Micah Rosegrant in January Residence at The Foundry
West Stockbridge — The Foundry has welcomed community-centered artmaker, dramaturg, playwright, poet, and performer Micah Rosegrant for a month-long residency at its performing arts space and incubator for new work.
Recently listed as one of “13 Theatre Workers You Should Know” by American Theatre Magazine, Micah (they/them) currently serves as an Artist in Community fellow at Arts Connect International in Dorchester, Mass., where they support the Cultural Equity Learning Community while cultivating programs that center healing by and for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.
The co-founder of Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston, Micah has created theatre at Arena Stage, MaArte Theatre Collective, Central Square Theater, Sparkhaven Theatre, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Boston University School of Theatre. Interweaving ritual and poetry with visual mediums, Micah’s residency in West Stockbridge will seed and grow artworks that imagine us towards liberation for trans and queer people.
Activating memory as a site for intergenerational healing and justice, Micah also questions how art and knowledge can translate and be accessed via different digital mediums. Their process during the residency will be shared through videos, livestreams, and “fireside chats,” into which the community will be invited.
—A.K.
* * *
Dulye Leadership Experience sponsors Virtual Comedy Show
Pittsfield — At 8 p.m. on January 15, the Virtual Comedy Hour, sponsored by the Dulye Leadership Experience, will star headline comics seen on major network TV shows. This special event will feature a diverse repertoire from Usama Siddiquee, featured on “America’s Got Talent,” plus Caitlin Peluffo from the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Jocelyn Chia from “Live at Gotham,” and Andre D. Thompson from “The Tonight Show.” The show will be hosted by Kiar Holland and Charlie Nadler of LaughDealers.com, most recently seen on the EforAll Berkshires Showcase. The duo will create digital celebrity impersonations and wrap up the event with a live Q&A session about the transformations of stand-up comedy during these challenging times for live comedy. All acts will be family friendly and suitable for all generations.
—A.K.
* * *
Bidwell House Talk Honors the Mohican Story of Stockbridge
Monterey — The second of three Zoom lectures in the Bidwell House Museum’s off-season series, Hidden in Plain Sight: Native Peoples and the Struggle to Recover Their History in New England, will be held at 7 p.m. on January 13. Bonney Hartley, the tribal historic preservation manager of the Stockbridge/Munsee Mohican Nation, will give the talk Finding a Place Again: Honoring the Mohican Story of Stockbridge.
Though indigenous history in Stockbridge stretches back at least 12,000 years, the colonial-era Mohican story is bookended by two key events: the 1739 construction of the Stockbridge Meetinghouse, and the 1783 Ox Roast feast to thank Stockbridge Mohicans for Revolutionary War service — as they were simultaneously forced to leave these lands for the west.
Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation is investigating these important and complex sites through archaeology and historical research, awakening new perspectives on these events. The Meetinghouse and Ox Roast sites are two of 11 sites included in the Tribe’s recent release of an online Mohican History Walking Tour of Stockbridge’s Main Street.
Bonney Hartley is an enrolled member of the Stockbridge/Munsee Mohican Nation. Her work focuses on repatriation of ancestors and objects important to the Tribe’s cultural heritage. She holds a Masters of Social Science degree in International Relations from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In 2013, she was awarded the “American Indian Local Hero Award” by the San Francisco Mayor’s office.
Registration via the Museum event page is required. Members: Free. Non-members: $10.
The final lecture in the series will be held February 24.
—A.K.
