Tara Franklin plays Ruth, one of the greatest female roles in modern drama, in Harold Pinter’s ‘Homecoming’ at BTG
PINTER CLASSIC ‘THE HOMECOMING’ GETS BTG STAGING
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – “The Homecoming,” one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, by Harold Pinter, one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, runs at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre from Thursday, October 1, through Sunday, October 25, at 2pm. The play, ostensibly about a family reunion, written in 1964 by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright and first staged in London in 1965 and on Broadway, where it won a Tony Award for Best Play, in 1967, is often considered the quintessential of Pinter’s “comedy of menace” plays, which gave birth the term “Pinteresque.”
Caroline Shaw, the youngest-ever recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music.
INNOVATIVE ACOUSTIC QUARTET to PLAY SHIRE CITY SANCTUARY
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The Hands Free, an acoustic quartet comprised of four of today’s most innovative contemporary musicians – James Moore (guitar/banjo), Nathan Koci (accordion), Eleonore Oppenheim (bass) and Caroline Shaw (violin) – performs in the second concert of the new Fringe Music series at Shire City Sanctuary on Friday, October 2, at 7pm, in conjunction with the city’s First Fridays Artswalk. Admission is free.
Julianne Moore and Ellen Page in ‘Freeheld’
‘FREEHELD’ to GET PRE-RELEASE SCREENING at TRIPLEX
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – “Freeheld,” the new feature adaptation of the award-winning documentary of the same name by Berkshire filmmaker Cynthia Wade, gets a special pre-release screening at the Triplex on Sunday, October 4, at 4pm. A presentation of Berkshire International Film Festival, the film stars Julianne Moore, Ellen Page and Steve Carell, and was produced by Wade, who will be on hand for a post-screening q&a.
Henry Butler
HENRY BUTLER BRINGS NEW ORLEANS SOUNDS to MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – New Orleans pianist Henry Butler brings his rollicking gumbo of jazz, Caribbean, pop, blues, and R&B to MASS MoCA on Saturday, October 3, at 8pm. The peerless Butler’s piano-playing combines impeccable musical polish with a refreshingly fearless attitude, resulting in music with singular storytelling ability and emotional capacity. With both his heart and fingers free, Butler delivers an aching, genuine, and freewheeling New Orleans musical vision.
Donnetta Lavinia Grays
NEW PLAY ‘VEILS’ GETS REGIONAL PREMIERE at BSC
(PITTSFIELD, MA)— “Veils,” a new play by Tom Coash that deals with acceptance and discrimination, gets is regional premiere at Barrington Stage Company from Thursday, October 1, through Sunday, October 18. Directed by Leah C. Gardiner (BSC debut), the production stars Hend Ayoub (Samar) and Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Intisar), in their BSC debuts.
Madhur Jaffrey
(NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass.) — Indian actress and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey and Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Peter Godwin will attempt to answer the question, “Why America?”, in a conversation hosted by Englishman Simon Winchester in Music & More’s literary series at the Meeting House on the Village Green on Saturday, October 3, at 4:30 pm. The authors will discuss just why they have chosen to settle and write thousands of miles from their homelands in the United States.
The Wiyos
THE WIYOS BRING OLD-TIMEY MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Old-timey trio the Wiyos bring their original blend of music inspired by the early American musical idioms of the 1920s and ’30s, including blues, country, ragtime, gospel, and swing, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, October 2, at 9pm. The Wiyos are Michael Farkas, Teddy Weber, and “Sauerkraut” Seth Travins. Gleefully subverting genre distinctions, their music comes from a time before commercial formatting separated blues from country, ragtime from gospel, and swing from hillbilly. Their sound is reminiscent of days gone by, when live bands could be heard both on the radio and at community dances, juke joints, and house parties.
Music hall performers Judy Staber and Ted Pugh
BRITISH MUSIC HALL TRADITION REVIVED at SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY
(SPENCERTOWN, N.Y.) – A fun-filled “Evening of British Music Hall,” featuring an evening of British vaudeville with music, jokes, and skits, takes place at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center on Saturday, October 3 at 7pm and Sunday, October 4, at 2pm, in an event presented by PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century. The program, featuring a half-dozen of the region’s top talents, including Lincoln Mayorga, Sheri Bauer-Mayorga, Amanda Boyd-Grout, Ted Pugh, John Roberts and Judy Staber, will include a tribute to Noel Coward.