Arts & Entertainment
As A Witness, a Christmas pageant for the 21st century, will be performed at the Old Whaling Church on Sunday, Dec. 18, and Monday, Dec. 19.
The production features music ranging from medieval carols such as The Angel Gabriel Came Down, and O Come All Ye Faithful to modern gospel music including Rise Up Shepherd and Follow, and He Had Done Great Things for Me.
It’s the most famous Island landmark hardly anyone has ever seen. Built in 1895 as a marine hospital, the old plantation-style manor, with gray shingles, white trim and a sweeping balcony, on its 4.4.-acre hilltop, once commanded a view of Vineyard Haven harbor. At some point over the years the building acquired a white clapboard façade, enhancing its resemblance to Tara in Gone with the Wind. Across the broad lawn, a ring of pine and oak trees grew tall, obscuring the water vistas, and, at the same time, the long deserted building too.
IMP Holiday Show
The IMPers holiday show is this Saturday, Dec. 17, beginning at 8 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
For those out of the know, IMP is the Island’s teen professional improv troupe. The show is a chance to help them out as they preview material slated for submission to the 2012 Chicago Improv Festival. But, of course, not everything will be scripted. Audience members will be asked to arrive loaded with holiday suggestion from which the improv group will weave their hilarious magic.
Poetry Celebration
The Martha’s Vineyard Poets Society presents a Winter Solstice celebration of poetry and song, beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
The evening features twelve poets including Justen Ahren, Ellie Bates, Jill Jupen, Francesca Kelly, Lee McCormack, Clark Myers, Fan Ogilvie, Barbara Peckham, Valerie Sonnenthal, Daniel Waters, William Waterway and Michael West.
Tisbury School Play
The Tisbury School fourth graders are getting set to take you inside the minds of the ant and grasshopper and also up the beanstalk with dear Jack as he tries to search for his missing cow. The results are not your grandfather’s well-worn fables.
The kids have written the story, built the sets, created the music; heck they have done everything but fill the seats. That’s where you come in.
Film Festival Honored
Those living on or visiting Martha’s Vineyard have long recognized the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival as a particular gem. Each year Richard Paradise, the director and founder, programs numerous series of movies all year round, culminating in the four-day festival each fall. The films are always ones you can’t see anywhere else; foreign films being a particular specialty of the festival.
