Not to start on too bossy a note, but do go out and catch all five plays and musical productions of the African American Theatre Festival being performed, mostly, at the Vineyard Playhouse and running this week through early September.
The festival began this past Wednesday with Root, a one-woman play written and performed by Vanessa German and directed by Heather Arnet. The play travels from 1980s Los Angeles to the Civil Rights marches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to drug-saturated Juarez, Mexico to a battered and drenched New Orleans.
On Oct. 23 the Beatles are coming to the Vineyard. And you thought their debut at Shea Stadium was monumental.
For those worried, or excited, about ghostly visages, the folks playing the music will not be the Fab Four but rather local Island musicians who call themselves the Daytrippers. But close your eyes and it may truly be John, George, Paul and Ringo you hear.
Some call her Big Roz. Others call her Lady Roz G. Most just call her drop-dead funny.
Roz G. is on the Vineyard July 7 through 9, as the opening performer of a summer of comedy thanks to the folks at Knock-Knock productions. All performances take place at the Katharine Cornell Theatre located at 54 Spring street in Vineyard Haven.
Leslie Stark is a busy man this weekend. At the helm directing a group of short plays by David Ives on Sunday, he is also the man at the wheel on Saturday, Nov. 12, for reading Arnold Rabin’s new play, Quartet for a Queen. The reading takes place at 6:30 p.m. at Howes House in West Tisbury.
Built on Stilts, the annual dance festival held at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, opened last night to begin its eight day run with a bit of drumming, belly dancing and a group of five-year-olds taking the stage fresh from their yearlong “Stiltshop” choreography class. What’s on the schedule for tonight is anyone’s guess, though, as the show never repeats itself.
Short plays, like short stories, have never caught on with the popular culture to the extent to which they so richly deserve. And yet they offer such a better return, really, for the public’s entertainment dollar. More stories, more sets of characters, more writers, directors and all of the other creative elements that go into live theatre for the same single ticket price.
You know about A Streetcar Named Desire. You also know about The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Rose Tattoo and on and on. The work of Tennessee Williams is celebrated on stage and screen, but if for some reason you haven’t seen or read his work, the time is now.
Strong characters with Russian accents, a story line set in an era unfamiliar to teenagers, an elaborate set design with complicated lighting cues and music that covers the waterfront — it’s no wonder the high school drama department started work on this play last spring.
But they did and the hard work was evident at Chess the Musical, which opened last night at the high school Performing Arts Center and shows again tonight and on Sunday this weekend.
The results of Imp Camp will be on display once again today beginning at noon at the Edgartown School.
For those out of the loop, Imp Camp is an improv retreat for kids under 18 where they not only learn the craft, they take it to the stage. How’s that for hands-on camping?
Today’s performance includes songs from the Lion King, scenes from All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, My Homework, and Bears, Beware; Goldilocks Is in Your Town.
