Barrington Stage Company presents annual 10×10 New Play Festival, the centerpiece of Pittsfield’s10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival
Pittsfield— From February 12th through March 15th, Barrington Stage Company (BSC) presents their annual 10×10 New Play Festival, the centerpiece of Pittsfield’s10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival.
Catch BSC favorites in the spotlight as 100 minutes of dreams, drama, and pure delight unfold on BSC’s St. Germain Stage. These fast-moving plays will make you laugh, make you cry, and will always make you think, especially with one of this year’s plays centering on female reproductive rights.
The performances run from February 12th through March 15th on Barrington Stage Company’s St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, located at 36 Linden Street in Pittsfield. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Close Encounters With Music presents ‘Endings,’ an evening of profound and deeply expressive chamber music exploring how composers confront finality, memory, and meaning
Great Barrington— On Sunday, February 15th at 4 p.m., Close Encounters With Music presents “Endings,” an evening of profound and deeply expressive chamber music exploring how composers confront finality, memory, and meaning.
How does a composer choose to end a piece of music—with a bang or a whisper? With thunderous affirmation or a quiet, searching farewell? Musical endings can feel conclusive, ambiguous, or deliberately unresolved, evoking a powerful sense of time, place, and emotional truth. In “Endings,” Close Encounters With Music examines how composers use musical conclusions to reflect personal history, political upheaval, and the human confrontation with mortality.
At the center of the program is Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Piano Trio No. 2,” a haunting and riveting work written during World War II. Long understood to contain hidden messages and coded musical language, the trio reflects the composer’s response to grief, oppression, and the horrors of his era. Shostakovich embeds irony, grotesque dance rhythms, and stark emotional contrasts, using musical symbolism as a form of private resistance and public witness. These layers of meaning—often masked beneath traditional forms—have made the trio one of the most powerful examples of music as political and historical testimony.
In contrast, Franz Schubert’s “Piano Trio No. 2” in E-flat major, his final completed chamber work, offers a luminous and transcendent meditation on farewell. The famous slow movement borrows its main theme from a Swedish song,“The sun has set,” transforming simplicity into something otherworldly. Written in the last year of his life, the trio turns illness and personal tragedy into a radiant affirmation—an ending that feels expansive rather than final, serene rather than tragic.
Performed by Gila Goldstein on piano, Xiao-Dong Wang on violin, and Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani on cello, the concert is on Sunday, February 15th at 4 p.m. at Saint James Place, located at 352 Main Street in Great Barrington. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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W.E.B. Du Bois Freedom Center presents the Scottsboro Boys Traveling Exhibit, on view for the first time outside of Alabama
Great Barrington— On Tuesday, February 10th, the W.E.B. Du Bois Freedom Center, in partnership with the Scottsboro Boys Museum, will open the Scottsboro Boys Traveling Exhibit, on view for the first time outside of Alabama.
The exhibition tells the story of the nine Black teenagers whose wrongful conviction in the 1930s became one of the most consequential civil rights cases of the twentieth century, shaping landmark Supreme Court decisions and the future of racial justice advocacy in the United States.
On Thursday, February 12th at 5 p.m., there will be an exhibit viewing, followed by a moderated conversation examining the Scottsboro case, the NAACP’s involvement, the responses of Northern communities—including Massachusetts—and the legal strategies that emerged from the case and continue to influence justice movements today, featuring Dr. Thomas Reidy, Executive Director of the Scottsboro Boys Museum; and Dr. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst; with moderator Marcus P. Smith, History and Archival Fellow at the Du Bois Freedom Center.
The exhibit can be viewed at the Du Bois Freedom Center, located at 309 Main Street in Great Barrington. The conversation will be held on Thursday, February 12th at 6 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s Indigo Room, located at 14 Castle Street Great Barrington. Admission is free. Reservations and more information can be found online.
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Jewish Federation of the Berkshires presents ‘Do The Right Thing,’ online stories with The Braid
Pittsfield— On Thursday, February 12 at 7 p.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires presents “Do The Right Thing,” online stories with The Braid
The Braid returns with “Do the Right Thing,” a live theater production of true Jewish stories of doing the right thing, even when it’s really hard. With humor, heart, and rising stakes, this show explores the Jewish tradition of questioning power and speaking up, especially when doing the right thing means standing alone.
The virtual presentation is on Thursday, February 12 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. It will be followed by a Q&A. Registration and more information can be found online.
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Living in Recovery presents its fourth annual Sober-Bowl Party
Pittsfield— On Sunday, February 8th at 6 p.m., Living in Recovery presents its fourth annual Sober-Bowl Party.
The Sober-Bowl Party is a fun, substance-free way to enjoy the big game together with a recovery community. Come for the food, fun, and fellowship — stay for the connection, laughter, and shared celebration of recovery. Whether you’re a football fan or just in it for the community, all are welcome to this sober, supportive space.
The party is on Sunday, February 8th at 6 p.m. at Living in Recovery, located at 75 North Street in Pittsfield. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. Food is provided. More information can be found online.
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Becket Arts Center presents a freestyle dance workshop with Delsie Dunn
Becket— On Saturday, February 7th from 10:30 a.m. to noon, Becket Arts Center presents a freestyle dance workshop with Delsie Dunn.
This opportunity to discover ways to move to music with intention and openness is guaranteed to warm up the body and lift the spirit.
The workshop is on Saturday, February 7th from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Bring loose-fitting clothes, a towel, water bottle, and indoor shoes (or go barefoot). Registration and more information can be found online.
