2023
In keeping with KoFest’s new focus on uplifting and amplifying, we were delighted to partner with PAULINE PRODUCTIONS to help present a weekend of first-person stories. Fans of KoFest Story Slams, or alums of Jerry Stropnicky’s “First Person: Crafting Your Story for Performance” workshops at Ko, were particularly delighted to have the opportunity to see an event that gave the storytellers a longer time slots for their compelling stories!
FIRST PERSON FRESH – Women’s Solo Performance Festival
presented by PAULINE PRODUCTIONS, in association with KoFest
April 28, 29 & 30, 2023 Program A: Fri. at 7:30 p.m. & Sat, at 3 p.m. Program B: Sat. at 7:30 p.m. & Sun. 3 p.m.
CITYSPACE - The Blue Room Old Town Hall, 43 Main St. Easthampton, MA
A weekend festival featuring seven women debuting new "first person" solo theatre pieces that run the gamut from comic to serious, and poetic to music-filled, with themes that include mental health, love, loss, family and showbiz. Program A features: Sue Tracy with "An ADHD Girl's Guide to...WHOA!," Alice Barrett with "Stories Gone Missing," Jarice Hanson with "Alp Me Make it thru the Night, and Beth Filson with "Telling the Story - Untelling the Diagnosis" Program B features: Vanessa Adel's "Holding Space,"Jo-Anne Hart's "Friendship: A Love Story," and Laura Wetzler's "Love, Death & Warthogs"Directed by JEANNINE HAAS (Artistic Director/Pauline Productions) and SABRINA HAMILTON (Artistic Director/KoFest), with Liesel de Boor
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2022 FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES
In the summer of 2022, we held our 31st and final summer season. We offered 2 productions (one indoor and one outdoor), a 6-day intensive workshop, plus a story slam & celebration of over 3 decades of compelling theater.
FLUSHING (Make Room for Someone Else)
SANDGLASS THEATER & PARRIS-BAILEY ARTS
July 22 & 23, 2022, Fri. & Sat at 8 p.m. | Sun. July 24 at 4 p.m. in the Mainstage Theater in Emily Dickinson Hall on the Hampshire College campus.
Conceived and Written by Linda Parris-Bailey and Eric Bass, with original songs by Linda Parris-Bailey and Eric Bass. Performed by Linda Parris-Bailey, Eric Bass and Kirk Murphy. Directed by Kathie deNobriga. Puppets by Ines Zeller Bass.
It begins at the Brink, where two theater directors are passing the leadership of their ensembles to the next generation. This moment sparks a reflection on what it means to retire and what it might mean to inherit. For those stepping down, what do we leave and who do we become? And for those stepping up, how do we take what is given and make it our own? A story told with puppets, with songs, and with a . . .
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KoFest Story Slam & Celebration 2022
KoFest STORY SLAM & CELEBRATION
Sun., July 24 at 8 pm. ONE NIGHT ONLY You’ve heard of poetry slams – competitive poetry events. This is one is for first person, true stories – told live and without notes, 5 minutes or less — and on the theme of “STEPPING UP/STEPPING BACK” A benefit to keep Ko going strong, this event typically sells out, so reservations are highly recommended, and if you've got a story to tell . . .
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EZELL: Ballad of a Land Man
CLEAR CREEK CREATIVE
July 29 & 30 at 6:15 pm arrival; July 31 at 10:15 am arrival. Rain Cancellation Date: Sunday at 6:15 pm
Join us outdoors at Hampshire College Farm Center for this environmental, cultural and spiritual parable of domination & resilience that explores the complexities of climate change, indigenous erasure, and environmental extraction (fracking) — and is based on the artists’ lived experience in their rural Appalachian community. This immersive experience features a contemplative walk through the woods to the performance site with live music, the play, a return walk and a post-show dialogue with the artists and a panel of local experts . . .
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EARLIER IN 2022
CANARY IN A GOLD MINE
Now available directly from Piti Theatre. Visit ptco.org/canary .
PITI THEATRE COMPANY
Written and performed by Jonathan Mirin
First seen ONLINE in 2022: Feb 11 & 12 at 7:30pm; Feb 13 at 3:00pm, and then on-demand through May 1, 2022
Captions Available in English and French.
With a partner sickened by electro-hypersensitivity (a.k.a. “microwave sickness”) Mirin has become part of a landmark suit against the FCC. During the pandemic he’s felt compelled to transform what could be an earnest public health lecture into a fun and compelling dive into the opposing forces of corporate profit vs. public safety. Created for the web, Mirin's eco-justice adventure is like theatre…but flatter!
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2023 WORKSHOPS
STAGE LIGHTING BASICS
December 10, 2023 10am-1pm
Fuller Arts Center at Springfield College.
A 1-day workshop on the basics of stage lighting – particularly geared for choreographers, directors and all those seeking an understanding of how to to collaborate with a lighting designer. SOLD OUT. Email us to get on the waiting list.
2022 WORKSHOP
for adults
FIRST PERSON: Crafting Your Story for Performance
with GERARD STROPNICKY,
Co-Founder, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
July 18-23, 2022 - SOLD OUT
Why do some stories – some performances – spark your imagination, set fire to your soul, and leave you transformed, while others just sit there? Is it the content, or the telling? The framing, or the style? Can story be employed to bring laughter, or tears, or understanding, or lasting social change, or ...Read More
KEEP KO STRONG
FUNDERS
The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Ko Theater Works, Inc. is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act from the National Endowment for the Arts.
KO Theater Works is proud to be a member of
THE NETWORK OF ENSEMBLE THEATRES:
Artists Creating Theatre. Artists Creating a Community. Artists Creating a Movement.
LET’S GET SOCIAL