Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: The popularity of socially responsible theater
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate The stories that make up what we see in theater are just one aspect of what makes live entertainment so compelling, but the way those stories are told has much to do with whether the play continues to make you think even after...
Keeping Tabs on Pot Purity
The machines inside Analytics Labs seem like futuristic, esoteric devices. Workers in lab coats move around instruments with names like Agilent High-Performance Liquid Chromatography System, performing what seems like complicated science experiments. But the work that...
Connecting creatives: The ArtsHub seeks to serve as a central online location for the creative community
The call went out for actors who were good at Shakespeare. It was quickly answered by a white-haired man in a black overcoat and low-brimmed hat: “Hath not a Jew eyes?” pleads Joe Vincent in a roiling voice. “If you prick us, shall we not bleed? If you tickle us,...
Monte Belmonte Wines: Something wicked this way comes
The witches in “The Scottish Play” warned of a monster of their own making. But this witch may become the best damned spot to go out. Something wicked AWESOME this way comes! Chef Michaelangelo Wescott is opening a new restaurant on Main Street in Northampton, in the...
The V-Spot: Help a New Top Hit Their Kinky Stride
Dear Yana, I’m a former power bottom now freshly-turned Dom in a new dynamic. I’ve been finding that when my sub and I are apart, I’ve got a lot of great ideas of new things to do with her. Though I always vow to myself to try out those things when I’m with her next,...
Taking it to the streets: UMass exhibit celebrates the work of documentary photographer Jill Freedman
When documentary photographer Jill Freedman died in 2019, she left behind a huge body of work focused on people living on the margins in urban American, on protestors against poverty and war, and on cops and firefighters doing their intense work day after day. “I...
Passing the Torch
Two women leaders of Valley theaters – – Priscilla Kane Hellweg of Enchanted Circle Theater and Lucinda Kidder of Silverthorne Theater Company – have retired from the troupes they’ve nurtured from seedlings into models of socially engaged theater. Recently I chatted with them about the highs and lows, triumphs and tribulations of their respective tenures, from first inklings through Covid.
Stagestruck: High Wireless Act
“We hope that this is the most enjoyable piece of bad news audience members have ever experienced.” So says Jonathan Mirin of Piti Theatre Company, whose latest show, “Canary in a Gold Mine,” looks into the opposing forces of corporate profit vs. public safety.
Monte Belmonte Wines: The end of sparkling isolation?
I’m pretty sure it was the author/physician/scientist Vikram Paralkar who said it first, but it became a popular meme in the early days of the pandemic: “It’s only Quarantine if it’s in the Quarantine province of France. Otherwise, it’s sparkling isolation.” In March...
FIVE YEARS LEGAL: Marijuana has gone corporate, so why does the black market game continue to flourish?
Before the cellphone contagion, what games did families play during long trips in the car? Spotting license plates from other states or guessing the names of passing motorists kept our cherubs amused,: “Oh, that’s a Fester for sure!” These days, you could keep the...
Stagestruck: Coming Back to Live – Theaters took to the stage again this year, cautiously and creatively
After the spring, summer, fall and winter of our discontent — not to mention fear, frustration and isolation — this year area theaters tentatively, and often inventively, stepped onstage again. The sense of determination by performers and audiences alike to get back to live-in-person was unmistakable, along with the sheer joy of being back together.
Sessions
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Valley Show Girl: Ascendant, the Latest Release from Easthampton’s Problem With Dragons
The thick layer of sludge that emerges from this album paves a path to your very own personal ride to space.
The V-Spot: My Boyfriend Might Be Gay. Should I Care?
“Is he flirting with this guy in front of me because he wants to get caught? I’ve already asked him if he’s gay, and he said no, so why am I obsessing over his sexuality, and how do I deal with the potential fact that the guy I love may be identifying as straight, but secretly hooking up with his male friend?”
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Stagestruck: Out of the Shadows
“Who knew?” is the question in the air these days at Jacob’s Pillow. For example: Who knew that many of the great Duke Ellington’s compositions were written by someone else? And who knew that the pious religious community known as Shakers had African-American members?











