Performing arts
• Gathering in Gratitude at the Stone Church: Community players from age six to elders will perform in “The Night Passage” on Nov. 20 and 21 at the Stone Church in downtown Brattleboro. The play is the fourth annual Gathering in Gratitude performance, with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets are $10 for individuals and $30 for families, with proceeds going to Project Feed the Thousands. They can be purchased at Verde (cash or check only). The play is jointly produced by Mahalo Art Center and Marlboro College, and is dedicated to the late Chief Jake Swamp.
“This year's Gathering in Gratitude is a communally crafted story of loss and the soul's journey to new levels of wholeness and light,” explained director Luz Elena Morey. “It is very profound, and takes place entirely at night, in a dark forest – but there is comic relief throughout.”
The performance features singers, dancers and musicians. While it includes some serious themes, the play contains no violence, and is appropriate for all ages. It is inspired by the Iroquois Thanksgiving Address, which Morey learned about more than a decade ago. Her work with this theme was sanctioned by Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp, a teacher and spiritual leader who died in October. For more information, visit www.MahaloArtCenter.com or contact Morey at 802-254-1310.
• Annie Hawkins returns to stage: On Sunday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m., at the First Universalist Parish on Route 103 North in Chester, Rural Vermont hosts “Winter's Fire: Stories of Love, Land, and Food to Warm the Cold Nights” with master storyteller Annie Hawkins. Admission is $5-$10 sliding scale, and all proceeds benefit Rural Vermont.
On a chilly November evening in 2009, folks from the Chester community and beyond gathered at the First Universalist Parish to listen to Hawkins' stories that honored the change of seasons, the bountiful harvest, and our relationships with the natural world. Last year's event was such a success that Rural Vermont is doing it again. Following the one-hour performance, stay for a reception with homemade refreshments. CDs will be available for purchase, and a percentage of each sale will be donated to Rural Vermont.
Hawkins began her storytelling life when she was a wee sprite dressed in Doctor Denton pajamas and regaling her parents' dinner guests with her fantastical made-up stories. She is also the author of published short stories, poems and essays. Her column Renegade Poet was published in The Kennett Paper in Kennett Square, Pa., for five years. She contributes regularly to the Voices section of The Commons.
Rural Vermont is a statewide nonprofit group founded by farmers in 1985. For the last 25 years, Rural Vermont has been advancing its mission of economic justice for Vermont farmers through advocacy and education. For more information, call 802- 223-7222 or visit www.ruralvermont.org.
• NEYT alumni perform again: Three daring New England Youth Theatre alumni - Nick Bombicino, Jessica Callahan, and James Gelter - will present a new adaptation of Shakespeare's greatest love story, Romeo & Juliet, on Nov. 26-28.
When the cast of the Royal Canadian Shakespeare Company's production of Romeo & Juliet, fails to get through the U.S. border, their Master Electrician, Stage Manager, and Production Assistant jump on the chance to perform the show themselves. Being a dedicated tech crew, who knows every cue and even every line by heart, they traipse through the unforgettable love story while falling into one of their own.
The trio will perform on the NEYT stage in downtown Brattleboro. Bombicino, Callahan, and Gelter are no strangers to the NEYT stage. Seven years ago, now alumni Callahan and Bombicino took on similar roles at NEYT's old Main Street location during a 2003 production of the bard's tale of star-crossed love. Gelter is also an alumnus of the NEYT programs. All three are currently on staff.
All tickets are $10 at the door. You may reserve seats by e-mailing [email protected], or calling 802-380-5090, with your name and the number of seats you are requesting. Reserved seats will be held until 6:50 p.m. If not claimed, they will be released to the waitlist.
Visual arts
• Cushing presents exhibition in Grafton: After three successful shows in Spain this year (Drap Art 2010, N2Galeria Barcelona, N3Galeria Madrid) and a Best In Show win at The Exhibition at Grafton Fine Art Show in August, Sculptor Bryce LeVan Cushing is presenting the fine art show Alien Intersection at The Old Tavern's Phelps Barn in Grafton.
The show, featuring the sculptures of Cushing along with the textile art of Frances Alford Holliday and the watercolor paintings of Peter Jeziorski, opens on Nov. 21 and runs through Nov. 28.
Cushing's sculptures are comprised of antique items that are broken and repurposed into recycled art. His new Grafton Forge Alien Series will be featured in the Alien Intersection show. Cushing has toured the United States extensively with gallery shows in Boulder, Colo. (Blink Gallery), Philadelphia (bahdeebahdu, 12 Gates Gallery), Tucson, Ariz. (DeGrazia Museum), The Niagara Falls Arts and Cultural Center, Le Petit Versailles (New York City) and many others for the past seven years.
On Sunday, Nov. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m., several spaces will be open in town to celebrate their lives in Grafton with the show Alien Intersection. Visitors will be welcome to tour the Hunter Gallery, Embellishments Studios, the Jud Hartman Gallery, the Grafton Forge and the Phelps Barn, all of which are located in Grafton Village. The main location of the show will be The Old Tavern at Grafton's Phelps Barn located at 92 Main St. From Nov. 22-28, the show can be seen at Phelps Barn at The Old Tavern from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details on the event can be found at www.OldTavern.com or by calling 802-843-1162.
Books
• Hendrick visits Village Square Booksellers: Alstead, N.H., artist and notecard illustrator Cindy Hendrick of Woodfield Press will be visiting Village Square Booksellers on Friday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m .as part of 3rd Friday Bellows Falls.
She will discuss how she turns her artwork into prints and the popular Tales from Woodfield notecards sold at the bookstore. Hendrick grew up in the hills of western Connecticut in a pre-revolutionary farmhouse. There were few other houses around but there were hundreds of acres of woods and fields to explore and observe the many animals that lived there. And there was always a succession of wounded or lost animals coming through the house, which gave the artist the chance to observe animals up close.
Art was always present in her home. Both parents were painters at one time, and Cindy's father was a cartoonist. Gardening is also a favorite pastime and many of the background flowers in the illustrations come straight from her garden. Today she lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse (Woodfield) in Alstead with her husband and various animals, wild and domestic, overlooking the Connecticut River Valley. Call 802-463-9404 for event reservations.
• Lange visits area bookstores: Beloved author and radio commentator Willem Lange will present his Christmas folktale book for children, “Favor Johnson: A Christmas Story” on Sunday, Nov. 21, at Everyone's Books in Brattleboro and at Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls.
At 11 a.m., Lange will be at Everyone's Books to sign copies of his book. Call 802-254-8160 for details.
At 2 p.m., he will read at Village Square Booksellers. Call 802-463-9404 for book and event reservations, as last year's event was standing room only. Or reserve a book online http://www.villagesquarebooks.com/book/9781593730826.
Lange is familiar voice as commentator on Vermont Public Radio and New Hampshire Public Television, and his Christmas story has been a public radio staple for 25 years. After 40 years in New Hampshire, he and his wife moved to East Montpelier, Vt.
• Archer Mayor in Dummerston: Newfane author Archer Mayor will discuss his latest suspense novel, Red Herring, and various other interesting topics on Monday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. in the Dummerston Community Center, 156 West St., West Dummerston.
Autographed new and recent novels of Mayor's will be available for purchasing. A portion of the proceeds benefit the center. For more information, call Ann at 802-254-2415 or Jean at 802-254-9212. The center is handicapped accessible.