Bits & Bytes: Holiday Shop, Sip & Stroll; ‘Sense & Sensibility’ at Shake & Co.; ‘Unborn Sun’ at Berkshire Botanical Garden; Tony Trischka at Dewey Hall; ‘On the Razzle’ at Austen Riggs

Holiday Shop, Sip & Stroll to highlight winter festivities

Great Barrington — The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and Lee Bank will present Holiday Shop, Sip & Stroll Saturday, Dec. 14th, from 3 to 8 p.m. in downtown Great Barrington.

Live window displays from the 2016 Holiday Show, Sip & Stroll in Great Barrington. Photos courtesy Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce

The Stroll will begin with “An Hour of Magic” with Ed the Wizard from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Mason Library, where children can pick up an “Elf Passport” to collect stamps and be entered to win prizes at various Stroll activities. From 4 to 7 p.m., the Stroll will feature childrens’ crafts at the First Congregational Church parish hall, plus a holiday market and fire pit in the First Congregational Church parking lot, 251 Main St.; face painting” at Lee Bank; letters to Santa at Fuel Coffee Shop; kids’ games in front of Wheeler & Taylor; S’mores by the fire pit at Berkshire Community College’s South County Center; “Charlie’s Holiday Model Railroad” at Saint James Place; a holiday photo booth at William Pitt Sotheby’s; holiday photo cutouts plus a holiday hayride that will load and unload up and down Railroad Street; wreath-making for adults in the Barrington House lobby, 284 Main St.; gingerbread house-making at 286 Main St.; and live windows throughout town.

The Santa’s Character Parade at the base of Railroad Street will begin at 4:30 p.m., and visits with Santa will begin upon Santa’s arrival in the Berkshire Bank lobby until 6:45 p.m. Participants can follow carolers form the Berkshire Waldorf School through town to the menorah and tree lighting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 334 Main St., and the fireworks at 7:10 p.m. can be seen throughout town. The event finale will be a performance by the Berkshire Children’s Chorus at Saint James Place at 7:45 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information and a full schedule of events, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce at (413) 528-4284 or office.sberkchamber@gmail.com.

–E.E.

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Shakespeare & Company to present ‘Sense & Sensibility’

Lenox — Shakespeare & Company will present a costumed reading of “Sense and Sensibility,” written by Kate Hamill and directed by Ariel Bock, Saturday, Dec 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in its Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre.

The Company’s family-friendly holiday performance is a fast-paced reading in which all of the wit and romance of Jane Austen’s classic tale come to life. Set in gossipy, late 18th-century England, the playful new adaptation follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Dashwood sisters after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. The reading will feature actors David Bertoldi, Jordan Cobb, Joan Coombs, Rory Hammond, Jennie M. Jadow, Tom Jaeger, David Joseph, Zoë Laiz, Madeleine Rose Maggio and Gabriel Vaughan.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Shakespeare & Company box office at (413) 637-3353.

–E.E.

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Berkshire Botanical Garden to host winter exhibition ‘Unborn Sun’ 

John Gordon Gauld, ‘The Archer,’ 2014. Photo courtesy Berkshire Botanical Garden

Stockbridge — Berkshire Botanical Garden will host its winter exhibition “Unborn Sun” Paintings by John Gordon Gauld” beginning with an opening reception Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in its Leonhardt Galleries.

New York City-based John Gordon Gauld holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design and is a recent recipient of the Martha Boschen Porter Grant from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. He has also received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, La Napoule Art Foundation, the Aldrich Museum, and the Vermont Studio Center. Gauld’s work has been included in group exhibitions and featured in Bergdorf Goodman’s window displays as well as in publications such as the New Yorker, the New York Times, ARTnews, Vogue, Huffington Post, Refinery29, Nylon, and Artnet News.

The reception is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view through Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. For more information, contact Berkshire Botanical Garden at (413) 320-4794.

–E.E.

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Dewey Hall to welcome Tony Trischka for ‘Of a Winter’s Night’

Tony Trischka. Photo: Gregory Heisler

Sheffield — Dewey Hall will welcome banjo and bluegrass musician Tony Trischka Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. for “Of a Winter’s Night.” Trischka will be joined by multi-instrumentalist and shape-note singer Tim Eriksen.

“Of a Winter’s Night” is Trischka’s acoustic celebration of the holiday season. Based on his 2015 album of the same name recorded at Levon Helm’s barn in Woodstock, New York, the show features Trischka turning loose his melodic inventiveness on a wide variety of seasonal tunes. Performing from the 1844 hymnbook “Sacred Harp,” some of the evening’s songs date back to the Revolutionary War era. Other selections range from classics such as “Come All Ye Faithful” to tunes like the Pretenders’ “2000 Miles” and Trischka’s own “Christmas Morn.”

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar, or contact (413) 429-1176 or beth@oldtonemusicfestival.com.

–E.E.

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Riggs Theatre 37 to stage ‘On the Razzle’

Kevin G. Coleman. Photo courtesy Shakespeare & Company

Stockbridge — Austen Riggs Center’s Riggs Theatre 37, 37 Main St., will stage “On the Razzle” by Tom Stoppard, directed by Kevin G. Coleman, Tuesday, Dec. 10, through Sunday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m.

“On the Razzle” is an adaptation of the Viennese play “Einen Jux will er sich machen” by Johann Nestroy and has graced stages around the globe from London to Los Angeles. Said Coleman, “It’s a funny play, a seminal adventure and full production with impossible set changes featuring a dedicated cast of talented actors who are excited to perform this piece for an audience.”

Part of Austen Riggs’ activities program and led by Coleman, who also serves as the education director at Shakespeare & Company, Riggs Theatre 37 provides an opportunity for patients to explore some of their strengths through involvement in twice-yearly productions. The immersive 10-week process includes reading scripts, selecting plays, working through rehearsals and staging public performances.

Tickets are $20 for the general public, and $10 for students and seniors. To reserve tickets, call (413) 298-5519 x5606.

–E.E.