It’s not a theater by any stretch. The low ceiling, whitewashed brick walls, folding chairs and bare-bulb lighting make for a less than salubrious performance experience. But the basement of Thornes Marketplace in Northampton, formerly occupied by Dynamite Records, has become a sought-after venue for performances, workshops and community gatherings.
Dynamite Space is an emblem of the shocking dearth of available spaces in the Valley, as well as a tribute to the ingenuity and determination of people to make do in order to make art.
The space is co-administered by Studio Helix, an upstairs Thornes tenant, which uses it for fitness and movement workshops and dance performances, and C3, the Commonwealth Center for Change. “C3 is an artists’ collective that seeks to promote and produce creative programming in underutilized spaces in Northampton,” according to board member Todd Trebour. Thornes management donates use of the space, which is made available to local artists, performers and community groups for a nominal fee that supports the organization’s own arts programming.
“Thornes’ philanthropy,” says Trebour, “provides an affordable multi-use space for artists in downtown Noho, attracts customers to Thornes and contributes to the vibrancy of downtown Northampton’s arts scene—a win-win for all parties.”
Trebour says Dynamite Space is booked nearly every night of the week. Recent events have included a group collage-making project, an Open Screen Night where filmmakers shared works in progress, an “Awkward Potluck” of artists’ show-and-tell with embarrassing artifacts of adolescent artmaking, and a premiere playreading of a new comedy by PVPA grad Susanna Berard.
Now playing in the space is Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn, a one-act play by Lorees Yerby about two very old ladies, played to perfection by two not-so-old ladies, Judith Fine and Linda Putnam. Presented by Putnam’s Evergreen Theatre, the show is technically barebones, like the space. There’s no set—the actors sit in front of folding black screens, facing a semicircle of audience seats—but the performances are sumptuous.
This really should be lunchtime theater—and Fine and Putnam do plan to serve it as a daytime treat in elder facilities—since it takes place in a cafeteria where the two widows, longtime best friends, are having a meal and a chat. They are sweet, vague Gertrude (Putnam), who likes to “smile and nod,” and Clara, sharp of mind and tongue but, in Fine’s impressive physical performance, afflicted with a tremor in the hands and head.
The chit-chat about the food and the service unexpectedly, but inevitably, turns to& death. Gertrude is hesitant to contemplate The End, though she also dreads the prospect that Clara might die first. But level-headed Clara already has her final resting place picked out: an imposing gravesite in Forest Lawn cemetery. Then the conversation, just as suddenly, swerves into uncharted territory as one of the women confesses to a secret love in her past.
The piece, directed by Ginny Mayer, is funny and touching and, in the hands of two consummate pros, almost a master class in finely tuned performance. Just ignore the non-posh surroundings and be grateful that we are surrounded by so much art that a space like Dynamite is necessary and welcome.
Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn: March 25-27, 7:30 p.m., $10-12, Dynamite Space, Thornes basement, Northampton.
