NPC's Get On Board Event

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – April is Volunteer Month and the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires is hosting their 3rd annual "Get on Board" event, sponsored by Beacon Bank. 

Get on Board takes place on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 from 9 a.m. to 11a.m. in the lobby of the Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. The purpose of the networking event is to connect nonprofits to people who want to use their time, talent and treasure to serve on a nonprofit board.

The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires also provides a complementary and personal year round matching service to help strengthen nonprofit boards. Both nonprofits and community members fill out a form identifying their needs and skills respectively. A team of volunteers reviews the confidential information and connects potential candidates to local organizations.  Since its inception in 2023, over 35 board matches have been made across the county. The in person event happens once a year. Breakfast treats and coffee provided.

Those who have never served on a board can access "Intro to Board Service" videos free on the NPC web site. For more information about the event visit https://npcberkshires.org/join-a-board/ or email info@npcberkshires.org. The event is FREE for the public to attend. To RSVP to attend, please fill out the form on the April 28 event date here: https://npcberkshires.org/events-calendar/

 

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King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
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