Adams Theater Previews 'I will dance with those oak trees as long as'

ADAMS, Mass. —Currently in residency at the Adams Theater, CP4P International Productions will present material from a new original performance, "I will dance with those oak trees as long as" at the Adams Theater at 7 PM on Saturday, Oct. 28. 

This event is free and open to the public. For tickets and more info: www.adamstheater.org. 

This performance is a chance to see a work as it comes together and have a behind-the-scenes conversation with the artists about the process of building a new performance.  Audience members will have the opportunity to interact with the objects and puppets that were created in residency and ask the artists questions about their work. 

While in residency, CP4P will also host a workshop on movement and cultural resistance at Williams College on Tuesday, Oct.17.

When their residency concludes, the women of CP4P will tour the performance throughout the U.S., including theaters in New York City, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. CP4P's mission is to create and tour new original works inspired by cultures all over the world suffering from cultural oppression, with this new production focused on Kurdistan. 

According to a press release:

Inspired by the culture of the Kurdistan region in Turkey, this performance takes us on a poetic voyage into the life of the minority group from the mountains, a life which took its shape from endless oppression. Carpets, looms, tea kettles and strings create a landscape in which three women embody being separated from the ones and the places they love and what this separation can do to the human heart. Accompanied by modern takes on traditional Kurdish music, this international group of performers shares the experiences of many like the threads woven into a beautiful global tapestry through poetry and movement.

CP4P is founded by theater and arts professional Audrey Rose Dégez, who is originally from Pittsburgh. This year, Dégez has grown the initiative to include Ukrainian puppet master Daria Holovchanska, one of the members of last year's Slovo. Theater Group project, originally from Kharkiv and currently based in Poland; and Kurdish actress Deniz Heval Kandemir, who Dégez met during their studies at l'école international de théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. 

According to CP4P, Kurdish culture is one of the oldest surviving world cultures. Due to its  location, a long history of tension in the Middle East has threatened Kurdish cultural transmission since the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Though American political leaders have consistently supported the idea of Kurdistan and Kurdish independence, the fight for the right to exist has been a long and bloody one for the Kurds.

Daria and Audrey decided to work together on building CP4P after last year's successful run of Mothermotherland, which was devised after Audrey had to cancel an upcoming residency at Slovo in Ukraine, an artist complex with a violent history. (Mothermotherland is based on a short story by Mykola Khyvylovy, a resident there and famous member of the Ukrainian Renaissance.) 

Not deterred by the Russian invasion, she instead brought the project, and five actors, including Daria, to America. Touring as Slovo. Theater group, they performed the show all over the U.S.,  including at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. 

In-Person Box Office Hours: The theater is holding new in-person box office hours for community members who would like to buy tickets! Box office hours will take place Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m. at 27 Park Street.

Buy a ticket, give a ticket: All local students 17 and under can attend at least one Adams Theater show for FREE with pre-registration (email info@adamstheater.org). Theater patrons can help pay it forward by purchasing a Community Ticket in addition to their own. 

The Adams Theater's programming season is supported by grants from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, and 1Berkshire, and sponsorship from local businesses including Adams Community Bank, Berkshire Bank, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Adams Plumbing & Heating, and SBM.

Adams Housing Authority Rededicates McAndrews Community Center

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:30PM / Saturday, May 18, 2024

The new dedication sign includes the names of the first director and board chair of the Housing Authority. 

ADAMS, Mass. — It started with changing out the old box lights in the community room at Columbia Valley.

 

It ended with fully refurbished room along with a refreshed kitchen and ladies room. 

 

Residents of the senior living facility gathered in the new community room on Wednesday to rededicate it to James McAndrew and welcome Housing Secretary Edward Augustus.

 

"This room hadn't been touched since the 1980s," said Adams Housing Authority Executive Director William Schrade, describing it as a place to gather that "wasn't friendly, wasn't smiling." 

 

So first came the box lights, and then in consultation with maintenance chief Matthew Puricelli. Then it was replacing the old leaky windows, and why not take off the old wallpaper and paint, and if you're doing that, might as well pull up the old carpet and put down a new one. 

 

"We thought we were done. I said kitchen really needed to be done because they has a 1970s look," said Schrade. "[Puricelli] took charge of that, too, and got creative and with the tools that were given to him.

 

"He knocked it out and then made the worst mistake and said, 'I've done all this I might as well finish and do the women's bathroom.' I said I think that's a great idea. [Secretary Augustus] is coming in three weeks, so you're gonna have to jump on this."