Legendary actor brings Quentin Crisp's Diaries to life

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Acclaimed British actor and three-time Obie award winner Bette Bourne portrays the eccentric, observant, and humorous Quentin Crisp
GREAT BARRINGTON - Direct from London, Resident Alien makes the first stop on its U.S. tour at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Friday, September 23, and Saturday, September 24 at 8PM. Acclaimed British actor and three-time Obie award winner Bette Bourne portrays the eccentric, observant, and humorous Quentin Crisp in a performance based upon interviews and Crisp’s own diary entries. Set in Crisp’s famously filthy one-room New York apartment at the Chelsea Hotel, Resident Alien is a moving monologue delivered by Crisp as he waits for lunch guests. 91-year old Crisp has an opinion on everything – style, homosexuality, marriage, loneliness, the Internet, and Princess Diana – and he muses upon such subjects with cutting wit and playful language, making him one of New York’s most infamous resident aliens. Famous for portraying women onstage, Bette Bourne seamlessly slips into the male character of Crisp, whose flamboyant personality made him a queer legend on both sides of the Atlantic. Both Bourne and Crisp played Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Bourne was a personal friend of Crisp’s, and his performance as Crisp has been widely acclaimed internationally. Tim Fountain, writer and director of Resident Alien, obtained exclusive access to Crisp’s diaries for the script and has also produced a biography and a documentary on Crisp’s outrageously peculiar life. Crisp died in 1999, just before the show’s opening, while he was performing his own one man show, An Evening with Quentin Crisp. Resident Alien has been performed around the globe, premiering in London and traveling to sold-out shows in New York, Australia, Edinburgh, Boston, and Seattle. Tickets are $20/$30/$40. For more information, please call the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Box Office at 413.528.0100 or visit www.mahaiwe.org. About the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Built in 1905 and designated as a project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Mahaiwe is one of the oldest surviving theaters in the country. With a rich history as both a vaudeville theater and a cinema house, an ongoing restoration has transformed the venue into a year-round center of cultural performance. The Mahaiwe is located at 14 Castle Street in Great Barrington.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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