Built on Stilts, the Vineyard’s homegrown dance festival, opens on Thursday, August 12, at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs and continues through Sunday and again the following weekend, August 21 to 23.
Each night’s program begins with drumming at 7:30 p.m. (all acoustic musicians are invited to join in) and dance performances at 8. The program is different each night.
As ever, the shows are free to the public, and audiences many come and go as they please. Donations at the door are strongly encouraged. No reservations necessary.
Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk
Find out more about the Moor’s place in contemporary society: Actor’s Shakespeare Project will be on the Vineyard for two nights only that mix performances of Othello with conversations led by Shakespeare authority Robert Bru-stein exploring the themes of the play and their relevance in our modern times.
In a group of 10 men, you might think egos could run high and competition would ensue. But the only thing running high in the dancers of Balletboyz are their legs carving out space midturn, and their energy to work with each other on stage.
This has been a remarkably satisfying season for Island theatregoers. We have available not only our regular offerings — the Vineyard Playhouse’s mainstage season and Shakespeare in the amphitheatre, Camp Jabberwocky, Children’s Theatre, special events at the Yard — but also an energetic new theatre company, ArtFarm Enterprises, which has presented some glorious work in collaboration with Vineyard Arts Project and will soon be presenting more with the Actors Shakespeare Project from Boston.
Spelling Bee
Island Theatre Workshop opens a new production this weekend at Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven. It’s the Tony award-winning comedy and musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by Taffy McCarthy and Linda Berg. This fun, high-energy show opened last night and continues through August 8.
By JONAH LIPSKY
Fame was the production theme for Camp Jabberwocky’s annual July theatre performance last Friday and Saturday. Their Fame had a huge cast, lots of laughs, moments of beauty, and Darth Vadar.