Category: Visual Arts

Theatre Kapow opens new season with virtual performances

Like most theater companies pre-Covid, Theatre Kapow had a very different idea of what its 2020 season would look like. The Manchester-based company was just days away from beginning rehearsals for one of the two remaining shows in its 12th season when theaters were shut down in March.

After months of planning, Theatre Kapow is moving forward with its 13th season, titled “We Can Get Through This,” starting with a series of three one-person plays, each with four exclusively livestreamed performances.

“It was pretty clear early on that if we wanted to continue making theater at this time, we would have to do very, very small shows,” artistic director Matt Cahoon said. “We figured solo performances would be pretty much the safest thing to do right now.”

The series focuses largely on the idea of isolation and other themes that are very relevant to people today, Cahoon said, such as resilience, courage and conviction.

The first play, Feast, which runs Sept. 25 through Sept. 27, is being directed by Cahoon and performed by his wife, Carey Cahoon.

Written in 2019 by Megan Gogerty, Feast reimagines a villain from a well-known work of medieval English literature (you’ll have to watch the play to find out who it is) who is throwing a dinner party to confront society about its acts of injustice.

“Even though it’s telling this ancient story, it’s probably the most contemporary show I’ve ever directed,” Cahoon said. “It speaks very much to the current moment and even about living in the time of a virus.”

The second play, Lauren Gunderson’s Natural Shocks, runs Oct. 23 through Oct. 25 and is being directed by Wanda Strukus and performed by Rachael Longo. Based on the famous “To be or not to be” monologue from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the piece follows a woman, alone in her basement riding out a tornado, as she reflects on other threats in her life.

The third and final play, A Tempest Prayer by Peter Josephson (director and actor are TBD), runs Nov. 20 through Nov. 22 and is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The plays, which are being shot in a small studio space in Manchester, are full theater productions with sets, costumes, props, lighting design and sound effects.

“It’s still theater, not film,” Cahoon said. “If people were here watching [in the studio], it would look like a regular live theater performance.”

Theatre Kapow “believes fervently” that there is something special about “the immediacy of a live performance,” Cahoon said, so there was no question that the company would livestream the plays rather than pre-record them.

“We’re doing a lot with [film elements], but doing the performances live and in the moment is what makes it theater,” Carey Cahoon added.

“If you go to the movies, you know that no matter what you do as an audience member, no matter what happens in the theater and no matter how you react, the movie isn’t going to change. It’s going to be the same every time you hit ‘play,’” Matt Cahoon said. “There is a tangible difference between that and watching something happening live and in real time. The actor puts out a different kind of energy, and people can feel that.”

The virtual format has posed a whole new set of considerations for the directors and the actors.

For example, Matt Cahoon said, when directing a play for the live stage, he watches the actor and directs the actor’s movements, but for Feast, he has been focusing his direction on the cameras, watching rehearsals on his computer screen so that he can “see what the audience is seeing.”

In many ways, the virtual format allows him to do more with the play than he could if it were being performed on a live stage, he added. For one thing, he has more control over what the audience fixes its attention on at every moment during the play.

“The staging of a play is a big part of the storytelling,” Carey Cahoon said. “It’s different [in the theater] obviously, since the human eye can see [a] wider [area] than a camera can, but in this format we can decide what we want the audience’s perspective [to be], so we’re thinking a lot about the different camera angles we’re using and what those angles mean dramatically.”

Additionally, cameras allow Matt Cahoon to give the audience perspectives that aren’t possible in a live theater, such as close-ups and overhead views.

“It’s really freeing,” Matt Cahoon said. “We [at Theater Kapow] have always prided ourselves on presenting our pieces with unique audience perspectives, and with the cameras, we can stay faithful to that approach, and we’re able to do even more and have a lot of fun with it.”

The virtual format is a unique opportunity for actors as well, Carey Cahoon said. When performing for a live audience in a theater, she said, she has to project her voice loudly to be heard and exaggerate her physical movements to be seen, but in Feast, she can give a more dynamic performance.

“I can be much quieter and do more subtle things and things with more nuance,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed the ability to explore a wider range as an actor.”

Carey Cahoon said she “spent a lot of time being bothered” about not being able to perform for an audience in person, but she has a different outlook now.

“I’ve realized that you can still create that shared environment,” she said, “because even though we can’t be in a shared space anymore, we can still be in shared time.”

Theatre Kapow’s 13th season: “We Can Get Through This”
Schedule
Feast – Sept. 25 through Sept. 27
Natural Shocks – Oct. 23 through Oct. 25
A Tempest Prayer – Nov. 20 through Nov. 22
When: Performances are on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 4 p.m.
Where: Livestreamed online; ticket holders will be sent the link to watch the show
Cost: $10 per streaming device
More info: tkapow.com

Featured Photo: Carey Cahoon as Agathae in Feast. Photo by Matthew Lomanno.

Shakespeare comes to the Fisher Cats Stadium

See Romeo and Juliet as you never have before during “Shakespeare in the (Ball)Park” on Sunday, Sept. 20, in Manchester. Cue Zero Theatre Co. will perform the bard’s classic tragedy at the Fisher Cats’ Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, with a baseball-themed twist.

Though the concept seems like one that would be created with Covid safety and social distancing in mind, artistic director Dan Pelletier said, Cue Zero had actually planned the event pre-Covid as part of its Guerilla Shakespeare Series, a series of staged readings of Shakespeare plays done in unconventional venues.

“‘Shakespeare in the Park’ is a regular theater staple all over, so I just thought ‘Shakespeare in the (Ball)Park’ would be something different and fun,” Pelletier said. “Then, when Covid hit, things were being canceled left and right, and we thought, ‘Can we still pull this off?’ and the Fisher Cats said, ‘If you still want to do it, we will.’”

Actors will perform in the middle of left field facing the Stonyfield Pavilion, where the audience will be seated in tiered swivel seats normally reserved at games for private groups.

“They’re the best seats in the house, basically,” said Tyler Murray, Fisher Cats broadcasting and media relations manager. “It’s a cool and unique place to see a play.”

“It’s kind of neat, because having the audience above the actors almost gives it that amphitheater feel, similar to how Shakespeare plays were traditionally performed at the Globe in England,” Pelletier added.

The Pavilion, which has a total of 165 seats, will be able to safely accommodate around 100 people for the play, Murray said. Ticket holders from the same household will be seated together, with at least six feet of distance between them and the rest of the audience. Masks will be required while moving around the venue but can be removed while seated.

“We’re expecting this to be a small event,” Murray said, adding that there are still a number of tickets available.

The play will keep the original Shakespearean text, but in a comedic tone that is more in line with a farce than with a tragedy, Pelletier said, and portrays the play’s “extreme and emotional” characters more as “tragic clowns.”

“When you really break down the plot of Romeo and Juliet, it’s kind of ridiculous,” he said. “A 16-year-old and 14-year-old meet on Monday, think they’re in love, and by the end of the week, an entire town has been torn apart because two teenagers thought each other were cute.”

Baseball iconography will be incorporated through the costumes and props. The play’s feuding families, for example — the Montagues and the Capulets — will be Boston Red Sox fans and New York Yankees fans, respectively, and will don fan apparel. Juliet’s suitor Paris will wear a New York Mets jersey; Prince Escalus, who seeks to keep the peace between the Montagues and the Capulets, will be dressed as a baseball umpire; and the Apothecary will be a ballpark vendor selling popcorn, peanuts and poison.

Wiffle ball and Nerf bats and baseball gloves will be used as rapiers and daggers.

“The stage combat style is a little bit Looney Tunes and a little bit Three Stooges,” Pelletier said. “We’re keeping everything as goofy and fun as possible.”

Since there will be no curtain, special lighting or set changes, stadium music and baseball sound effects “like what you would hear between innings at a baseball game or while a player is walking onto the field” will be used as a transition element between scenes, Pelletier said.

“I think people will have a really good time seeing how many different ways we can cram baseball things into this 400-year-old play,” he said.

Shakespeare in the (Ball)Park – Romeo and Juliet
Where: Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, 1 Line Drive, Manchester
When: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2 p.m.
Tickets: $10
More info: Visit cztheatre.com or nhfishercats.com, or call 606-4105.

Featured Photo: Courtesy photo.

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Musical comedy at the Palace: The Palace Theatre’s (80 Hanover St., Manchester) mainstage production of Nunsense is on stage now through Oct. 4. When a nun accidentally poisons and kills 52 of her sisters, she and the surviving sisters at the parish put on a variety show to raise funds for the burials. The musical features “tap and ballet dancing, audience participation and comic surprises at every corner,” according to the theater’s website. Showtimes are on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at noon and 5 p.m.; with an additional show on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $39 to $46 for adults and $25 for children. Visit palacetheatre.org or call 668-5588.

• Outdoor violin concert: The Sunday Artists Series’ Concerts on the Green at Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury) continues with The Suzuki Strings on Sunday, Sept. 20, from 4 to 5 p.m. The Suzuki Strings is a group of about 25 violinists ages 4 through 17 from all over New Hampshire who have learned to play violin using the methodology of Japanese musician and music educator Shinichi Suzuki (1898 – 1998). The following concert will be The Wholly Rollers, a bluegrass band from Concord, on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. The concerts will be held on the lawn leading to and surrounding the Village’s Meeting House. Attendees should wear masks and follow the social distancing guidelines by sitting within the painted circles on the lawn. Seating is first come, first served. The concerts are free, with a suggested donation of $10. Call 783-9511 or visit shakers.org.

• Portraits with social commentary: The Kimball Jenkins Estate (266 N. Main St., Concord) presents an exhibition, “Life’s Work: Occupations & Identity,” in its Carriage House Gallery now through Sept. 28. It features portrait photography by Maundy Mitchell that explores the evolution of trades and societal views on identity and jobs. Gallery hours are Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call 225-3932 or visit kimballjenkins.com.

• Pandemic poetry reading: The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library presents a virtual reading event for COVID Spring: Granite State Pandemic Poems on Monday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. The poetry anthology, edited by New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary and published by Hobblebush Books earlier this month, features original poems submitted by 54 New Hampshire writers. The poems “provide a thirty-day snapshot of what life was like in the Granite State in April of 2020” and explore topics like 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. Visit newhampshirepoetlaureate.blogspot.com for the Zoom link to the event, which will be posted on Friday, Sept. 18, and for updates on more upcoming readings TBA. The book is available to purchase at local bookstores, Hobblebush Books (hobblebush.com), Small Press Distribution (spdbooks.org) and Amazon, and the publisher will donate $2 from every copy sold to the New Hampshire Food Bank to support New Hampshire residents impacted by the pandemic.

Featured Photo: Portrait photography by Maundy Mitchell, featured in “Life’s Work: Occupations & Identity” at Kimball Jenkins. Courtesy photo.

• DIY art: Studio 550 Art Center (550 Elm St., Manchester) is now offering art-at-home kits, which include all the materials and tools needed for a do-it-yourself art project. Projects include mosaics, succulent plant arrangements, clay jars, fairy houses, mugs and open-ended clay projects. The kits come with step-by-step instructions, accompanying video tutorials or guided workshops by request. Completed clay creations can be dropped off at the studio for firing. Visit 550arts.com/classes/diy or call 232-5597.

• Duo display: “2020 Double Vision,” an exhibit featuring work by two New Hampshire Art Association artists, is on display now through Sept. 17 in the lobby at 2 Pillsbury St. in Concord. Both artists create paintings inspired by scenes in New England and beyond. Debbie Mueller’s style uses bold, simple designs with a focus on light and how light affects the shapes and colors within a scene. Marianne Stillwagon’s paintings depict picturesque villages and changing seasons in a contemporary primitive Americana style. “It’s extraordinary how two artists can look at the same scene and create vastly different paintings,” Mueller said in a press release. “We each have our unique vision and way of interpreting our world … [and] our unique viewpoint to our scenes.” All artwork is for sale. Viewing hours are Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

• Virtual author events: Gibson’s Bookstore of Concord has two virtual author events coming up. On Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m. there will be a “Roaring 20s Middle Grade/Young Adult Author Panel” with authors who debuted their middle grade or young adult novels in 2020. Featured authors will include Josh Roberts (The Witches of Willow Cove), Lorien Lawrence (The Stitchers), Cat Scully (Jennifer Strange), Kaela Noel (Coo) and Cathleen Barnhart (That’s What Friends Do). Participants are encouraged to come with questions about the authors’ stories and writing and publishing processes. Then, on Monday, Sept. 14, at 7:15 p.m., Meredith Hall will present her debut novel Beneficence in a pre-publication event. The novel is a story of love and the gifts, obligations, covenants and compromises that come with it. She will be joined in conversation by New Hampshire poet Wesley McNair. The events will be held on Zoom, and registration is required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

• Sculpture symposium concludes: The 13th annual Nashua International Sculpture Symposium will have its closing ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m., when the public can see the completed sculptures revealed at the installation site, located at the west entrance of Mine Falls Park. It will also be livestreamed at accessnashua.org/stream.php. Sculptors Taylor Apostol from Massachusetts, Elijah Ober from Maine and Kelly Cave from Pennsylvania have spent the last three weeks in Nashua creating the sculptures. They will continue working up until the closing ceremony, daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the installation site. The public is invited to stop by during those times to watch the sculptors work and interact with them during their breaks. A map of the 36 existing sculpture sites along with suggested walking and biking tour routes is available at nashuasculpturesymposium.org.

• Last chance for free comics: Free Comic Book Summer, a reworking of Free Comic Book Day in which local comic book shops put out a handful of different free comics every Wednesday, will conclude with its last batch of free comics on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The comics will include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess/Splatoon (adventure/fantasy, for teen readers) with Squid Kids Comedy Show; The Incal (sci-fi, for mature readers); and Sue & Tai-chan (a “kitty comedy” based on the Chi’s Sweet Home series, for readers of all ages). Visit freecomicbookday.com for the full list of this year’s free comics and to find participating comic book shops in your area.

• Plays by the Lakes: The Winnipesaukee Playhouse (33 Footlight Circle, Meredith) announced in a press release that it has reopened, with a small season of three productions to be performed at the Playhouse’s outdoor amphitheatre in September and October. Or, will run Wednesday, Sept. 2, through Sunday, Sept. 6, and Wednesday, Sept. 9, through Saturday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m. The historical play by Liz Duffy Adams’ is a fictionalized account of the life of England’s first female playwright Aphra Behn. Tickets cost $29 to $39. Or, will be followed by The Mountaintop, opening on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and No Wake, opening on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org or call 279-0333.

Featured Photo: Debbie Mueller art, featured in “2020 Double Vision” exhibit. Courtesy photo.

Concord artist named national president of Women’s Caucus for Art

The Women’s Caucus for Art, a 48-year-old national arts organization with 21 chapters across the U.S., has a new president, and she lives right here in the Granite State. Laura Morrison of Concord is an artist, the gallery director at Twiggs Gallery in Boscawen and a 20-plus-year member of the Women’s Caucus for Art New Hampshire Chapter. She talked about the position, leadership during the time of Covid and her plans moving forward.

What do you do as an artist?

I’m a fiber artist. I do fiber sculpture using free-form crochet, knitting, embroidery, beading, felting, whatever fiber I want to use to create the effect I want to make. I’ve been doing that for about 15 years or so. Before that, I did more assemblage and collage. Sometimes I’ll do some printmaking as well. But my major focus is on fiber.

Why did you decide to get involved with the Women’s Caucus for Art?

I joined WCA when I first moved to New Hampshire over 20 years ago, so I’ve been involved with the organization for a long time. I was looking to focus on my fine art more intently, and I wanted to find a group of people to connect with. I found the WCA New Hampshire Chapter and got very involved with that pretty quickly. I worked on a lot of exhibitions. I served on the board for several years and eventually became president. Then, about four or five years ago, I became involved with the national board. I joined as the VP for Chapter Relations, which connected me with all the chapters across the country. I would help them with whatever they needed, [like] chapter activities and things like that, and I tried to connect them with each other. Then, this year, I became [national] president.

How has WCA helped you as an artist?

It’s been a great way to help me nurture my life as an artist. I don’t think I would have had the courage to actually pursue my fine art if I hadn’t found this organization. The New Hampshire chapter is actually one of the more vibrant WCA chapters in the country — we have close to 100 members — so I got to meet a lot of artists. It’s a very supportive, nurturing organization. We really help each other out and mentor each other and encourage each other to do our work. When I first started out, I didn’t know much about the art world, but [through WCA] I learned a lot, like how to pull together exhibitions, how to write press releases, all sorts of different things.

What does your new position entail right now?

Well, we’re in a very difficult time right now. Normally, we have conferences every year, get together for summer meetings, things like that, but in this time of Covid we’re not able to do that. But, having worked as the VP for Chapter Relations for four years, I saw an opportunity: Everyone has learned how to [use] Zoom. No one had really used Zoom or connected with each other that way before, but once we had lockdown, after a couple of weeks everyone had learned how to do it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to nurture communication between members and chapters across the nation so that they could really start connecting more intimately and getting to know each other better, which would create a more cohesive organization instead of being fractured into chapters. … So that’s what I’m doing right now. I’ve only been doing it for a few months, but it’s really beginning to ramp up and get more people connected. It’s been exciting.

What would you like to accomplish during your tenure?

We normally have about 1,200 members; I’d love to grow the organization even larger, and I’d like to increase networking and interaction and collaboration on projects between our members and chapters. When the different chapters around the nation are putting on exhibits, I’d like to see them open [the exhibits] to all WCA members, not just the members or people in their region, so that there are more exhibition opportunities for all of our members. … We have a lot of members who are not near a chapter, so I’d like for us to take advantage of the technology we have and do virtual meetings and gatherings to pull in people from other states who might feel alone or not connected or not nurtured. … I want to take educational videos of the interesting talks and different presentations that the chapters have done and get those videos up on our website so all of our members can have access to what the other chapters have done as well. … I also really want people to have better communication throughout [the art world] at large and learn how to connect with the other arts organizations within their regions and collaborate with them as well.

Why should artists join WCA?

First, I want to say that WCA is very inclusive instead of exclusive. You do not have to be juried into the organization, so anyone can join. We have all sorts of different artists, from painters to photographers, sculptors to print makers to fiber artists and quilters. … Being an artist is hard to do by yourself. You really need to connect with other artists in order to grow your practice, feel supported, gain confidence, learn new things and get excited about creating art. Sharing your art with other people is also, I think, super important, whether it’s [through] an exhibition or even just an art share meeting. … [In WCA] we’re very supportive of each other and really lift each other up in every aspect of our careers. We don’t compete with each other. We help each other. That’s why I feel like this organization is very special.

Featured Photos: Laura Morrison. Courtesy photo.

• Covid-19 poetry: Hobblebush Books has published a new poetry anthology, COVID Spring: Granite State Pandemic Poems, edited by New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary. After National Poetry Month’s in-person poetry readings and writers’ workshops were canceled in April, Peary invited New Hampshire residents to submit original poems that address how they or the people around them are affected by or responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Writing is a good way for people to cope right now,” Peary told the Hippo in April, “and the anthology is an amazing opportunity for us to process, express and document what we are going through.” According to a press release, more than 100 writers submitted work in a range of poetic forms and styles. Fifty-four were chosen to be featured in the anthology. The poems “provide a thirty-day snapshot of what life was like in the Granite State in April of 2020” and explore topics like 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. The book is available to purchase at local bookstores, Hobblebush Books (hobblebush.com), Small Press Distribution (spdbooks.org) and Amazon. Hobblebush Books will donate $2 from every copy sold to the New Hampshire Food Bank to support New Hampshire residents impacted by the pandemic. The book will also be featured in an online reading sponsored by the New Hampshire State Library on Monday, Sept. 21, with further readings to be scheduled. Visit newhampshirepoetlaureate.blogspot.com.

• Last chance for free comics: Free Comic Book Summer, a reworking of Free Comic Book Day in which local comic book shops put out a handful of different free comics every Wednesday, will conclude with its last batch of free comics on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The comics will include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess/Splatoon (adventure/fantasy, for teen readers) with Squid Kids Comedy Show; The Incal (sci-fi, for mature readers); and Sue & Tai-chan (a “kitty comedy” based on the Chi’s Sweet Home series, for readers of all ages). Visit freecomicbookday.com for the full list of this year’s free comics and to find participating comic book shops in your area.

• Plays by the Lakes: The Winnipesaukee Playhouse (33 Footlight Circle, Meredith) announced in a press release that it has reopened, with a small season of three productions to be performed at the Playhouse’s outdoor amphitheatre in September and October. Or, will run Wednesday, Sept. 2, through Sunday, Sept. 6, and Wednesday, Sept. 9, through Saturday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m. The historical play by Liz Duffy Adams’ is a fictionalized account of the life of England’s first female playwright Aphra Behn. Tickets cost $29 to $39. Or, will be followed by The Mountaintop, opening on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and No Wake, opening on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org or call 279-0333.