Four Freedoms Forum focus: Freedom of the press
Stockbridge — The Norman Rockwell Museum’s Four Freedoms Forum series will return on Thursday, May 25, at 5:30 p.m. with a look at freedom of the press in today’s journalism. The forum will discuss the role of the press in the world today and will include featured speakers Jim Levulis of WAMC radio and Tammy Daniels of iBerkshires.com.
Levulis is the associate news director at WAMC and served as the station’s Berkshire bureau chief for three years prior. He previously worked as a reporter, producer and anchor at WAER in Syracuse, New York. Levulis also has experience in Top 40 radio and spent time with WBFO and WIVB-TV, both in Buffalo, New York. He holds a BA in broadcast journalism and history from Syracuse University.
Daniels is the managing editor of iBerkshires.com, which she joined after nearly a decade working for New England Newspapers Inc., most recently as managing editor of the North Adams Transcript. Daniels is a Berkshires native now living in Stamford, Vermont, and a graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
Events in the Four Freedoms Forums are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the museum at (413) 298-4100.
–E.E.
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BIFF to screen ‘The Happy Film’
Great Barrington — On Friday, May 26, at 6:30 p.m., Berkshire International Film Festival will present “The Happy Film” at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
“The Happy Film” is a feature-length documentary in which graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister undergoes a series of self experiments outlined by popular psychology to test once and for all if it’s possible for a person to have a meaningful impact on his own happiness. The film shows Sagmeister pursuing three controlled experiments of meditation, therapy and drugs, grading himself along the way. However, real life creeps in and confounds the process: art, sex, love and death prove impossible to disentangle. Sagneister’s unique designs and painfully personal experiences mark a journey that finds him traveling closer to himself than ever intended.
An interactive panel discussion with Sagmeister, director Ben Nabors and Dr. Sheenah Hankin will follow the screening. Tickets are $20 for the film and panel discussion and $50 for the film, panel discussion and an after party with Sagmeister, Nabors and Hankin at a private Berkshire home. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call the Mahaiwe box office at (413) 528-0100.
–E.E.
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Shakespeare & Company to stage ‘4000 Miles’
Lenox — Shakespeare & Company will open its 40th anniversary season with “4000 Miles,” written by Amy Herzog, and directed by Nicole Ricciardi, Thursday, May 25, through Sunday, July 16.
After suffering a major loss while he was on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91-year-old grandmother, Vera, in her West Village apartment. Over the course of a single month, the unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder and ultimately reach each other. The Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the 2012 Obie Award for Best New Play explores growing up, growing old and the moments in between.
Ricciardi’s production of “4000 Miles” features award-winning actress Annette Miller and Company member Gregory Boover along with Zoë Laiz and Company newcomer Emma Geer. The creative team includes set design by John McDermott, lighting design by James W. Bilnoski, costume design by Stella Schwartz and sound design by Amy Altadonna.
For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call the Shakespeare & Company box office at (413) 637-3353.
–E.E.
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‘Summer in Spencertown’ seasonal celebration
Spencertown, N.Y. — Summer in Spencertown, the annual open-air celebration on the village green, will take place Saturday, May 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and feature local vendors such as davistudio fine porcelain and Joseph and Connie Mondel Antiques; organic food, vegetables and plants from the Farm at Miller’s Crossing; handmade goods from Frances Culley’s Apothecary; Australian pit barbecue; animals for adoption; and more. Live entertainment throughout the day will be provided by a young troupe of singing jugglers, the Amy Ryan Band and Kid Kurt. During the event, Spencertown resident Olga Moreland will display her collection of 100 handmade afghans draped over the pews, galleries and railings of the adjacent St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church.
Summer in Spencertown will benefit the Friends of Historic St. Peter’s Church, a nonsectarian nonprofit organization that supports the physical maintenance of the 18th-century St. Peter’s Church building. For more information, contact Maryanne Davis at (518) 392-7308 or maryanne@davistudio.com.
–E.E.
