Bar stool marathon

Use your barstool-sitting superpowers for good on Saturday, March 9, at the Tap House Grill in Hooksett during On Tap for CASA, their fifth bar stool challenge to raise money for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a nonprofit organization that advocates in court for children who have been the victims of abuse or neglect.

Teams of five to 10 competitors will each pay to occupy a bar stool for 10 hours. There will be an activity or a competition every hour throughout the challenge. The winning team will be the one that raises the most money for CASA.

According to CASA Director of Community Relations Erica Thoits, this is not a competition for lightweights. As at a high-stakes poker game, competitors have to put up some serious money to take part in the challenge.

“We require a minimum donation of $1,000 for a team to take part,” she said, “but the teams can fundraise right up to the end of the event. At the end, we give the winners a neat prize.”

Last year’s bar stool challenge raised approximately $65,000.

The rules of the challenge are that each team must have someone on their bar stool during the competition. Members of the team can rotate through stool duty. Over the 10 hours of the challenge the teams will compete against each other in hourly competitions, which can range from bingo to puzzle-solving to a beer stein hoisting competition sponsored by Sam Adams.

“I’m always surprised how much the teams just get into the competitive nature of the whole thing,” Thoits said. “This year, there’s a new coloring competition that I’m extremely excited about.” She said that the highest-profile competition is the stein hoist.

“I was curious, so I tried holding a stein out at arm’s length. I could only do it for a very short time. I don’t know how the competitors do it!” she said.

Participants will compete against each other in the hourly challenges for four hours, take a break — while still seated on their bar stools — for two hours, while the band plays, then compete for another four hours before a winner is announced. The band will be Rebel Collective, which describes itself on its website as “a New England based Irish/American pub rock/Celtic Folk-Punk band.”

The bar stool challenge began in 2017 and got progressively bigger and more popular for three years until being disrupted by the lockdown in 2020.

“We had to take an enforced break during Covid,” Thoits said. “This will be our second year post-Covid.” This year’s challenge promises to be the biggest yet, though there are still unclaimed bar stools, and time for new teams to register.

On Tap for CASA bar stool challenge
When: Saturday, March 9, noon to 10 p.m.
Where: New England’s Taphouse Grille (1292 Hooksett Road in Hooksett; taphousenh.com)
Register: Contact CASA at 626-4600, ext. 2111, or go to casanh.org/on-tap-for-casa or taphousenh.com/events/on-tap-for-casa-2

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of CASA from last year’s bar stool challenge.

Now showing

Red River Theatres’ Simchik Cinema is open again

After several months of repairs and refurbishment, the Simchik Cinema at Red River Theatres in Concord is showing movies again.

The Simchik, one of three screening rooms that make up the Red River Theatres, has been closed for several months to repair water damage, according to Angie Lane, Red River’s executive director. The 25-seat Simchik shows exclusively digital media and is the smallest of the theater’s cinemas.

Like the Red River’s two larger screens, the Simchik is currently showing Oscar-nominated movies in the lead-up to the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 10. The Simchik has been screening The Zone of Interest, a nominee for Best Picture as well as Best Sound and Best Director.

On Friday, March 1, Simchik will start screening Hundreds of Beavers, a surreal independent film. Set in 17th-century Wisconsin, this black-and-white farce tells the story of a man who learns to become a fur trapper after “diabolical beavers destroy his applejack distillery,” according to the description on Red River’s website. In the trailer, the trapper, played by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, who is also credited as a co-writer, faces off against buck-toothed beavers of the person-sized mascot costume variety. Mike Cheslik wrote and directed.

“I can guarantee that this will be its New Hampshire premier,” Lane said.

“We hope that folks will come in and enjoy it,” she said, referring to Hundreds of Beaver. “It’s totally not what a typical movie viewer in this area is used to seeing.”

Red River has been fighting its way back up to speed after having to close down during Covid.

“It’s been a three-year recovery process,” Lane said. “We only got back to showing movies seven days a week last June.”

Hundreds of Beavers
When: Friday, March 1,- Sunday, March 3, 5;15 & 7:30 p.m.; Monday, March 4, – Thursday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St. in Concord (224-4600, redrivertheatres.org)
More info: See hundredsofbeavers.com for a movie trailer and more on the film.

Kiddie Pool 24/02/29

Family fun for whenever

Lacrosse season

• Catch some Saint Anselm Hawks lacrosse at Grappone Stadium (Saint Anselm College in Manchester). On Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m. the women’s lacrosse team plays Saint Michael’s College. On Tuesday, March 5, the men’s team plays the Franklin Pierce University Ravens at 4 p.m. Admission to lacrosse games is free.

Theater candy bingo

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (chunkys.com) has sessions of Theater Candy Bingo on the schedule this week: Thursday, Feb. 29, at 6:30 p.m. in Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.) and Friday, March 1, at 6:30 p.m. in Manchester (Huse Road). The cost is $10 per person, which gets you a $5 food voucher for use that night, one bingo card and a box of candy to go in the pot, according to the website.

Young scientists

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) will have a four-week “Junior Science: Shapes & Patterns” class running Tuesdays in March, March 5 through March 26, from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. The class is geared to ages 3 1/2 to 5 and will feature a story, a fun experiment and a take-home art project, according to the website. The museum is closed to the public on Tuesday afternoons; grownups and siblings can stay in the building during the class. The cost is $60 ($48 for museum members).

Save the date

• Have tea with the Matriarchs of Manchester on Sunday, March 10, at noon at the Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; manchesterhistoric.org). The event, an American Girl Doll program, will feature refreshments and women from Manchester’s history as portrayed by American Girl Dolls. The cost is $60 per person; purchase tickets in advance online.

Treasure Hunt 24/02/29

Dear Donna,

What do you do with old paperback books? Is there value or are they to be put in recycling?

Thanks, Donna, for any help.

Cindy

Dear Cindy,

Antique books and even more modern books are in a field of their own. I might be able to give you some information. You might also want to try a used bookstore or do some online research on each book, the value of which will depend on the author, the specific title, whether it is signed by the author and other factors. Then remember as always condition matters. I would think this rule follows all books through the ages.

Your Western books look fun and interesting to read. Figure out how many editions there were of each book as well as those other factors to see if some could be worth trying to sell. If not, you could donate them to a library or used bookstore or recycle them. I prefer donation, so someone else could enjoy reading them.

Thanks, Cindy, for sharing, I hope you find a new home for your books — or maybe even a tiny treasure in the pile.

The Art Roundup 24/02/29

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

• Also coming to the Currier: In addition to the new exhibit on Feb. 29, the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) will open “I live a journey of a thousand years: Raphaël Barontini” on Thursday, March 7. The exhibition features “La Bataille de Vertières” as its centerpiece, “a monumental 65-foot-wide painting that first premiered inside the Panthéon and will be on view in the U.S. for the first time,” according to a press release.

The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, June 23.

• First Friday at Center for the Arts: The Kearsarge Conservatory of the Performing Arts will present “Dance Through Time” at the Center for the Arts’ First Friday event on Friday, March 1,at 6:30 p.m. at Whipple Hall in New London, according to a press release. The event is described as an “interactive journey through the captivating history of dance styles,” the release said. The event is free; see centerfortheartsnh.org.

• Shakespeare workshop: Truepenny Arts (truepennyarts.com) will hold a workshop on Shakespeare with former National Theatre Conservatory faculty and professional coach Michael Cobb on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalism Church of Concord (274 Pleasant St. in Concord). The cost is $25 ($20 if registered and paid by March 1). The workshop is designed for both beginners and experienced actors/directors of Shakespeare and will introduce conservatory-level acting exercises and coaching techniques, according to a press release.

• Animals of the world: The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce (49 S. Main St., Suite 104, Concord) will present “Wildlife from 7 Continents” by artist Kae Mason Tuesday, May 5, through Monday, May 6. The works in the exhibit feature paintings of “animals in their natural habitat” and are “influenced predominantly by global safaris that she embarks on with her wife,” according to a press release. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The pieces are for sale by contacting the New Hampshire Art Association at 431-4230, the release said.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
The Milford Area Players present The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, this weekend and next at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford). Tickets cost $20 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors, and are available at rb.gy/t4jcd. The production, directed by Angèlica Forcier Rosenthal, is set in a courtroom in purgatory where Judas Iscariot is on trial to decide whether he deserves hell or redemption, according to a press release. The show contains adult language, drug and alcohol use, discussions of suicide and other dark situations; viewer discretion is advised, according to the content warning on the press release (see milfordareaplayers.org for the full content warning). The play runs Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, March 3, at 2:30 p.m.; Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 10, at 2:30 p.m.

• Silent film screenings: Jeff Rapsis, accompanist who “specializes in creating live musical scores for films,” will play with several silent film showings in early March:

On Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m. Why Worry? (1923), a comedy starring Harold Lloyd, at Wilton Town Hall Theatre (40 Main St. in Wilton). Admission is free; a $10 per person donation is suggested.

On Wednesday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. Way Down East (1920) at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center (39 Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com). The film stars Lillian Gish and was directed by D.W. Griffith. The cost is $10 per person.

On Sunday, March 10, Peter Pan, a 1924 release that is the original silent film adaption of the film, at 1:30 p.m. at the Bedford Public Library (3 Meetinghouse Road in Bedford). Admission is free but registration is required. Register at bedfordnhlibrary.org.

• Piano lessons: Palace Youth Theatre is offering piano lessons with instructor Marc Willis starting in March, according to a press release. Half-hour lessons are one-on-one and for students grades 1 to 12, with a cost of $30 per half hour, the email said. Sign up by contacting [email protected].

Kara Walker at the Currier
The exhibition “Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)” opens Thursday, Feb. 29, at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) and will be on display through Monday, May 27. According to a press release, “15 works on paper by Walker will be presented alongside a selection of prints by Winslow Homer … that inspired them. The direct comparison between the original images by Homer and Walker’s reinterpretation of the same material was first undertaken by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2017.” Homer worked as a war correspondent for Harper’s magazine and his drawings “of soldiers on the front lines of battle and civilians caught up in the war’s horrors became a visual history of the Civil War,” the release said. “These historic prints represent a starting point for Walker, who revisits them utilizing her signature silhouettes to introduce new elements that complicate their initial, seemingly objective narrative,” the release said.

A members-only tour will be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 29; register online.

Kara Walker, Alabama Loyalists Greeting the Federal Gun-Boats, From Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated), 2005. © Kara Walker, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and Sprüth Magers.

Vintage true crime

Cue Zero production explores Lizzie Borden case

One century before O.J. Simpson’s televised court proceeding captivated a nation, a murder case in Fall River, Mass., was the country’s first big media trial. In it, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her parents with an ax, but she remained forever guilty in the court of public opinion. Blood Relations, written by Canadian playwright Sharon Pollock and due to be performed by Cue Zero Theatre Co., explores the many questions that still remain.

Brian Dembkoski has long been drawn to the Lizzie Borden legend.

“Being a homegrown New England boy, it’s always been intriguing,” Dembkoski said in a recent phone interview. He decided to direct Blood Relations after seeing two very different performances of the play, in different parts of the country. “When I got to read it myself, I just kind of fell in love with it. Every single scene is a power struggle between characters, and it’s just so well-written.”

Billed as Lizzie’s side of the story, it’s structured as a play within a play. The main character, Miss Lizzie, played by Cass Durand, talks with her friend The Actress, played by Heidi Krantz, who wants to learn what really happened on the night of the murder.

“She basically says, ‘OK, you want to know if I did it? Let’s play a game,’” Dembkoski said. “Her friend then becomes the younger version of herself, and Miss Lizzie takes her through the scenario, puts her in the same situation … for her to make her own decisions.”

What ensues may or may not be a confession, he continued, noting that Borden is “a bit of an unreliable narrator, which is just one of the really neat, fascinating things about it…. We still have that ambiguity at the end; did she or didn’t she? Are we any closer to an answer than we were in the beginning? Hard to say.”

Along with playing the lead, Durand also acts as the play’s intimacy coordinator, a role Dembkoski felt was needed to help actors navigate a stiff-as-starch family dynamic. “It’s not so much because we’re having a lot of steamy scenes or anything; very much the opposite — rather, looking at what happens with people when they don’t have that basic intimacy…. It helps in exploring the idea of touch starvation or skin hunger.”

The cast includes Nate Faro playing “the ill-fated Andrew Borden” and Christie Conticchio as “the even more ill-fated Abby Borden.” Both have appeared in previous Cue Zero efforts. Faro was in Radium Girls and Conticchio directed the Harry Potter send-up Puffs two years ago. Dembkoski also appeared in that production, his initial Cue Zero foray.

Adding to the play’s meta multiplicity, Lizzie’s sister Emma is represented twice; Crystal Welch plays her late in life, and Chrissy Kelly, in a role created specifically for this production, plays a “modern-day Emma Borden, the actual sister much like Miss Lizzie is the actual Lizzie,” Dembkoski explained.

Rounding out the ensemble are Joshua Benham as Harry Wingate, Lizzie’s step-uncle and a pivotal character in her plot — if, of course, she was really guilty. The role of Dr. Patrick, Lizzie’s close ally, is played by Matthew Brides, who played the lead in Cue Zero’s 2023 production of Macbeth.

This is Dembkoski’s first directing job at Cue Zero. In the 1990s he studied theater arts at Plymouth State and then earned a master’s from Humboldt State, now Cal Poly Humboldt. After working in Southern California in the early 2000s, he left the theater world; he moved back to New Hampshire in 2007. When he began teaching at Nashua Community College in 2016, he was recruited to be an adviser with the school’s Theatre Arts Guild.

“That was my first kind of dipping my toes back into it … helping the younger folk and sharing some of my knowledge,” he said. As the pandemic was ending, Hatbox Theatre in Concord asked him to appear in its production of A Christmas Carol; there, he met Conticchio, which led him to Cue Zero.

There, he met Executive Director Dan Pelletier, who would agree to his pitch to do Blood Relations.

“A saying I’ve always clung to when it comes to doing anything in our field is ‘things lead to things,’ because doing Christmas Carol led me into Puffs,” he said. “Step forward a few more times to putting forth the idea to direct Blood Relations. Dan was happy to let me do it…. It was a great example of things leading to things.”

Sharon Pollock’s Blood Relations
When: Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.,
and Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m.
Location: Arts Academy of New Hampshire, 19 Keewaydin Dr., No. 4, Salem
Tickets: $15 at cztheatre.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

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