Category: Art & Theater

Festival showcases plays created for virtual performance

Laconia-based theater company Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative is giving a new meaning to virtual theater with its Zoom Play Festival, featuring a series of short plays written specifically for the Zoom video chat platform.

“It’s not like these are just readings of plays,” Powerhouse manager Bryan Halperin said. “These are plays that are actually being performed as they were intended.”

The festival, produced in collaboration with the Community Players of Concord, will be pre-recorded and available to watch for free on YouTube from Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 25.

There will be seven original plays, all written by New Hampshire playwrights who participated in a 10-week playwriting workshop hosted by the two theater companies last fall. The workshop was open to playwrights of all experience levels and covered the basics of playwriting, such as developing plot points, characters and dialogue, as well as how to write a Zoom-based play.

“If they came up with an idea that wasn’t really workable, I steered them back to how we could make it work to fit into this format,” said Halperin, who instructed the workshop.

Featured playwright Douglas Schwarz of Concord has been active with the Players for years, acting, directing and doing backstage work. Recently he’s taken an interest in playwriting.

“I’ve done a very small amount of playwriting in the past, and it’s something I’ve been sort of wanting to get better at,” he said. “I thought the workshop would be an opportunity to get some more perspective on how playwriting works and give me the confidence that I can really do this.”

Schwarz’ play, titled Choices, follows four people at various stages in their lives, talking over Zoom and reflecting on the choices they’ve made.

“I’ve thought a lot about how decisions can change our lives and really [determine] what direction our lives are going to go,” he said. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I could do [a play] that somehow expresses these thoughts I’ve had?”

The plays In Boxes, Boys in Boxes and Girls in Boxes are three different versions of a play by Sharleigh Thomson, each with a different director and cast. Set in May 2020 during the pandemic, it centers on a video chat between two college seniors as they consider the next chapter of their lives and realize their romantic feelings for each other.

“You’d never make a captive audience sit through three versions of the same play back-to-back, but since it’s on YouTube, they can choose which one they want to watch, or they can watch all three at their leisure,” Halperin said. “It’s a bit of an experiment.”

Other plays include Couple Seeks Extrovert by Brenda Wilbert, a comedy about an introverted couple who step outside their comfort zone when they rent out a room to an extrovert; Ship of Fools by Chuck Fray, an interview between an oblivious newscaster and an author of apocalyptic fiction; and Here We Go by Doreen Sheppard, a look at how families come together and cope during hard times.

More than 30 people are creatively involved in the festival.

“That’s what we’re most happy about,” Halperin said. “It’s great to be able to give [theater artists] an opportunity to be appreciated during this time when theater is so limited.”

“Theater is so important to us, and going without it has been difficult,” Schwarz added, “so this was really a gift to us from the Players and Powerhouse.”

Zoom Play Festival
Where: Virtual, via YouTube.
When: Pre-recorded, available to watch Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 25.
Cost: Free, donations appreciated.
More info: Visit communityplayersofconcord.org, belknapmill.org or Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative on Facebook.

Featured photo: Joel Iwakiewicz and Adam Beauparlant in Boys in Boxes. Courtesy photo.

Storytelling Festival features traditional and personal stories, poetry, music

The New Hampshire Theatre Project’s annual Storytelling Festival returns to the stage — and to the screen — on Saturday, April 10, with six storytellers telling traditional and personal tales inspired by the theme “What Are You Waiting For?” The performance will be held for a live audience in person at The Music Hall in Portsmouth and virtually over the live video platform Crowdcast.

“There are several [storytelling series] in the area that honor personal stories in the Moth [Radio Hour] tradition, but in terms of telling different kinds of stories, telling traditional tales and [highlighting] storytelling as an art form, there’s really nothing else like [NHTP’s Storytelling Festival] in the area,” said NHTP executive director Genevieve Aichele, who is hosting and performing at this year’s event.

Featured storytellers will include Boston-based award-winning storyteller Diane Edgecomb, presenting a comedic story from her early acting career; British storyteller and humorist Simon Brooks, performing a traditional tale from northern England; Seacoast jazz musician and entertainer Sharon Jones, sharing a story about a special moment on stage at Portsmouth High School; Seacoast storyteller and emcee Pat Spalding of the storytelling series True Tales Live, aired on Portsmouth Public Media TV, telling tales of her time as a majorette with the Leftist Marching Band; and poet Maya Williams of Portland, Maine, telling stories of suicidality, racial identity, religion and healing through the art of spoken word poetry.

Additionally, world fusion musician Randy Armstrong will perform musical interludes throughout the festival with an eclectic mix of instruments.

“If you like Moth Radio Hour and you want to hear those types of personal stories, there will be some of that, and if you enjoy traditional tales, there will be some of that, too,” Aichele said. “Poetry, music — there’s something in it for everyone.”

Aichele will perform her original adaptation of “The Elephant and the Ant,” a traditional tale from India, with musical accompaniment by Armstrong.

“The music is really part of the storytelling,” she said. “It helps to set the mood and gives it that cultural atmosphere and flavor of the culture where the story begins.”

The theme “What Are You Waiting For?” was inspired, Aichele said, by the innovation of the arts community throughout the pandemic.

“It’s a new world; we can’t do art the way we used to,” she said, “so why not use Covid as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves? What are we waiting for? That’s really what these stories are about — not waiting to act or make a change.”

While experiencing a performance virtually is “not quite the same” as experiencing it in person, Aichele said, there’s still a “feeling of excitement and energy” that comes with watching any kind of live event.

“No matter where you are, you’re there; you’re in the audience,” she said. “You’re a part of that community of people who are seeing this thing happening live, and that can be really exciting.”

New Hampshire Theatre Project’s 5th annual Storytelling Festival
Where: Live in person at The Music Hall Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, and virtual livestream via Crowdcast
When: Saturday, April 10, 8 p.m.
Cost: Tickets cost $36 for the performance at The Music Hall and $15 for the livestream performance
More info: Visit nhtheatreproject.org and themusichall.org

Art

Call for Art

• FIBER ART EXHIBIT The Surface Design Association’s (SDA) New Hampshire Group invites New Hampshire fiber artists to submit work for its upcoming exhibit of fiber art and textiles, “Tension: Process in the Making.” Exhibit will run July 24 through Sept. 4 at Twiggs Gallery (254 King St., Boscawen). Submission deadline is Fri., May 1. Visit twiggsgallery.wordpress.com or call 975-0015.

Classes & lectures

• GENERAL ART CLASSES In-person art classes for all levels and two-dimensional media. held with small groups of two to five students. Private classes are also available. Diane Crespo Fine Art Gallery (32 Hanover St., Manchester). Students are asked to wear masks in the gallery. Tuition costs $20 per group class and $28 per private class, with payment due at the beginning of the class. Call 493-1677 or visit dianecrespofineart.com for availability.

• DRAWING & PAINTING CLASSES Art House Studios, 66 Hanover St., Suite 202, Manchester. Classes include Drawing Fundamentals, Painting in Acrylic, Drawing: Observation to Abstraction, Exploring Mixed Media, and Figure Drawing. Class sizes are limited to six students. Visit arthousestudios.org.

Exhibits

• “BODY OF WORK: SERIES I” New Hampshire Art Association presents an exhibition featuring artwork in a variety of media by eight local artists. On view now through May 2. Online and in person at the NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, 136 State St., Portsmouth. All works are for sale. Gallery hours are Monday and Tuesday by appointment, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

• 35TH ANNUAL OMER T. LASSONDE JURIED EXHIBITION The New Hampshire Art Association presents a group art show featuring works in a variety of media by NHAA members and non-members. NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth). On view now through May 30. A virtual opening reception and awards ceremony is planned for Thurs., April 15, at 6:30 p.m. Call 431-4230 and visit nhartassociation.org.

• “THE BODY IN ART: FROM THE SPIRITUAL TO THE SENSUAL” Exhibit provides a look at how artists through the ages have used the human body as a means of creative expression. On view now through Sept. 1. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. Museum admission tickets cost $15, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, and must be booked online. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.

• GALLERY ART A new collection of art by more than 20 area artists on display now in-person and online. Creative Ventures Gallery (411 Nashua St., Milford). Call 672-2500 or visit creativeventuresfineart.com.

• “TOMIE DEPAOLA AT THE CURRIER” Exhibition celebrates the illustrator’s life and legacy through a collection of his original drawings. On view now. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. Museum admission tickets cost $15, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, and must be booked online. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.

Special events

• MAGNIFY VOICES EXPRESSIVE ARTS CELEBRATION Youth artwork showcased to help raise awareness and decrease stigma of mental illness and effect change to ensure social and emotional health for all children in New Hampshire. May, date TBA. Visit tinyurl.com/magnifyvoices2021 or email [email protected].

Theater

Shows

• THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE Filmed live in London 2021. Virtual screening presented by Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Now through April 11. $25 per ticket. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

• DON QUIXOTE Performed by Safe Haven Ballet. Thurs., April 8, and Fri., April 9, 7 p.m. The Music Hall, Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth. Tickets cost $50 for adults and $45 for children, seniors and groups. Visit themusichall.org or call 436-2400.

• THE ART OF CIRCUS Virtual screening presented by Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Thurs., April 8, 7 p.m., Sat., April 10, 8 p.m., and Sun., April 11, 2 p.m. $25 per ticket. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

• FIFTH ANNUAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL New Hampshire Theatre Project presents. Five storytellers tell traditional and personal tales inspired by NHTP’s 2020 – 2021 MainStage theme “What Are You Waiting For?” Featuring Diane Edgecomb, Pat Spalding, Simon Brooks, Sharon Jones and Maya Williams; with special guest host Genevieve Aichele and musical accompaniment by Randy Armstrong. Sat., April 10, 7 p.m. The Music Hall Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth. Tickets cost $36. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.

• KINKY BOOTS Recorded live in London. Virtual screening presented by Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. April 14 through April 21. $15 per ticket. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

• COX AND BOX Performed by New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Virtual screening presented by Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Thurs., April 15, and Fri., April 16, 8 p.m., and Sun., April 18, 2 p.m. $20 per ticket. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

• ZOOM PLAY FESTIVAL Presented by Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative and Community Players of Concord. Features short original plays by New Hampshire playwrights. Fri., April 16. Virtual. See Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative on Facebook.

• THAT GOLDEN GIRLS SHOW: A PUPPET PARODY at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Sat., April 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $35.

Classical

• CONCORD COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL FACULTY CONCERT Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Virtual, via Concord TV (Channel 22, or stream at yourconcordtv.org). Wed., April 21. 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

Featured photo: Featured storyteller Diane Edgecomb. Courtesy photo.

New Hampshire celebrates National Poetry Month

From writing prompts to readings and workshops, New Hampshire poets and poetry lovers will have all kinds of opportunities throughout April to celebrate National Poetry Month from home.

Now in its 25th year, National Poetry Month is an annual observance created by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the U.S. Schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets all over the country are encouraged to host special events and activities to promote the literary art form.

In New Hampshire, the month’s festivities are spearheaded by state Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary, in partnership with New Hampshire Magazine, Concord-based publisher Hobblebush Books and others.

Peary has created 30 poetry writing prompts — one for each day in April — that will be posted on New Hampshire Magazine’s website and social media.

The prompts are meant to be “a reflection of the past year,” Peary said, particularly in regard to the pandemic, and will represent a wide variety of poetry styles. They may, for example, challenge participants to write a sonnet that mourns a loss or celebrates a recovery; a narrative poem about a pandemic moment; a persona poem from the perspective of a front-line worker; or an ode to a pandemic-related object.

“They’re just something to get people started,” Peary said. “You could look at the prompts and just see what comes to mind and do a free-write every day, or you could pick just one or two [prompts] and try to write a whole poem — whatever works for you.”

At the end of the month, there will be two free virtual workshops, led by two graduate students interning with Peary, where participants can receive feedback on their poems.

Now through May 15, original poems can be submitted for review and possible publication in an anthology of poetry about the pandemic experience in New Hampshire, to be edited by Peary and published by Hobblebush Books this summer. The anthology is a follow-up to COVID Spring: Granite State Pandemic Poems, published in September 2020, which features original poems submitted by 54 New Hampshire writers, providing “a thirty-day snapshot of what life was like in the Granite State in April of 2020” through topics such as Covid-related “job loss, loneliness and love, masks, social distancing, surreal visitors, uncertainty, graduations deferred, grief, neighborly and less-than-neighborly acts, observing the beginning of the pandemic and making projections about the future, recalibrating or confirming what it means to be human, to be a resident of this region,” Peary said in the anthology’s introduction.

Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, in partnership with Hobblebush Books, will host free virtual poetry readings and conversations every Monday in April. The series will feature Granite State poets Maudelle Driskell, Meg Kearney, Martha Carlson-Bradley, Liz Ahl, Rodger Martin, Henry Walters, Margot Douaihy and Peary.

“[Participating in] one of these events might give you ideas for your own writing,” Peary said, “and I think it could also give you a sense that, with so many opportunities for engagement with the creative writing [community] in the state, it could become a really rich part of your life and social life.”

Peary said this month is a great time for people who are interested in poetry to give writing their own poetry a try, even if it’s short or in fragments.

“It doesn’t need to be something with a complete structure,” she said. “Try to maximize the distance between you and the critics in your head and just jot some stuff down, and be accepting of whatever that is.”

National Poetry Month in New Hampshire
Virtual poetry events and activities will be held throughout April. Visit newhampshirepoetlaureate.blogspot.com and hobblebush.com/national-poetry-month.

Writing workshops
Registration required.
• Sunday, April 25, 3 p.m., moderated by Lily Greenberg
• Tuesday, April 27, 7 p.m. moderated by Brooke Delp

​Readings and conversations with Granite State poets
Weekly, Monday at 7 p.m., through April. Registration required.
• April 5: Maudelle Driskell and Meg Kearney
• April 12: Martha Carlson-Bradley and Liz Ahl
• April 19: Rodger Martin and Henry Walters
• April 26: NH Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary and Margot Douaihy

Featured photo: Alexandria Peary. Courtesy photo.

Sarah McCraw Crow explores women’s movement of the ’70s in debut novel

Canterbury author Sarah McCraw Crow weaves a story of loss, change and identity amid the second-wave women’s movement in her debut novel The Wrong Kind of Woman.

In 1970 New England, Oliver Desmarais, a professor at the elite all-male Clarendon College, dies suddenly. The Wrong Kind of Woman follows three characters through the year following Oliver’s death — his widow Virginia, his 13-year-old daughter Rebecca and his student Sam Waxman — and is told through their alternating perspectives.

Virginia had previously shared her husband’s disapproval of the four unmarried women on the faculty at the college, known as The Gang of Four, but now finds herself in their circle, joining the women’s movement and making waves at the otherwise apathetic campus.

Rebecca’s world has been turned upside down as she adjusts to life without her father and the shifting identity of her mother, whom she is growing to resent.

Mourning the loss of his favorite professor and hungry for human connection, junior Sam Waxman falls in love with a passionate activist who is willing to do whatever it takes to bring about change.

The Wrong Kind of Woman was born out of the author’s interest in women’s history, particularly in the realm of academia. McCraw Crow has had a “longtime fascination,” she said, with the women of her mother’s generation — women who are in their 80s and 90s today.

“I’ve always wondered how they managed, when they were young, with the choices that were available to them back in those days … and the various constraints and cultural pressures that were strong against them doing jobs that were more traditionally masculine or ambitious,” McCraw Crow said.

The fictional Clarendon College, she revealed, is loosely based on her alma mater, Dartmouth College in Hanover, which she started attending in 1983, a little more than a decade after the Ivy League university started admitting female students in its undergraduate programs.

“When I was there, there were still all sorts of reminders and remnants from the days when it was all male,” McCraw Crow said. “I thought a lot about what it must have been like for the first women faculty working there and the first women exchange students.”

To capture the book’s period setting, McCraw Crow explored archived newspapers from the early 1970s, read memoirs by women’s movement activists and personally interviewed a number of women who were among the first women to attend Dartmouth College when it became coed.

“Dartmouth wasn’t uniformly anti-women, but there was a core group of people who really didn’t want women there and were pretty awful to the first women students,” she said. “It was very helpful for me to talk to these women about how difficult that was and how they got through it — the good things from that time and the things that were the most hurtful.”

While The Wrong Kind of Woman provides an inspiring look at the social change effected since the 1970s, McCraw Crow said, it is also a sobering reminder that the war is not yet won.

“This is a story that still resonates today,” she said, “because as far as gender parity and gender equity, we still have quite a long way to go.”

The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow
The novel is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and local independent bookstores. Visit sarahmccrawcrow.com.

Featured photo: The Wrong Kind of Woman

There’s an augmented reality app for that

In the early 1990s, Tom McGurrin crafted a brooch from gold and a single pearl. The brooch’s design is organic in nature, almost resembling that of a caterpillar on a branch. He hammered the gold against granite and folded it until he was satisfied with its texture. Then he sold it. But he never imagined that someday anyone with a smartphone would be able to open an app and see that brooch in a virtual art exhibition. In fact, he didn’t even know what a smartphone was.

Today, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen is using technology to make items like that brooch viewable beyond the walls of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, where the physical collection is currently on display. The League partnered with Aery, an augmented reality app, to bring its museum collection to Apple devices.

“It’s a great way to bring forward what’s happening in technology and how it relates to the world of craft and art,” said Miriam Carter, the executive director of the League of NH Craftsmen. “Everyone loves technology these days, so it advances the possibilities of what we can do to show beautiful, handmade crafts.”

The Augmented Reality Exhibition includes pieces ranging from carved birds and lamps made of jade to the gold brooch crafted by McGurrin.

Objects in the League of NH Craftsmen’s collection were photographed from all angles in order to create complete 3D images, which were then uploaded to Aery.

“You can then see the entire [object] as it exists,” Carter said.

The app also allows viewers to manipulate the objects; they can have some fun by placing them in front of scenic backdrops or changing their size. For example, a carved bird that’s only a few inches tall can be made eight feet tall and positioned to tower over a backdrop of cars.

The project was spearheaded by the New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts, of which the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, League of NH Craftsmen and Aery are all members.

“We are working to create partnerships between our members that allow us to demonstrate the creative economy at work,” said Tricia Soule, executive director of the committee.

Originally, the exhibit was only going to be on display at the Manchester airport.

“The airport is an access point for people coming to New Hampshire, so we wanted to have this featured there,” Carter said. “We’re a large, iconic New Hampshire organization and we wanted to let people know about us and all the wonderful cultural entities in the state itself.”

Soule also had a clear vision going into the project: “To bring artwork into the airport to showcase arts and cultural organizations in the state of New Hampshire … [and to] showcase New Hampshire as a destination for people to enjoy arts and culture.”

And then the airport closed.

Now, though the exhibition has been on display at the airport since December, even people who are not traveling can access it through the New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts’s channel on Aery. Karina Mitchell, vice president of Aery, describes it as “an augmented reality app that allows guests to view augmented reality art in their home as a curated collection.”

Carter said she’s excited for a time when the League’s Exhibition Gallery in Concord can reopen and the permanent collection can be experienced in person again; the Gallery has been closed for about a year because of the pandemic.

“That’ll be our opening, celebratory event when we reach some form of normalcy,” she said with a laugh. “At that time, we’ll actually have folks on hand to show the app as well. So you’ll see the live objects, but you’ll also see what this app can do.”

As for McGurrin? “Nothing really replaces looking at something in person.” On the other hand, he adds, “It’s kind of a lot of fun.” – By Sadie Burgess

Augmented Reality Exhibition
When: All day, every day through May
Where: Aery AR app (iOS compatible)
More info: nhcrafts.org/augmented-reality-exhibition

Featured photo: Image from Aery. Courtesy of Tricia Soule.

Art

Call for Art

• NHAA SPRING JURYING The New Hampshire Art Association accepts new members. Jurying takes place on Mon., March 22. For a prospectus and application form, visit nhartassociation.org and click on “Become a Member.” Applications and application fee payment are due by Thurs., March 18, and can be submitted online or in person at the NHAA headquarters (136 State St., Portsmouth). Instructions for dropping off and picking up artwork will be emailed after an application and payment is received. Call 431-4230.
• MAGNIFY VOICES EXPRESSIVE ARTS CONTEST Kids in grades 5 through 12 may submit creative may submit a short film (2 minutes or less); an original essay or poem (1000 words or less); or a design in another artistic medium such as a painting, song or sculpture that expresses their experience or observations of mental health in New Hampshire. Art pieces will be showcased to help raise awareness, decrease stigma and discrimination, and affect change to ensure socially and emotionally healthy growth for all children in New Hampshire. Submission deadline is March 31. Prize money will be awarded for grades 5 through 8 and grades 9 through 12. A celebration will take place in May, date TBD. Email [email protected].
• ART ON MAIN The City of Concord and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce are seeking professional sculptors for year-round outdoor public art exhibit set up in Concord’s downtown. Must be age 18 or older. Submit up to two original sculptures for consideration. Submission deadline is March 31. Sculptors will be notified of their acceptance by April 30. Installation will begin on May 21. Exhibit opens in June. Selected sculptors will receive a $500 stipend. All sculptures will be for sale. Visit concordnhchamber.com/creativeconcord, call 224-2508 or email [email protected].

Classes & lectures

• “NORMAN ROCKWELL AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT” Jane Oneail presents a lecture. Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Virtual, via Zoom. Wed., March 17, 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

Exhibits

• “THE VIEW THROUGH MY EYES” The New Hampshire Art Association presents works by pastel artist Chris Reid. Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. On display now through March 18. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• “ON THE BRIGHT SIDE” New Hampshire Art Association features works by multiple artists in a variety of media. On view now through March 28, in person at NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth) and online. Gallery hours are Monday and Tuesday by appointment, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Online opening reception to be held on Friday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m., via Zoom. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• GALLERY ART A new collection of art by more than 20 area artists on display now in-person and online. Creative Ventures Gallery (411 Nashua St., Milford). Call 672-2500 or visit creativeventuresfineart.com.
• “TRANSFORMATIONS: NATURE AND BEYOND” The New Hampshire Art Association presents works by digital artist William Townsend. Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. On display March 23 through June 17. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

Tours

• NASHUA PUBLIC ART AUDIO TOUR Self-guided audio tours of the sculptures and murals in downtown Nashua, offered via the Distrx app, which uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provides audio descriptions at each stop on the tour as tourists approach the works of art. Each tour has 10 to 15 stops. Free and accessible on Android and iOS on demand. Available in English and Spanish. Visit downtownnashua.org/nashua-art-tour.

Theater

Auditions

• HAMLET Video auditions for post-apocalyptic reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, produced by Manchester-based theater company Cue Zero Theatre Co. Open roles include Gertrude, Laertes, Guildenstern/Bernardo and ensemble characters. Performers must be at least 16 years old by opening night. To audition, submit a one-minute video of yourself performing a Shakespearean monologue that showcases your theatrical abilities by 11:59 p.m., on Sun., March 21. Callbacks will be held in person on Thurs., March 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. Visit cztheatre.com or email [email protected].

Shows

• A TEMPEST PRAYER New Hampshire Theatre Project’s SoloStage program presents. Fri., March 19, and Sat., March 20, 8 p.m., and Sun., March 21, 2 p.m. Performances held virtually and in-person at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth. In-person show tickets cost $30, and virtual show tickets cost $20. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.
• FIFTH ANNUAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL New Hampshire Theatre Project presents. Five storytellers tell traditional and personal tales inspired by NHTP’s 2020 – 2021 MainStage theme “What Are You Waiting For?” Sat., April 10, 7 p.m. The Music Hall Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth. Tickets cost $36. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.

New community art classes come to Manchester

Manchester has welcomed a new creative space to its growing art scene on Hanover Street.

Art House Studios, owned and operated by Manchester artist and art instructor Jason Bagatta, provides small, in-person drawing and painting classes and workshops for all levels.

“I’ve been in Manchester for a while and … I’m always looking to create something new, to make this town a better place to be,” Bagatta said.

Bagatta, who holds a master’s degree in fine art and interdisciplinary art with a focus on drawing, painting and conceptual art, has been teaching art at the college level for more than 20 years. He also teaches youth and community arts and decided to open Art House Studios, he said, after noticing an increasing demand for community arts education opportunities.

“The community and continuing ed classes I was teaching would almost always fill up,” he said. “There are many people who are not pursuing a degree [in art] but are interested in the arts and want to develop their skills further, or they’re just looking for a way to express themselves and focus their creative energy.”

The 1,200-square-foot studio has high ceilings and multiple windows and is “totally suitable for adhering to social distancing and safety protocols,” Bagatta said.

Art House Studios currently offers four courses. They run for six or seven weeks, starting whenever there is enough interest, with classes held once a week.

The “Drawing Fundamentals” course explores techniques of observational drawing, beginning with simple shapes and lines. Students will work with a variety of media, including graphite, chalk pastel, charcoal, pen, brush, ink and colored pencil. The “Painting in Acrylic” course covers the basics of color, line, shape, texture, light and shadow as well as the color-mixing and texture-building possibilities and limitations of acrylic paint. Students will sketch, then paint subjects or scenes from observation, memory or a photograph. “Drawing Fundamentals” and “Painting in Acrylic” are geared toward novice and intermediate level students.

In “Drawing: Observation to Abstraction,” intermediate and advanced level students will use their knowledge of fundamental drawing techniques to deviate from visual reality while maintaining clarity in their artistic vision. They will work with pencils, charcoal, stick and pencil pastel, colored markers, colored pencil, watercolor, paint pens, ballpoint pen and black ink pens.

“Exploring Mixed Media,” open to all levels, will include a study of the concept of mixed media and experimentation with a variety of 2D and 3D media to create symbolic meaning within the context of a theme.

More courses may be added in the future, depending on what people’s interests are.

“I’m pretty versatile,” Bagatta said. “The more people talk to me about what they want, the more inclined I am to open things up and gear a class toward them.”

Bagatta said students will receive individualized attention to help them set and achieve their own goals for what they want to get out of the class.

“My intention is not to teach people to do things my way,” he said. “It’s to guide people in the direction that they need to go in. I want them to take the tools and techniques and processes that I’m showing them and interpret those in their own way.”

As of now, classes are limited to six students but can have up to 12 students once it’s safe to do so, he said. Masks will be required at all times, and the studio will be disinfected after each class.

Art House Studios School for Drawing & Painting
Where: 66 Hanover St., Suite 202, Manchester
When: Courses run six or seven weeks. Classes run two-and-a-half hours and are held one day a week. Start dates and schedules vary, depending on interest.
Cost: $165 for six-week courses, $190 for seven-week courses
More info: arthousestudios.org, [email protected]

Featured photo: Inside Art House Studios. Courtesy photo.

Art

Call for Art

• NHAA SPRING JURYING The New Hampshire Art Association accepts new members. Jurying takes place on Mon., March 22. For a prospectus and application form, visit nhartassociation.org and click on “Become a Member.” Applications and application fee payment are due by Thurs., March 18, and can be submitted online or in person at the NHAA headquarters (136 State St., Portsmouth). Instructions for dropping off and picking up artwork will be emailed after an application and payment is received. Call 431-4230.

• MAGNIFY VOICES EXPRESSIVE ARTS CONTEST Kids in grades 5 through 12 may submit creative may submit a short film (2 minutes or less); an original essay or poem (1000 words or less); or a design in another artistic medium such as a painting, song or sculpture that expresses their experience or observations of mental health in New Hampshire. Art pieces will be showcased to help raise awareness, decrease stigma and discrimination, and affect change to ensure socially and emotionally healthy growth for all children in New Hampshire. Submission deadline is March 31. Prize money will be awarded for grades 5 through 8 and grades 9 through 12. A celebration will take place in May, date TBD. Email [email protected].

• ART ON MAIN The City of Concord and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce are seeking professional sculptors for year-round outdoor public art exhibit set up in Concord’s downtown. Must be age 18 or older. Submit up to two original sculptures for consideration. Submission deadline is March 31. Sculptors will be notified of their acceptance by April 30. Installation will begin on May 21. Exhibit opens in June. Selected sculptors will receive a $500 stipend. All sculptures will be for sale. Visit concordnhchamber.com/creativeconcord, call 224-2508 or email [email protected].

Classes & lectures

• “NORMAN ROCKWELL AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT” Jane Oneail presents a lecture. Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Virtual, via Zoom. Wed., March 17, 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

Exhibits

• “THE VIEW THROUGH MY EYES” The New Hampshire Art Association presents works by pastel artist Chris Reid. Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. On display now through March 18. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

• GALLERY ART A new collection of art by more than 20 area artists on display now in-person and online. Creative Ventures Gallery (411 Nashua St., Milford). Call 672-2500 or visit creativeventuresfineart.com.

Theater

Shows

• A TEMPEST PRAYER New Hampshire Theatre Project’s SoloStage program presents. Fri., March 19, and Sat., March 20, 8 p.m., and Sun., March 21, 2 p.m. Performances held virtually and in-person at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth. In-person show tickets cost $30, and virtual show tickets cost $20. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.