(NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass.) – Noted actor Jonathan Epstein appears in a dramatic reading of King Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn, Chaucer’s bawdy tales, Shakespeare’s sonnets and the writings of Aubrey and Donne, accompanied by early music ensemble Calliope, on Saturday, September 7, 2013, at 4:30 p.m., as part of the Music & More series at the Meeting House. A pre-concert talk takes place at 3:30 p.m., and a reception follows.

Epstein’s readings recollect a 250-year era in which English prose, poetry and drama underwent a creative explosion culminating with the great theater and church literature of the 1600s. Calliope: A Renaissance Band will play period music written and performed around the time of each reading. Musicians Ben Harms and Lucy Bardo of New Marlborough, Allan Dean of Monterey, and Steven Lundahl of Canterbury, N.H., will play period instruments including recorder, fiddle, viols, shawm, cornetto, sackbut and an assortment of drums and tambourines to introduce or complement the readings.

Tickets are $25 and $20 for members of the New Marlborough Village Association, and can be reserved at musicandmoreberkshires.org, or by calling 413. 229.2785. The Meeting House is at 154 Hartsville-New Marlborough Road.

Music and More, founded and directed by Harold Lewin and sponsored by the New Marlborough Village Association, is marking its 22nd year as a late-summer destination for world-class chamber music, jazz, theatrical and literary events in historic New Marlborough. Performances are on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m., from Aug. 3 through Oct. 5.