Bits & Bytes: Oldtone Roots Music Festival; college fair at BCC; business email fraud seminar; ‘Richard III’ benefit at Shakespeare & Co.; Martin Gilbert lecture

Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater to perform in Richard III benefit

Lenox — Fresh from their starring roles in “Cymbeline” at the Delacorte Theater, real-life couple Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater will appear together at Shakespeare & Company in a special staged reading of Shakespeare’s great historical tragedy “Richard III” to benefit the Company’s performance, training, and education programs. This special event is scheduled for Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. in the Tina Packer Playhouse. Rabe will portray Queen Elizabeth opposite Linklater who is cast in the title role. The reading will also feature Tina Packer, Annette Miller, and other special guests and will be directed by Co-Artistic Director Jonathan Croy.

Lily Rabe was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance opposite Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice on Broadway and is a highly regarded star of stage, film, and television (American Horror Story). Hamish Linklater is the son of Company founding member Kristin Linklater and made his first theatrical appearance on stage at Shakespeare & Company. Also a popular star of stage, film, and television (The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Crazy Ones), Linklater will appear in a new comedy series on TV Land this fall. Packer will portray the deposed Queen Margaret and Miller will reprise her role from the 2010 season production as the Duchess of Gloucester.

VIP tickets include prime seating and an exclusive post-performance cocktail reception with the cast. All tickets include the 90-minute reading and a champagne toast. For tickets and information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call the Shakespeare & Company box office at (413) 637-3353.

–E.E.

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First annual Oldtone Roots Music Festival

Wassaic, N.Y. — On Saturday, October 10 from noon – 11 p.m., the first annual Oldtone Roots Music Festival will take place at the Lantern Inn. The festival will feature an impressive lineup of Cajun, swing jazz, old-time, and bluegrass bands including Jesse Lége and Bayou Brew, Bruce Molsky, Moonshine Holler, the Stuart Brothers, the Lucky 5 Jazz Band, the Easy Ridin’ Papas, and Bash Bish Bluegrass Band.

The event will take on the air of the street festival. The bar will be open and ready to serve and just out the doors will be a host of other venders selling an array of food and other goods, vintage record DJs, an old-time fiddle & banjo workshop, children’s entertainment and a hay-wagon stage featuring some of the finest local roots music and headlining acts from Louisiana and North Carolina.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $32 the day of the festival. The festival also has an Indiegogo site featuring tickets and memorabilia in exchange for donations to help offset the cost of the festival. See the Berkshire Edge calendar for tickets and more information.

–E.E.

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BCC to host College Admission Counseling Fall Fair

Pittsfield — Berkshire Community College (BCC) will host a New England Association for College Admission Counseling Fall Fair on Thursday, October 8 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at its Paterson Field House.

The free event, which will feature more than 100 colleges and universities, is open to BCC and high school students as well as students seeking information about transfer opportunities.

A list of attending colleges and universities is online. For more information call (413) 236-2116.

–E.E.

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Salisbury Bank to offer free seminar on business email fraud

Millerton, N.Y. — Salisbury Bank will offer a free seminar with information about business email fraud on Wednesday, October 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the annex of the NorthEast-Millerton Library. The workshop will include discussion of how companies can safeguard themselves against email fraud and most other threats by implementing the key components outlined in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. The seminar will be presented by Sean Carter, Senior Vice President of Payments Strategies for the New England Automated Clearing House.

Reservations are suggested but not required. To reserve a space, contact Kevin Norton at (860) 435-9801 x1010 or email knorton@salisburybank.com and type “Business Email Fraud” in the subject line.

–E.E.

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Hugh Black discusses works of British historian Martin Gilbert

Pittsfield — On Thursday, October 8, at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present teacher, librarian, journalist, poet, and bibliophile Hugh Black who will discuss the historical writing of Sir Martin Gilbert as part of his ongoing series exploring the achievements of prominent Jewish authors. The lecture at Congregation Knesset Israel is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community series.

Best known as the official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Martin Gilbert also wrote many books about Jewish history. Among the books Black will discuss are Winston Churchill and the Jews; Israel: A History; and Jerusalem in the 20th Century. Black will also talk about the idiosyncratic Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith, in which the historian recounts the saga of Jewish life in a series of intimate, storytelling letters to a lifelong friend. Gilbert died in 2014 in Jerusalem at the age of 78.

For more information call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10.

–E.E.