Skip to content

Happening this Week

by Charlotte Penrose

Welcome to the world of 2018! I wish each of you joy in this coming year, and hope I can contribute my small part in the pursuit of a stimulating, reflective, artful and celebratory way of life.

CLOSE BUT NOT TOUCHING: JEAN SANDS’ POETIC LEGACY
January 4th, Thursday 6:30-7:45PM

When Jean Sands passed in 2016, she had already bequeathed hundreds of poems to the world—published in literary journals, lauded with the 2014 Eric Hoffer Legacy Award, nominated for a Pushcart Prize and anthologized for all to come. She also left behind a nearly completed manuscript that her husband discovered and prepared to be published posthumously by Connecticut’s venerable Poet Laureate, Rennie McQuilkin. This compilation is perfectly captured by David K. Leff: “Close But Not Touching elevates the ordinary” as “commonplace objects and happenings become touchstones of life’s sorrows, frustrations, fascinations and joys.” Listen to Jack Sands read from his late wife’s poetry collection and talk about the woman and poet he knew and loved. Free.
Torrington Library. 12 Daycoeton Place. Torrington CT. 860.489.6684

LESSONS IN SELF-LOVE: PARISIAN CHARM SCHOOL
January 5th, Friday 5-7PM

On Friday, head to The Chatham Bookstore for a lively conversation with author Jamie Cat Callan as she shares some lessons on living that help cultivate inner beauty, confidence and unique personal style at any age—borrowed of course from French culture. In her newest book, Parisian Charm School: French Secrets for Cultivating Love, Joy, and That Certain je ne sais quoi, Callan’s “charm” takes a classical definition—“giving delight.” She encourages readers to look for beauty in the mundane, host impromptu dinner parties and indulge in self-care. In the hectic world today, Callan offers us lively lessons from this “syllabus” to remain positively engaged with the world and thus attract the positive into our lives.
Chatham Bookstore. 27 Main Street. Chatham NY. 518.392.3005
While in Chatham discover our favorite things!

BIRD COUNT FOR KIDS: CITIZEN NATURE
January 6th, Saturday 10AM-12PM

Be a part of history and participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count—the longest-running citizen science project in history. White Memorial Conservation Center is hosting a CBC 4 Kids event for ages 7-16, who will be under the expert leadership of Litchfield Hills Audubon Society’s Junior Audubon Leader and White Memorial’s Education Director. Adults are encouraged to come along as additional adult mentors to help the teams of young counters out in the field. Everyone can warm up with pizza and hot cocoa after the counting but make sure to wear appropriate clothes for the frosty weather! BYO binoculars or borrow a pair from the Center. Free.
White Memorial Conservation Center. 80 Whitehall Road. Litchfield CT. 860.567.0857

FIRST SUNDAY FREE: NEW YEAR, NEW VIEWS
January 7th, Sunday 1-4PM

Enjoy the Clark's day of free admission to the galleries and activities designed to help start the New Year with a positive spin. Explore the idea of inner strength with a guided gallery talk focused on loving awareness at 1PM and 3PM or take a winter hike up Stone Hill and soak in the quiet beauty of the campus. You can also visit the Open Studio in the Michael Conforti Pavilion, make a piece of mirrored art to reflect your best self and decorate a journal you can use to record and sketch your experiences in the coming year. Free.
The Clark. 225 South Street. Williamstown MA. 413.458.2303

ASTRONOMY 2017: A YEAR OF SUPERLATIVES
January 7th, Sunday 4PM

Enjoy astronomer Roger Liddell’s year-in-review presentation—A Year of Superlatives: Stunning Pictures, Biggest Bangs and Historic Discoveries—highlighting the most astronomical events of 2017. The presentation will include photographs from the all-seeing Hubble Telescope as well as other imaging systems. He will also explain the Nobel Prize-winning and transformational incident of August 17th, 2017 which led to one of the most important advances in modern science and also happens to explain the origins of the universe’s gold and platinum. Apparently this year we were properly introduced to the universe and can now proceed in getting to know one another. Free.
Hotckiss Library of Sharon. 10 Upper Main Street. Sharon CT. 860.364.5041
While in Sharon discover our favorite things!

A TRANSCENDENT EVENING: LAYERED ELECTRIC VIOLIN
January 9th, Tuesday 6:30-7:30PM

At the intersection of tradition & technology, Caryn Lin literally transforms sound through the use of her electric violins and a myriad of modern technology. Years of concentrated experimentation with sound results in a live show that is the musical equivalent of light traveling through a prism, Caryn plays her 4, 5 and 6 string electric violins using looping to create short, on-the-spot recordings of her voice, percussion, and other sounds. As she plays the violin, the recorded snippets play back in a continuous loop adding fascinating layers of sound over deceptively simple melodies. The resulting music is both otherworldly and totally catchy: mesmerizing and unique. Free.
Oliver Wolcott Library. 160 South Street. Litchfield CT. 860.567.8030

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK…

SHAKESPEARE & CO. WINTER STUDIO FESTIVAL OF PLAYS
January 13th-14th, Saturday & Sunday, Times Vary

An impressive and varied selection of plays slated for this year’s festival will include something for those with even the most specific taste…

For those who want to engage in an honest, serious conversation about climate change, but wouldn’t mind if it came wrapped up in a comedy: Timebomb by Carson Kreitzer takes the audience on a journey from the halls of Congress to the Peruvian Andes to an organic farm.

For those who are happy to indulge in a tale that skewers the social elite: In The Shadow of a Doubt, Edith Wharton’s newly discovered play, her signature dramatic irony and satire make way for a far more sinister plot twist that reveals just how fluent the affluent are in the language of crime and deception.

For those who know a real “Witch Hunt” when they see one: Liz Duffy Adams’ The Wonders of the Invisible World is set in Witch Trial-era Salem where instigators of the movement double down in the face of war in New England, while one woman questions the madness that had overtaken her.

Even something for those who are recovering from the holidays and need to remember that the level of dysfunction in a family is all relative? Why yes! Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Buried Child weaves a twisted family drama of epic proportions, alternately funny and darkly macabre.

Performances are staged readings. Make sure to buy tickets ahead of time as there will only be one reading of each play. $25 GA, $10 Students.
Shakespeare & Company. 70 Kemble Street. Lenox MA. 413.637.3353
While in Lenox discover our favorite things!

Back
to
Top