Bits & Bytes: Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare; SoupFest; Hotchkiss photography exhibit; CoA luncheon

Shakespeare & Company’s Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare hits the road

Lenox — Shakespeare & Company’s Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare is now on the road. This year, the Company’s tour will take productions of William Shakespeare’s “Othello, the Moor of Venice” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to more than 20,000 students in 75 schools throughout the Northeast in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland.

During the tour, Company education artists conduct workshops and perform 90-minute productions of the plays, which are fully produced performances emphasizing Shakespeare’s language, dramatic action, and the vital relationship among the actors and the audience. Each play features a cast with seven members, each of whom takes on multiple roles. The 2018 cast includes Andrew Barrett, David Bertoldi, Gregory Boover, Alison Howard, Caitlin Kraft, Kirsten Peacock and Kai Tshikosi. The productions are directed by Kevin G. Coleman and Douglas Seldin with costumes by Govane Lohbauer and Elizabeth Magas, and production design by James W. Bilnoski.

The tour will also perform both shows for local schools at Shakespeare & Company’s Lenox campus later this spring. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has school performances Monday, March 26; Monday, April 2; and Friday, May 4. “Othello” has performance dates Friday, March 2; Thursday, April 12; and Wednesday, May 2.

–E.E.

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SoupFest to benefit area soup kitchens, food pantries

Pittsfield — The Civitan Club of Pittsfield will hold its 12th annual SoupFest Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m. at the Berkshire Hills Country Club.

SoupFest incorporates soup tastings, appetizers, desserts, a cash bar, a silent auction and raffles with all proceeds given to area soup kitchens and food pantries. This year’s soup samples will come from approximately 20 local restaurants and organizations including Berkshire Community College‘s culinary program, Taconic High School, Chef Frank, Electra’s Cafe, Flavours of Malaysia, Gala Restaurant & Bar, J. Allen’s Clubhouse Grille, Leenie’s Paninis, Market 32, Ozzie’s Steak & Eggs, Patrick’s Pub, PortSmitt’s Lakeway Restaurant, Soldier On and Wahconah Country Club.

Tickets are $25 per person and are available at the door or by contacting Civitan members Karen Ruscio at (413) 212-6832 or karenruscio@aol.com and Nancy Lamarre at (413) 443-5530. Reservations are available for tables of 10. For those who are not able attend, donations will be accepted and may be made payable to the Civitan Club of Pittsfield, P.O. Box 42, Pittsfield, MA 01202.

–E.E.

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‘Mexico Siempre Fiel,’ 2008. Photo: Gala Narezo

Hotchkiss to exhibit photographs by Gala Narezo

Lakeville, Conn. — The Tremaine Gallery at the Hotchkiss School will present an exhibit featuring the photographic work of Gala Narezo Saturday, March 3, through Wednesday, April 25. A reception for “Gala Narezo: Voice/Time” will be held Saturday, March 3, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Narezo is an artist and educator who studies the intersection of art, social engagement and reflective practices. Her work explores ways to honor the self while considering interdependence with others and the world beyond. She is a graduate of Yale University in New Haven and ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. Narezo served as a nongovernmental organization representative to the United Nations for Designmatters, an educational platform of Art Center College of Design with the mission to engage, empower and lead an ongoing exploration of art and design as a positive force in society.

For more information, contact the Hotchkiss School at (860) 435-4423.

–E.E.

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‘At the Fair’ by Eunice Agar

Councils on aging to hold luncheon

South Egremont — The Egremont and Mount Washington councils on aging invite all seniors to their complimentary lunch and program, “Yes, You CAN Draw! Part 2,” with Great Barrington artist Eunice Agar Wednesday, March 7, at noon at the Egremont Village Inn.

Agar is an expressive realist painter of landscapes in oil, casein and watercolor, and of figurative subjects in oil. She paints on location in Western Massachusetts and Maine as well as on trips abroad and curates the art collection at the Claire Teague Senior Center in Great Barrington. Her work has been featured in a number of Maine publications and is also part of the permanent collection at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Agar is a graduate of Wellesley College and a life member of the Art Students League of New York. She was a contributing editor at American Artist for many years and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in American Women.

To make reservations, contact the Egremont Town Hall at (413) 528-0182 x17 or wbrinker@egremont-ma.gov by Monday, March 5, and include dietary restrictions and whether or not a ride is needed.

–E.E.