BASIC Berkshires

Tinker Tots
2025-05-20 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-05-13 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-05-06 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-04-29 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-04-22 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-04-15 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-04-08 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-04-01 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) and 2 more dates | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Come tinker and explore with the library and Pittsfield’s CFCE!
Each week children ages 0-2 (siblings welcome) and their caregivers engage in child-centered play, art, music, storytime, and sensory activities to encourage social, fine and gross motor, and pre-literacy skills.
¡Venga a jugar y explorar con la biblioteca y el CFCE de Pittsfield! Cada semana, los niños y sus cuidadores participan en juegos, arte, música, lectura de cuentos y actividades sensoriales centradas en los niños.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: 413-499-9480, ext. 5.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

Madeleine Peyroux & Bettye LaVette
2025-05-16 20:00 - 22:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. In every note, Peyroux digs deep, rendering this exquisite work with the disarming grace and gravitas of an artist in peak form.
Bettye LaVette was hailed by The New York Times as “one of the great soul interpreters of her generation.” She is a singer in the tradition of great vocalists who have come before her like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Dinah Washington, to name just a few.

Know Your Rights Training
2025-05-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom (We will send link when you register)
This training will cover basic Know Your Rights information, including rights in interactions with immigration enforcement, including when immigration comes to your home, stops you while driving or in public, the new registration rule, family preparedness, where to get legal help, and information on notario fraud and immigration scams.

Del McCoury Band
2025-05-10 20:00 - 22:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link.Almost unimaginable, McCoury’s sixth decade in a half-century of bluegrass bliss brings new triumphs, new collaborations, and new music.

Cantilena Chamber Choir Sings Ellis Island Diaries
2025-05-04 15:00 - 17:00 | MA
The Cantilena Chamber Choir will present its season ending performance on Sunday, May 4th, 2025, at 3:00pm at Trinity Church, 88 Walker St. in Lenox. The special guest for the event is the award- winning youth choir The Spirituals of Boston Arts Academy just before their May 23rd Carnegie Hall debut. Cantilena will be performing Ron Perera’s Golden Door for chorus and orchestra using texts from original Ellis Island diaries, a special presentation in this time of concern for our immigrant friends and neighbors. The program will also include rousing spirituals and a joint performance with both choirs to close the program.

Met Opera Live in HD: Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”
2025-04-26 13:00 - 16:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
On April 26, Mozart’s timeless comedy returns to cinemas worldwide with a live transmission from the Metropolitan Opera. Conductor Joana Mallwitz, in her Met debut, takes the podium to conduct a stellar ensemble cast including American bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as the clever valet Figaro, Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska as the wily maid Susanna, Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins as the skirt-chasing Count, Italian soprano Federica Lombardi as his anguished wife, and French mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce as the adolescent page Cherubino.

ACLU Know Your Rights Training (with Spanish interpretation)
2025-04-24 20:00 - 21:30, 2025-04-07 16:00 - 17:30 | MA
Join one of the ACLU’s Know Your Rights Trainings to learn about your rights and understand how you can protect communities facing these escalating threats. We’ll be hosting two trainings every month; you can select the date and content that works best for you below.

Know Your Rights Training: Mass Deportation & More
2025-04-24 20:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
The ACLU is hosting an immigration Know Your Rights Training on April 24th, at 8 pm on Zoom. Join this training to learn about your rights and understand how you can protect communities facing these escalating threats.

Mahaiwe & NYTW Workshop’s Mind the Gap, Intergenerational Performance Program / Mind the Gap, programa de representación intergeneracional del New York Theatre Workshop
2025-04-23 10:00 - 2025-04-27 22:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
New York Theatre Workshop’s Mind the Gap, Intergenerational Performance Program/
Mind the Gap, programa de representación intergeneracional del New York Theatre Workshop

Monday, June 23 – Friday, June 27

Public performance on Friday, June 27 at 7pm

APPLY TO PROGRAM
RESERVE TICKETS

Mind the Gap is a free intergenerational theatre program in which youth [14-21] and elders [60+] interview each other and collectively create a performance piece inspired by each other’s life stories. Mind the Gap’s primary goal is to use theatre as a creative tool to increase empathy and communication between generations. The workshop will culminate with a public presentation in which the collaborative work is performed by the participants. No theatre experience is required to participate in the program.

Youth stipends are $250 per person.

Program Goals
Through the workshop participants are able to:

Investigate, listen and empathize with someone of another generation, while using playwriting as a tool to understand and represent their unique experience
Broaden their perspective, see the other generation in a new light, and take on the task of telling someone else’s story with respect and understanding
Share their stories and ultimately see them interpreted through another’s eyes making meaning out of their personal narratives and gaining insights into their own lives

Important Criteria

Desire to share, listen and create – sharing your stories with someone of another generation and giving them permission to use your stories as inspiration for a play.
Desire to bring your curiosity, stories, experiences, creativity, listening ears, and willingness to share at every session.
Desire to perform and act both individually as well as within an ensemble.
Desire to collaborate generously and with an open mind.
Desire and ability to attend every session. Since most of the work that we will do together will be in partner groups, potential participants with fewer conflicts will be prioritized over those with more conflicts.

Things to Remember

It is important to note that Mind the Gap is not an acting class; performance is merely the tool through which we mind the gap between generations.
Mind the Gap is not focused exclusively on the past. During the program participants explore the past, present and the future. However, Mind the Gap is not a documentary or verbatim theatre program. Intergenerational interviews are used as inspiration, not as the sole material from which artistic content is created. Participants are treated as artists.
Mind the Gap is not a mentoring program. All participants are seen as equal in the process. We value everyone’s stories, input and life experiences. At New York Theatre Workshop we believe that we always have something to learn from each other, regardless of age.
Although we encourage everyone to push past their comfort zones, we do not demand that anyone share anything that they feel is too personal or too private. On that note, if participants share something with their partner that they wish not to have shared or written about, participants always have the right to ask their partner(s) to exclude any information from the artistic piece(s).

Lunes 23 de junio – Viernes 27 de junio

Función pública el viernes 27 de junio a las 19h.

APLICAR AL PROGRAMA
RESERVA DE ENTRADAS

Mind the Gap es un programa gratuito de teatro intergeneracional en el que jóvenes [14-21] y mayores [60+] se entrevistan y crean colectivamente una pieza teatral inspirada en sus respectivas historias de vida. El objetivo principal de Mind the Gap es utilizar el teatro como herramienta creativa para fomentar la empatía y la comunicación intergeneracional. El taller culminará con una presentación pública donde los participantes interpretarán el trabajo colaborativo. No se requiere experiencia teatral para participar en el programa.

Los estipendios para jóvenes son $ 250 por persona.

Objetivos del programa
A través del taller los participantes podrán:

Investigar, escuchar y empatizar con alguien de otra generación, mientras se utiliza la dramaturgia como herramienta para comprender y representar su experiencia única.
Ampliar su perspectiva , ver a la otra generación bajo una nueva luz y asumir la tarea de contar la historia de otra persona con respeto y comprensión.
Compartir sus historias y, en última instancia, verlas interpretadas a través de los ojos de otros, dando sentido a sus narrativas personales y adquiriendo conocimientos sobre sus propias vidas.

Criterios importantes

Deseo de compartir, escuchar y crear: compartir tus historias con alguien de otra generación y darle permiso para usar tus historias como inspiración para una obra.
Deseo aportar mi curiosidad, historias, experiencias, creatividad, oídos atentos y voluntad de compartir en cada sesión.
Deseo de actuar y actuar tanto individualmente como en conjunto.
Deseo de colaborar generosamente y con la mente abierta.
Deseo y capacidad de asistir a todas las sesiones. Dado que la mayor parte del trabajo conjunto se realizará en grupos de compañeros, se priorizará a los participantes con menos conflictos sobre aquellos con más.

Cosas para recordar

Es importante destacar que Mind the Gap no es una clase de actuación; la actuación es simplemente la herramienta a través de la cual nos ocupamos de la brecha entre generaciones.
Mind the Gap no se centra exclusivamente en el pasado. Durante el programa, los participantes exploran el pasado, el presente y el futuro. Sin embargo, Mind the Gap no es un programa documental ni de teatro literal. Las entrevistas intergeneracionales se utilizan como inspiración, no como el único material para la creación de contenido artístico. Los participantes son tratados como artistas.
Mind the Gap no es un programa de mentoría. Todos los participantes son considerados iguales en el proceso. Valoramos las historias, las aportaciones y las experiencias de vida de cada uno. En New York Theatre Workshop creemos que siempre tenemos algo que aprender unos de otros, sin importar la edad.
Aunque animamos a todos a superar sus límites, no exigimos que compartan nada que consideren demasiado personal o privado. En ese sentido, si los participantes comparten algo con su pareja que no desean que se comparta o escriba, siempre tienen derecho a pedirle a su(s) pareja(s) que excluya(n) cualquier información de la(s) obra(s) artística(s).

“Diner” (1982)
2025-04-19 19:00 - 21:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
A group of college-age friends toe the line between adolescence and adulthood in 1950s Baltimore in Diner. Starring Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly, and Ellen Barkin, the film is celebrated for its performances and understated direction by Barry Levinson. (R, 1h 50min.)

Bilingual Storytime
2025-04-16 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-04-02 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-03-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Join library staff and Pittsfield CFCE for a program of songs, rhymes, crafts, and read-aloud books. Take home a free book for each child to build your at-home library. Ideal for families with children of a variety of ages. This program is presented in English and Spanish.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: 413-499-9480, ext. 203
Sponsored by the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

Chanticleer
2025-04-11 20:00 - 22:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling over one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world.

Paquito D’Rivera Quintet
2025-04-05 20:00 - 23:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
NEA Jazz Master, composer, and reedist Paquito D’Rivera brings to life the eclectic fusion of his extensive travels with unparalleled improvisations, multinational rhythms, and original orchestrations. D’Rivera has won a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards (5 Grammy and 11 Latin Grammys). He is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer.

“Born Yesterday” 1950
2025-04-04 19:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, and William Holden star in this classic comedy-drama from 1950 by George Cukor. The story follows wealthy junkyard tycoon Harry Brock’s (Crawford) travels to Washington to lobby Congress. Brock hires journalist Paul Verrall (Holden) to teach his girlfriend Billie Dawn (Holliday) D.C. etiquette, and his plans go awry. The film was nominated for five Oscars, with Holliday winning Best Actress. (PG, 1h 43min.)

London’s National Theatre in HD: Dr. Strangelove
2025-03-29 18:30 - 21:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece “Dr. Strangelove.” This explosively funny satire, about a rogue U.S General who triggers a nuclear attack, is led by a world-renowned creative team including Emmy Award-winner Armando Iannucci and Olivier Award-winner Sean Foley. (Running time: 150 minutes – to be confirmed.)

Patton Oswalt: “Effervescent”
2025-03-22 20:00 - 22:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Patton Oswalt has a brand-new hour of his signature apocalyptic, pop culture comedy. He’s older, way less wise, and going through some stuff. Come see the hilarious train wreck. He’ll be dead in thirty or forty years so this might be your last chance to catch him.

Met Opera Live in HD: Beethoven's "Fidelio"
2025-03-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA, 01230
Following a string of awe-inspiring Live in HD performances, Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Leonore, the faithful wife who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny in Beethoven’s Fidelio. Completing the distinguished cast is British tenor David Butt Philip as the political prisoner Florestan, Polish bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as the villainous Don Pizarro, veteran German bass René Pape as the jailer Rocco, Chinese soprano Ying Fang and German tenor Magnus Dietrich as the young Marzelline and Jaquino, and Danish bass Stephen Milling as the principled Don Fernando. Susanna Mälkki conducts the March 15 performance, which will be transmitted live from the Met stage to cinemas worldwide.

BIC Know Your Rights Presentation (in Portuguese)
2025-03-13 17:30 - 18:30 | MA
This event will take place on Zoom. Please visit our website (linked below) to register.
Learn about essential legal rights of immigrants, how to handle interactions with law enforcement or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and information to protect yourself and your family. These presentations empower immigrants, service providers, and community members with practical guidance and support.
