Cinders Continues Tonight, Tomorrow

I went to the premiere of the Smith College production of Cinders last night. Here's what I wrote about Cinders for Preview Massachusetts magazine:

Last year, Smith College student Alison Scher went to the library, plunked herself down at a catalog terminal and punched in the keyword “absurdism.” She was looking for a play. She found a list of them, screens full of them.

It was commencement week and the campus was bustling. But Scher was huddled in the library looking for a play to direct her senior year, wading through the books of plays. She stopped when she found Cinders by Janusz Glowacki. It wasn’t like any other play she had seen before.

“It tackles these very difficult issues: corrupted children, propaganda, a country under martial law,” said Scher. “And yet it manages to do it in a witty and intelligent way.”

This May, while all the reunions and activities of commencement weeks are happening again, Scher will be out of the library, but behind the curtain. She’ll be directing Cinders at the Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, May 17, 18 and 19.

Cinders continues tonight and tomorrow night at Smith with 8:30 p.m. show times.

New Century Theatre's Summer Season

At New Century Theatre:

• Kong's Night Out, writted and directed by Jack Neary -- June 21-30
  
• Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Sam Rush -- July 5-July 14
  
• Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Ed Golden -- July 19-July 28
  The Cocktail Hour by A.R. Gurney, directed by Zoya Kachadurian -- August 2 - August 11
  

Welcome

Welcome to Theater in the Valley. Here you'll find one writer's attempt to cover theater in Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires. I'll post upcoming productions, point you to the articles I write, give outtakes and notes of the discussions I have with directors and playwrights, producers and actors, and whatever else comes to mind. Enjoy!