2018 Season
sally howland2022-06-08T14:34:02-04:00
PERFORMANCES
THE RADICALIZATION PROCESS July 6 & 7 at 8pm; July 8 at 4pm
Created & performed by THE HINTERLANDS
Layering historical accounts of the radical left in the 1960’s and 70’s with socialist pageantry, and a gleefully obtuse re-production of The Living Theatre’s "Antigone," this show asks us to question our assumptions about what drives us to take action, how far is too far, and what role the imagination has in revolution. Also, it’s funny. Sometimes. Other times it’s really dark. But hey, that’s America!...
KOFEST STORY SLAM July 21 at 8pm — One Night Only!
WE ARE SOLD OUT! WE WILL BE TAKING AN IN-PERSON WAITING LIST AT THE DOOR STARTING AT 6PM FOR ANY CANCELLATIONS THAT MIGHT BECOME AVAILABLE. 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 “RADICAL ACTS.” 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 . . .
THE OVEN July 13 & 14 at 8pm; July 15 at 1:30pm
Written & performed by ILAN STAVANS
Directed by MATTHEW GLASSMAN
After a chance meeting with a shaman in Colombia, Ilan Stavans, the highly regarded literary scholar, found himself in the Amazon rainforest. He had reluctantly agreed to participate in a religious ceremony that involved taking the hallucinogen ayahuasca...
LIKE A MOTHER BEAR July 27 & 28 at 8pm; July 29 at 4pm
Written and Performed by HELEN STOLTZFUS of BLACK SWAN ARTS & MEDIA
From San Francisco, a solo performance that follows one woman’s extraordinary journey to healing in which she discovers the Great Bear Mother of imagination, the intimate connections between her infertility and the environment, and—in a powerful encounter in the wilds of Alaska— the very real endangered grizzly bear...
INDUSTRIOUS ANGELS Aug. 3 & 4 at 8pm; Aug. 5 at 4pm
Written & performed by LAURIE McCANTS
with music by GUY KLUCEVSEK, directed by SABRINA HAMILTON
A solo hand-crafted-story-spinning-shadow-puppet-memory-play-with-music evoking the secret creative lives of women, mother/daughter bloodlines, and the ghost of Emily Dickinson.
A solo hand-crafted-story-spinning-shadow-puppet-memory-play-with-music evoking the secret creative lives of women, mother/daughter bloodlines, and the ghost of Emily Dickinson.
2018 WORKSHOPS
SOUND AND FURY: An Embodied Approach to Voice, Text & Sound Design for the Theatre
with RICHARD NEWMAN
Co-Artistic Director of The Hinterlands
July 9-14, 2018
An intensive workshop exploring the theatre as a place for radical sonic exploration. Using the voice, everyday objects, instruments, technology, and architecture, participants will take a holistic approach to sound design and performance...
FIRST PERSON: Crafting Your Story for Performance 2018
with GERARD STROPNICKY, Co-Founder, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
July 16-21, 2018
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…
THEATRE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT
with HELEN STOLTZFUS
Black Swan Arts & Media
July 30-Aug. 4, 2018
What is the story within you that “must be told”? We use voice work, movement, journaling, improvisation and guided fantasy to discover these stories and to shape them – personal, mythic, ancestral – into . . .2017
sally howland2018-03-30T14:28:03-04:00
PERFORMANCES
THE SOCIETY OF CIVIL DISCOURSE
August 4 & 5 at 8pm; August 6 at 7pm (Note non-standard curtain time)
Created by TEAM SUNSHINE PERFORMANCE CORPORATION and THE PHILLY PIGEON/Jacob WintersteinAn interactive performance event that celebrates the pleasure of passionate debate and provides a safe and fun space to indulge in the practice of oratorical muscle-flexing. The event unfolds in three phases…
DEATH OF A MAN July 28 & 29 at 8pm; July 30 at 4pm
NEW WORLD PERFORMANCE LAB
Two years ago, NWPL set out on an expedition to understand their hometown’s relationship with rubber. Through the pillaging of natural rubber in the Amazon forests, and the working class citizens who broke their backs building tires – Akron, OH became the "Rubber City." Colombian actor, Jairo Cuesta performs a ritual of storytelling, a sacrifice to heal the city…
Two years ago, NWPL set out on an expedition to understand their hometown’s relationship with rubber. Through the pillaging of natural rubber in the Amazon forests, and the working class citizens who broke their backs building tires – Akron, OH became the "Rubber City." Colombian actor, Jairo Cuesta performs a ritual of storytelling, a sacrifice to heal the city…
KOFEST STORY SLAM Saturday, July 21 at 8pm – 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 and all on our season theme of “HABITAT (human).” Story Slam Slotting will begin in June, but start thinking of stories that fit the theme…
TENSE VAGINA: an actual diagnosis July 14 & 15 at 8pm; July 16 at 4pm
created and performed by SARA JULI
A solo show about motherhood — its beauty, challenges, isolation, and comic side revealing “all that is awesome and all that sucks when it comes to being a mother”…
A solo show about motherhood — its beauty, challenges, isolation, and comic side revealing “all that is awesome and all that sucks when it comes to being a mother”…
JIMMY & LORRAINE July 7 & 8 at 8pm; July 9 at 4pm
by TALVIN WILKS
Performed by HARTBEAT ENSEMBLE Jimmy & Lorraine is a meditation on the American political climate of the late '50s and early '60s through the lens of two significant artists of the time, James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry...
Performed by HARTBEAT ENSEMBLE Jimmy & Lorraine is a meditation on the American political climate of the late '50s and early '60s through the lens of two significant artists of the time, James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry...
WORKSHOPS
TELLING TALES WITH CRANKIES
INES ZELLER BASS
Sandglass Theater
July 3-8, 2017
A crankie is an old storytelling art form that has recently become hot again. A long illustrated scroll is wound around two spools and set into a box with a viewing window. The scroll is…
COMPASSIONATE CREATIVITY
with Kali Quinn
of the Center for Compassionate Creativity
July 10-15, 2017
What is the relationship between creativity, mindfulness, self-care, and bettering the world? How do you integrate love, work and play? Come jumpstart your creative process and…
FIRST PERSON: Crafting Your Story for Performance
This workshop is sold out.
with Gerard Stropnicky, Co-Founder, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
July 17-22, 2017
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…2010 Performances
sally howland2016-03-04T14:30:01-05:002010 PERFORMANCES
“In the great variety of summer theater in this region, Ko Theater Works’ five-week festival of performance art is unique. Here alone can we venture beyond the literal, lateral, plot-centered theater into worlds where the only certainty is surprise.” — The Valley Advocate
2010 Workshops
Sabrina2018-02-08T11:50:18-05:002010 WORKSHOPS
JULY 12 – 17
DEVISED THEATRE: Story Circle & Song as Source
with Nick Slie, Artistic Director of Mondo Bizarro (New Orleans)
Devised theater is like preparing food from scratch. You choose a recipe, carefully combine often-disparate ingredients, decide upon a cooking method, season to taste and serve. For this workshop, the primary ingredients are personal stories and group singing.
Stories will be generated using an inviting and surprising process called Story Circles that uses the age-old tradition of storytelling as a way to bring people together and build relationships in a lively, equitable environment.
Whether you think you can sing or not, whether you think you have a story to tell, this workshop is for you. A creative voyage that explores the dynamic possibilities of story, song and movement to generate new performance work. READ MORE
JULY 26 – 31
EGOLESS ACTORS: A Puppetry Intensive
with Eric and Ines Bass of the world-renowned Sandglass Theater from Putney, VT
Sandglass Theater believes that the puppet, as a theatrical medium, unlocks doors to our more secret sides and to integrating parts of ourselves.
This includes the worlds of our dreams and memories, as well as all the metaphorical possibilities of theater.
Sandglass teaches a method of manipulation developed in over 20 years of workshops in the US and abroad. READ MORE
AUGUST 2 -7
CREATING SOLO PERFORMANCE: Amusing the Muse (or – The Art of Juggling the Truth)
with world-renowned juggler & solo theater artist Sara Felder
A repeat of last summer’s sold-out, life-changing workshop on developing performance material from our own lives using objects, character work, monologues and humor.
We will write, try on different performance styles, create images, play with objects, investigate characters, consider different narrative voices, find the humor in the pain (and vice versa) experiment, fail, laugh and surprise ourselves.
Use this workshop to generate material towards a solo show, emphasize the use of performance to say something important, and, if we’re lucky, to amuse (or schmooze or cruise) the Muse.
READ MORE
2015 Workshops
sally howland2018-02-08T11:50:19-05:002015 WORKSHOPS
July 20-25
FIRST PERSON:
Crafting Your Story for Performance
Gerard Stropnicky
Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
Higher Ground, Swamp Gravy, Flood Stories, etc.
July 27 – August 1
ZEN & THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
Jubilith Moore
Theatre Nohgaku
August 3 – 8
IMAGE-OBJECT-PUPPET:
Creating a Poetic Theatre
John Farrell
Figures of Speech Theatre
2015 Performances
sally howland2016-02-26T09:23:29-05:00
2015 SHOWS
This season we looked at experiences of new homes, new lands, — and perhaps elicit a revision of what homeland means in a new America. What is the nature of the immigrant experience? How are newcomers received and perceived – as neighbors, as strangers, or even, as aliens? Thought-provoking and highly entertaining, the following shows were all created by the people who come to Ko to perform them, and their teams of collaborators.
July 10 – 12 Judith Sloan with CROSSING THE BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new america
After her hit performances at Ko last summer with YO MISS!, Sloan returns with a kaleidoscopic performance about new immigrants and refugees in Queens, N.Y. A multimedia vision of the future based on 3 years of oral histories; this is a celebration of resilient, prismatic people — in search of home. (Read more…)
July 17 – 19 Nadia P. Manzoor/Paprika Productions with BURQ OFF!
An autobiographical one-woman show about growing up in modern London in a conservative Pakistani Muslim home — 21 characters punctuated by fierce Bollywood dance moves and a choice between a burqa and a bikini. (Read more…)
July 19th at 8 p.m. The Mettawee River Theater Company with OUT OF THE PAST: Celebrating 40 Years of the Mettawee Journey
Our annual favorites invite you to come see many of your favorite characters – out under the stars with live music, movement, masks and exquisite puppets, in an atmosphere full of magic and celebration. For all ages. (Read more…)
July 24 – 26 Sokeo Ros with FROM REFUGEE CAMP TO PROJECT
A solo show about a young man born to a Cambodian family in a Thai refugee camp in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge. In America, he finds himself trapped in a ghetto, courted by gangs, surrounded by poverty, violence, and the explosive moods of his traumatized parents. Through hip-hop dance, traditional Khmer dance, storytelling and video, Sokeo shares how self-expression and art have helped him surmount his past and discover the beauty in life.” (Read more…)
July 26 at 8 p.m. KoFEST’S ANNUAL SUMMER STORY SLAM AND PARTY
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 “Fish Out of Water.” We’ll have a couple of wild card slots available on the night, so if you’ve got a story to tell… (Read more…)
July 31 – August 2 Chinese Theater Works with DAY JOBS, OPERA DREAMS
With unrealistic views of life in the West, and in the face of shrinking audiences and funding cuts, many top Peking Opera performers have elected to leave China to try their luck in the U.S. On arriving in NYC, the truth they face is stark; it’s not possible to support themselves through their art, the only employment they had known. Told through a blend of Peking Opera, storytelling and contemporary theater techniques. (Read more…)
August 7 – 9 Onawumi Jean Moss with SERIOUSLY…WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?
Noted storyteller and Pioneer Valley resident Onawumi Jean Moss, familiar to many KoFest audience members for her insightful comments in our post-show discussions, brings the season home with her first autobiographical solo, a piece that chronicles her resilient migration through the Jim Crow South, the Civil Rights Movement, the ubiquitous war on poverty and her private struggles of BEING/BECOMING an empowered African American Woman who lifts her voice for justice at home and abroad. (Read more…)
In addition, Cuban-American, multi-disciplinary artist Miguel Romero has created an installation “The World Dances to an Afro-Cuban Rhythm,” that audience members will experience as they arrive at the Holden Theater. He’s collaborating, across the generations, with Marc Friedmun, a PVPA student, who has created the accompanying soundscape. (Read more…)
2014 Performances
sally howland2018-04-11T20:07:12-04:002014 SEASON LINEUP
2 SPECIAL EVENTS + 4 WEEKS ON OUR SEASON THEME
WORK | JOB | CAREER | CALLING
SPECIAL EVENT: Saturday July 5 at 5 p.m.
CARPETBAG BRIGADE with
CALLINGS
a stilt spectacular on Nature’s siren call performed on the Amherst College Observatory lawn off Snell Street.
We’ll have a few, but best to bring blankets and chairs to sit on.
Read more…
July 11-13, Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.
BEAU JEST MOVING THEATER with
APT 4D
It’s about a librarian, a filmmaker and a laid-off executive who are all at a crossroads, unemployed or unable to define themselves by what they do for a living. They all reside in a pre-war apartment building that has seen better days.And then, a mysterious stranger arrives in Apt. 4D and kicks off a series of adventures told in a film noir style – kind of romantic, a little lurid, a little Hitchcock . . . Physical Theater at its very best!
Read more…
July 18-20, Fri & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.
JUDITH SLOAN (Earsay) with
YO MISS!: Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide
art, life & a passion for teaching collide in a funny, moving musical performance.
Read more…
SPECIAL EVENT: Sunday July 20 @ 8 p.m.
THE METTAWEE RIVER THEATRE COMPANY with
THE DANCING FOX
based on wisdom tales from the Middle East, an all-ages event with masks, puppets, and live music on the Amherst College Observatory lawn off Snell Street. We’ll have a few, but best to bring blankets and chairs to sit on.
Read more…
July 25-27, Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.
The INDEPENDENT EYE with
CO-CREATION: 50 Years in the Making
a true story of play-making, parenting, successes & failures, polyamory, spiritual quests, and dancing naked around bonfires
Read more..
July 27 at 8 p.m.
KOFEST STORY SLAM & PARTY
true stories on our season theme of Work|Job|Career|Calling – told, perhaps, by you! Interested in being one of our storytellers – email a brief bio, description of your story and your phone number to info@ko-6-5.mystagingwebsite.com.
CASH BAR & PRIZES! Click here for a taste of what it was like last year.
Read more…
Aug. 1-3, Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.
ALICE EVE COHEN with
WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW
a riveting odyssey through doubt, a broken medical system, motherhood and parenting, based on Cohen’s memoir, an Oprah Magazine “best book” pick.
Read more…