Mac-Haydn Theatre to stage Spamalot
Chatham, N.Y. — The Mac-Haydn Theatre will stage the Monty Python-inspired musical Spamalot Thursday, Aug. 10, through Sunday, Aug. 20. Based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical follows King Arthur and his knights on their quest to find the holy grail.
Directed by Neal Kowalsky and choreographed by Sebastiani Romagnolo, the cast is led by John Anker Bow as King Arthur, Madison Stratton as the Lady of the Lake, Paul Wyatt as the Sir Robin, Alex Carr as the Historian, Gabe Belyeu as Sir Galahad, Connor Hubbard as Sir Lancelot, Dakota Dutcher as Sir Bedevere and Ross Flores as Patsy.
Tickets are. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call the Mac-Haydn Theatre at (518) 392-9292.
–E.E.
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Shakespeare & Company to launch Storytellers and Songwriters series
Lenox — In celebration of its 40th season, Shakespeare & Company has launched an August event series called Storytellers and Songwriters. Each event will explore various characters through solo performances by veteran company artists, many of which will include live music and original compositions from acclaimed musicians and songwriters. The first event in the series will be Via Dolorosa by David Hare and featuring Jonathan Epstein on Friday, Aug. 11, at 8:30 p.m.
Via Dolorosa is the story of British playwright Hare’s 1997 visit to Israel and Gaza, told by a single actor in a 90-minute dramatic whirlwind of people, places and events. As Hare, Epstein turns himself into more than 30 different characters, each an impassioned participant in the Arab-Israeli struggle, as the play ranges through London, Tel Aviv, the Settlements, Gaza and Jerusalem itself in search of some kind of hope in a world where it seems that everyone can say, and with justice, “This land is ours.” The performance will be followed by a talkback with Epstein.
Tickets are $24–$54. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Shakespeare & Company box office at (413) 637-
–E.E.
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Stockbridge Sinfonia free concerts
Pittsfield — The Stockbridge Sinfonia has announced that it will offer concerts on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 2 p.m. at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge and Sunday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Lenox Memorial Middle & High School’s Duffin Theater.
The program for the concerts will include Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite, Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Christine Singer, the orchestra’s concertmistress, will solo in the Khachaturian, and the orchestra’s principal clarinet, John Davies, will be the soloist in the Mozart concerto.
The concerts are free and open to the public. Donations in support of the orchestra and the scholarship program for its student members will gladly be accepted at the door. For more information, contact the Stockbridge Sinfonia at (413) 442-3289.
–E.E.
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Knosh & Knowledge to focus on social action
Great Barrington — On Friday, Aug. 11, at 10:45 a.m. at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Knosh & Knowledge program will present Tova Hartman, the dean of humanities at Ono Academic College, a model of multicultural graduate and undergraduate programming and education-based social reform as well as the fastest growing institute of higher education in Israel. She will explore the challenges for marginalized Ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian Jews as well as those for Arabs and Druze in Israel’s multicultural society.
Hartman is a scholar, author and social entrepreneur. Her first book, Appropriately Subversive: Modern Mothers in Traditional Religions, was a comparative study of the experiences of traditional Catholic and Jewish women as mothers and as agents of socialization in their communities and cultures. Her most recent book, Are You Not a Man of God?: Devotion, Betrayal, and Social Criticism in Jewish Tradition, brought feminist theory and relational psychology to bear on Jewish theology and culture. Her book Feminism Encounters Jewish Tradition: Resistance and Accommodation won a National Jewish Book Award. Hartman is also founder of Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem, the first Orthodox egalitarian synagogue.
The program will begin at 10:45 a.m. and will be followed by a buffet lunch. Admission is $11, which includes the lunch. Participants may attend the program only for $5. Advance reservations for lunch are required. For more information or to make reservations, contact the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10 or federation@jewishberkshires.org.
–E.E.
