The local logophile, an erudite Easthamptonite: Veteran Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski is the public face of the country’s oldest dictionary
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer When Peter Sokolowski started work as an editor at Merriam-Webster 30 years ago, about 80 people worked at the venerable dictionary company in Springfield, including about 45 editors. But based on how quiet the offices were, it might have...
Stagestruck: Curtains Going Up, Rains Coming Down – Theaters reopen as summer dries off
With most of the area theaters that reopened this summer performing outdoors because of Covid restrictions, fully half the performances I was scheduled to attend were interrupted or cancelled outright by the weather.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #3
The Harbor Stage ensemble is like a superlative string quartet – four virtuoso soloists in tune with each other’s rhythms and dynamics while anticipating their cues. The current show, “Dindin,” is a masterly showcase of this foursome in full flight.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #2
Tennessee Williams wrote “The Glass Menagerie” in 1943, when he was part of the creative ferment that has long defined Provincetown, Mass. The current revival at the Provincetown Theater recalls that genesis, with mixed results.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #1
Every summer I spend a week on Cape Cod, enjoying the beach and, of course, the theater. This year I saw four shows at three Outer Cape theaters, two of which I haven’t visited in a while. Here’s the first of three snapshots from those seaside shows, “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater.
Stagestruck: A Valley Half-Dozen
It’s August, and the summer theater season is winding down. No, wait. It’s not. In the Valley, no fewer than six live-in-person productions will be vying for our attention this weekend alone.
Stagestruck: Burnett-ing Down the House
Archie Burnett is a living repository of the house dance that coalesced in after-hours dance clubs, and “Life Encounters” is his personal odyssey of discovery and initiation, narrated in onstage vignettes with his intergenerational, international, multiracial troupe.
Stagestruck: The ‘Art’ of Friendship
I’ve seen Art several times over the years, and what always strikes me is that it’s a play about men acting like women. And therein lies the crux of the play – and the problem with this production.
Stagestruck: Two Great Ladies on Noah’s Ark
My partner, a literature professor, has noted a principle in both scholarship and fiction that she calls the Noah’s Ark Approach: If you want to get attention for your female subject, pair her with a famous man. Two new plays in Berkshire theaters illustrate that rule.
Stagestruck: The Weather, the Union, and Othello
I had a theater-going “double feature” planned for last Saturday – two outdoor shows in a row from adventurous Berkshire-based companies. But those plans were disturbed by two irresistible forces: Nature and Actors’ Equity Association.
Stagestruck: A Shaky Shakespeare
Shakespeare & Company’s King Lear, the first show to open on its Lenox campus in a year and a half, marks another return of live theater after the long intermission. It’s also the inaugural production in the troupe’s new outdoor amphitheater, a handsome addition to the company’s stages that brings its history full circle. So it’s especially disappointing to report that this production falls so short of anticipation.
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Introducing the Valley Advocate Sessions Podcast – Home Body
An electro fever-pop, new wave and experimental pop duo.
The V-Spot: Let’s Do Munch!
“Hey Yana, I am totally new to BDSM [bondage and discipline/sadism and maso- chism]. Someone told me about a “munch” happening locally tomorrow night. They found it through the FetLife website and suggested I go. Do you know anything about these “munch” meetups? How safe are they? I am Northampton based, looking to connect with other BDSM folks. Do you have any suggestions on how else I can do this?”
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Stagestruck on Broadway: Family Squabbles – the Clintons and the Lears
Two plays now on Broadway for limited runs, a world classic and a world premiere, revolve around fractured families whose dynastic dreams turn sour. One involves the ambitious daughters of an English king, the other the ambitious wife of a former U.S. president. Neither ends well.
