — Grow Dalton will present the second annual 413Heart Music and Arts Festival Thursday, Aug. 17, through Sunday, Aug. 20. The festival will be held in multiple locations throughout Dalton and will include music, dancing, art, local food vendors and more.
Opening the festival on Thursday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m., Berkshire Theatre Group will present a staged reading of Harvest by Michael Dowling at the Stationery Factory. Other activities will include a juried arts show featuring more than 20 fine and decorative artists; a craft beer and wine tasting; a ticketed concert with Springfield-based rock band FAT to raise money for Arts in Central Berkshires; spoken word performances by poets from WordXWord; a reading for children with Ty Allan Jackson; and a Native American blessing, craft and meditation led by peace activist Fidel Moreno. On Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 a.m., Dalton will celebrate its recent designation as an Appalachian Trail Community at Pinegrove Park pavilion, 290 High St., with a trail work project, a family-friendly hike, and presentations by local and state officials and the Appalachian Mountain Club.
For more information, contact Greg Geyer or Diane Firtell at 413Heartsubmissions@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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The Mount to host ‘Women Writing Through Loss’
Lenox — On Thursday, Aug. 17, at 4 p.m., the Mount will host “Women Writing Through Loss: Connection Through Calamity,” a candid discussion on surviving personal loss through writing and the friendships formed during difficult times. Writers Rebecca Soffer, Dr. Lucy Kalanithi and Emily Rapp Black will talk about how they each found solace in the written word and how their losses drew them together.
The three women were strangers to each other before their individual circumstances led to sharing their grief through writing. Kalanithi, the widow of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, first reached out to Black for help with the epilogue of her husband’s book. Soon Rapp and Kalanithi became familiar with Soffer, co-founder of Modern Loss, a website offering candid conversation about grief. Now good friends, the three authors and their families are spending time in the Berkshires this summer and will share their insights about forging relationships out of traumatic experiences and using writing to cope with loss.
The cost of the program is $20 for the general public and $15 for Mount members. For tickets and information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Mount at (413) 551-5100.
–E.E.
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Berkshire South to honor founder at fundraising gala
Great Barrington — Berkshire South Regional Community Center will celebrate the legacy of its founder, the late Edwin A. Jaffe, at its annual gala on Friday, Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Guests will enjoy spirits, hors d’oeuvres and dinner as well as silent and live auctions.
Jaffe founded Berkshire South in an effort to address the concerns of Berkshire County residents looking for a place where recreational, educational, cultural and social activities could exist while remaining accessible and affordable to all. Berkshire South continues to recognize the vision that Jaffe had for it as well as the role it plays in bringing the community together. Receiving the honor on Jaffe’s behalf will be his widow, Lola Jaffe.
Tickets are $150 and proceeds from the event will support Berkshire South’s youth and family programming. For more information, contact Berkshire South’s executive director Jenise Lucey at (413) 528-2810 x14 or jlucey@berkshiresouth.org.
–E.E.
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Housatonic River cleanup scheduled
Pittsfield — Housatonic Valley Association and Berkshire Environmental Action Team have organized a cleanup of the west branch of the Housatonic River on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Interested volunteers are asked to meet at Wahconah Park, 105 Wahconah St., to help remove miscellaneous trash from the river. Volunteers are advised to wear old clothes, boots or sneakers and to bring hats, sunscreen and water bottles. Canoes will be used to move volunteers and trash. A picnic lunch and snacks, work gloves and trash bags will be provided. Pouring rain or thunder will cancel the event. For more information or to register, contact HVA at (413) 298-7024 or adixon@hvatoday.org or BEAT at (413) 230-7321 or jane@thebeatnews.org.
–E.E.
