In 2013 we presented 5 weekends of performances on our season theme of

“COURAGE”

Each year the performances at Ko are curated on a theme that we think will entertain, provoke and inspire our audiences! In 2013 we’re investigating COURAGE. The shows are by a diverse group of artists who are coming to us from Iowa; NYC; Texas; upstate New York; Boston and Hartford. All are original works, created by the people who perform them & their teams of collaborators.

Many audience members enrich their experience at Ko by staying for the discussions that follow every performance. We use the show as a lens to help us discuss our season theme. The discussion is yes, artist/audience — but here in Amherst, famous for being the town “where only the ‘h’ is silent” — post-shows quickly become opportunities for community dialogue. There are other special events & ways for you to participate including an interactive visual art installation by KALI QUINN. Scroll down for all the info!

July 5-7, Fri. & Sat, at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

JUST KIDS

Sean Christopher Lewis (Iowa City)
Teaching a group of troubled kids in rural Kansas, Sean Lewis confronts the similarities in his own background as his father – abusive, estranged – and charming, enters the picture one last time.  A hysterically funny & moving performance described by one reviewer as a “one man NPR…” (read more)

July 12-14, Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

SPACEMAN

Loading Dock (NYC)
The depths of mankind’s last unknown frontiers – outer space and a grieving heart – are explored in this brave and funny new play about a woman’s solo journey to Mars. Radiation exposure, long term weightlessness, low light, extensive communication delays and poor hygiene are just a few of the challenges astronaut Molly Jennis must face as the first woman to head out to Mars… (read more)
Co-sponsored by The Harp Irish Pub & The Green Internet Group

July 14, Sun. at 8:00 SPECIAL EVENT – One night only!

TALIESIN

An all ages event by our annual favorites, the Mettawee River Theatre Company (NYC), on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. The story of Taliesin comes from a medieval Welsh tale of sorcery and court intrigue… (read more)
No reservations necessary.  Grounds open at 6:30 for folks wishing to picnic!

July 19-21, Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

fo n’ ale

The Performance Project’s FIRST GENERATION ENSEMBLE (Springfield, MA)
fo n’ ale (which means “we must go” in Haitian Creole) is a visual poem, a waking dreamscape in which past, present, and future are interchangeable. Seven young people, from Springfield, but originally from Nepal, Haiti, Burundi/Tanzania, Puerto Rico, Ethiopia and the U.S. are on a journey.  They’ve left their homelands but find themselves traveling the same path, all embodying the melancholy of leaving. Peak moments crystalize experience and become a source of power – carrying them, with courage, into the future. (read more)

This production is sponsored by

July 26-28 Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

CONVERSATIONS WITH MY MOLESTER: A Journey of Faith

Michael Mack (Cambridge, MA)
Like many Catholic boys in the 1960s, Michael Mack wanted to be a priest. That dream ended at age 11 when his pastor invited him to the rectory to “help with a project.” In the decades that followed, Mack wrestled with disturbing questions about sexuality and spirituality, and imagined one day meeting his abuser for a conversation. In 2008 he had that chance… One of only four playwrights to receive the 2013 Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Fellowship in Dramatic Writing. (read more)

July 28 at 8:00 VIDEO ARCHIVE NOW AVAILABLE HERE

KoFest STORY SLAM & PARTY

You’ve heard of poetry slams – competitive poetry events? Well we’ve got one for first person, true stories – told live & without notes. Stories will be 5 minutes or under & must somehow relate to our season themes of “COURAGE.” A huge hit in previous seasons and at Northampton’s A.P.E. Gallery this spring; this event might be your opportunity to take your place on the Ko Festival stage alongside KoFest artists & staff.  Cash bar. And prizes! All tickets $15. (read more)

August 2-4 Fri. & Sat, at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

MEDITATIONS FROM A GARDEN SEAT

Judy Dworin Performance Project (Hartford, CT)
A stunning dance/theater hybrid on the healing power of gardens, stemming from an essay by emancipationist and social critic Harriet Beecher Stowe + material by contemporary women in or just out of prison.  (read more)

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION LINEUP: Friday – Kermit Dunkelberg will host the postshow and Jane Wald of the Emily Dickinson Museum will join us because Emily too experienced and wrote about confinement and the healing power of gardens, and knew Stowe. Saturday – Sabrina Hamilton (Ko’s Artistic Director) will host, and Jane Wald will again join the artists. Sunday  – Cathy McNally, Executive Director of Voices from Inside (and Spring Story Slam Winner with her cross-generational make-out story) will be with us.

ALL SEASON

FINDING COURAGE: A Community-Based Art Installation

Kali Quinn is back again this summer to create an interactive piece around our season theme of COURAGE – where all are invited to participate.
Click here to see more about what was created last summer.

2012 SEASON:
“An Irreverent & Intergenerational Look at AGE & AGEING”

Each year the performances at Ko are curated on a theme that we think will entertain, provoke and inspire our audiences! In 2012 we’re investigating aging, a process that evokes a gamut of feelings – from trepidation to celebration. The shows are by a diverse group of artists who are coming to us from San Francisco; NYC; New Jersey; Portland, OR; Putney, VT/El Salvador – & right here in Amherst. All original works, created by the people who perform them & their teams of collaborators.

Many audience members enrich their experience at Ko by staying for the discussions that follow every performance. We use the show as a lens to help us discuss our season theme. The discussion is yes, artist/audience — but here in Amherst, famous for being the town “where only the ‘h’ is silent” — post-shows quickly become opportunities for community dialogue.

July 6-8 Fri. & Sat, at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

IS SEX POSSIBLE?

Constance Congdon (Amherst, MA)
Nationally-known playwright, and Amherst resident in her outrageously irreverent solo about the trials and tribulations of sex and dating after you reach 50, 60, … (read more…)

July 8 at 7:30 Special lecture/forum

STAYING VERTICAL: Age, Aging & Ageism in America

led by Ashton Applewhite (NYC)
Author/journalist Ashton Applewhite is interested in why we’re so ambivalent about the prospect of much longer lives. She was too, until she learned more. Her proposition?  Fight ageism, not aging.  (read more…)

July 13-15 Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

A QUEER DIVINE

Sara Felder (San Francisco, CA)
Back at Ko by popular demand, America’s favorite queer juggler & solo performance artist returns with her new solo comedy. It’s a reflection on the facts of her existence:  She can’t dance.  She likes art.  And people she loves are going to die. (read more…)

July 15,  Sun. at 8:00 SPECIAL EVENT – One night only!

COMMUNICATIONS FROM A COCKROACH: Archy and the Under Side

An all ages event by the Mettawee River Theatre Company (NYC) on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. Based on the Don Marquis cartoons with live music, live performers and exquisite puppets, performed out under the stars in an atmosphere of magic and celebration. (read more…)

July 20-22 Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

“Good Morning Anita Hill It’s Ginni Thomas I Just Wanted To Reach Across the Airwaves and the Years and Ask You To Consider Something I Would Love You To Consider an Apology Sometime and Some Full Explanation of Why You Did What You Did With My Husband So Give It Some Thought and Certainly Pray About This and Come To Understand Why You Did What You Did Okay Have a Good Day.”

Deb Margolin (NJ)
Yes, it is the longest play title ever – it’s the full text of a voicemail Clarence Thomas’ wife recently left for Anita Hill. The show is what happens when a middle-aged Jewish woman confronts her road rage at the 20-year-old intersection of young motherhood and the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings. With a fair amount of Bristol Palin tossed in.  Deb Margolin’s long awaited return to solo performance – and to Ko. (read more…)

July 22 at 8:00 ONE NIGHT ONLY!

KoFest STORY SLAM & PARTY

You’ve heard of poetry slams – competitive poetry events? Now, we’ve got one for first person, true stories – told live & without notes. Stories will be 5 minutes or under & must somehow relate to our season themes of “Age, Aging or Ageism.” A huge hit last summer; this event might be your opportunity to take your place on the Ko Festival stage alongside KoFest artists & staff. Feeling a bit unsure? We’re offering private storytelling coaching sessions from Ko Festival artists! Everyone should come prepared to listen, but you may want to come prepared to tell! And to help you whet your whistle we’ll have a cash bar. And prizes! All tickets $12. (read more…)

July 27-29 Fri. & Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

MY MIND IS LIKE AN OPEN MEADOW

Hand2Mouth Ensemble (Portland, OR)
Based on the recorded memoirs of ensemble member Erin Leddy’s grandmother, this meditation on consciousness, memory & things passed down through generations has toured the west coast extensively, and comes to Ko right before its New York premiere. A younger point of view on our season theme.  Click HERE to view their latest video trailer! (read more…)

August 3-5 Fri. & Sat, at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.

D-GENERATION: An Exaltation of Larks

Sandglass Theater (Putney, VT)
The world premiere of the ensemble’s collaboration with Salvadoran director Roberto Salomon. With text gathered from nursing home residents using a collective creation process called “Timeslips,” the production is performed with live actors, puppets, video and music.  It is a piece about dementia.  It is also a piece about play, joy, and communication. (read more…)

2011 marked the 20th season of the
KO FESTIVAL OF PERFORMANCE!

5 weeks of 6-day intensive workshops and performances which were open to the public – plus our rehearsal residency lab where artists came from all over the country to cook up new work.

Performances were selected from throughout the US. Some of them were developed, in part, during rehearsal residencies at Ko. All of them were original works, created by the people who performed them. The 2011 season was curated around the theme of “SECRETS.” Where does the desire to tell intersect with the desire to hide? Join us as we peek into a diverse set of secret sorrows, secret joys, and just plain secrets!

Many of our audience members enriched their experience of the shows by staying for the discussion of the season’s theme that followed every performance. For first time, this year, you could deepen your experience of this season of “SECRETS” even further by taking the festival as a UMASS course led by post-show discussion facilitator, Kermit Dunkelberg! (Read more…)

SHOWS & SPECIAL EVENTS

SPECIAL EVENT: July 8, Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Gala Opening Night/20th Anniversary Cocktail Party

Live entertainment, delicious refreshments, and an opportunity to meet some of the 2011 Ko Festival artists. Come celebrate!

July 8 – 10, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.

INDUSTRIOUS ANGELS

is 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.

written & performed by Laurie McCants (Bloomsburg, PA; music by Guy Klucevsek (NYC); directed by Ko Artistic Director, Sabrina Hamilton (Amherst, MA); scenography by F. Elaine Williams (Lewisburg, PA) (Read more…)

July 15 – 17, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.

ME, MISS KRAUSE AND JOAN

is about a lifelong fascination with Joan of Arc. a difficult but often hilarious relationship with an acting guru and a traumatic assault— powerfully forged into a spiritually insightful play about passion and perseverance.

written & performed by Martha Kemper (Philadelphia, PA) (Read more…)

SPECIAL EVENT: July 17, ONE NIGHT ONLY! Sunday at 8 p.m.

THE OLD BOAT GODDESS: Songs of the Ainu

tales from Northern Japan of interactions between humans, gods and the natural world – told out under the stars with masks, puppets, giant figures and live music by our annual favorites, The Mettawee River Theater Company. (NYC/Salem, NY) (Read more…)

July 22 – 24, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.

OVERTURE TO A THURSDAY MORNING

is about Lila, a girl who smokes, listens to Talking Heads and wants to be a violin rock star, but unwanted discoveries shove her toward the truth about her own birth. A suspenseful and inspiring journey that questions the will to go on and who to take with you.

written & performed by Kali Quinn (Buffalo, NY/Arezzo, Italy) (Read more…)

SPECIAL EVENT: July 24 at 8 p.m.

KoFest STORY SLAM & PARTY

You’ve heard of poetry slams – competitive poetry events. Now, we’ve got one for first person, true stories – told live and without notes. Stories will be 5 minutes or under and on our season theme of “SECRETS!” There will be some pre-selected ringers, you may be able to participate! We’ll have some sign-up slots, and as we’re thinking now, we’ll audition some first lines of stories – and audience members will get to vote on which ones should be told in their entirety. Feeling a bit unsure? We’re offering private storytelling coaching sessions from Ko Festival artists! Call 413.427.6147 to sign-up for one of these slots or for more information.

Know a great racconteur – tell them about the event! Everyone should come prepared to listen, but you may want to come prepared to tell! And to help you whet your whistle we’ll have a cash bar. And prizes! All tickets $12.

July 29 – 31, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.

RIPPLE EFFECT

RIPPLE EFFECT transports audiences from Springfield, MA to a U.S. army base, a Nepali family and their struggle for recognition, and a refugee camp in Tanzania. While local and global news media report political events and economic statistics, The FIRST GENERATION ensemble brings to light the stories of the individuals experiencing those events that are so often left untold.

FIRST GENERATION ensemble members may be the first in their family to grow up in the United States, the first to speak English, to graduate high school, go to college, to be incarcerated, not be incarcerated, be drug free, be openly GLBT, to break the silence, to be an artist, or many other firsts. RIPPLE EFFECT is a powerfully crafted work that examines the effects of racism, economic oppression, and violence – as well as our humanity, our strengths, and our possibilities.

Spanning four languages and three continents, RIPPLE EFFECT shares the strengths and struggles of the ensemble’s journeys, of family and community, as well as fantasy worlds – carrying us from Beyonce to Bollywood to a “Secret Recipe for Warriors Only,” and dreams for the future.

Created and performed by FIRST GENERATION Springfield-based ensemble of the Performance Project. Co-directed by Julie Lichtenberg, Julissa Rodriguez, Carla Wojczuk, and Lesley Farlow (Read more…)

SPECIAL EVENT, Sunday July 31 at 7 p.m.

PING CHONG: All Islands Connect Under Water

We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the stars of the international multidisciplinary arts world with us at Ko this summer. Ping Chong is in Amherst to initiate a new summer theater institute that has attracted students from all over the globe. In order for us to share that presence with more of the Ko audience, he has agreed to do a public presentation about his work, in which he will discuss the evolution of his approach to theatre in relationship to changes in contemporary arts and culture over the past 40 years. A question and answer period follows a slide presentation that will show his visually astonishing and socially compelling body of work in some of the most illustrious venues around the globe.

Admission is by donation.

August 5 – 7, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.

STRANGER THINGS

is a new play, inspired existential philosopher Albert Camus, that examines identity within the context of a broken rural family trying to make a living in the bitterly cold North. A black comedy, perfect for survivors of our recent, western Mass winter….

by the The Ghost Road Company (Los Angeles, CA) (Read more…)

2011 Workshops

July 11 – 16

MASK, MOVEMENT & MAYHEM

Kali Quinn

Accademia dell ‘ Arte; (Arezzo, Italy)

(read more…)

July 25 -30

FROM THE LITERARY TO THE DRAMATIC:

Devising New Work From Extant Text

Katharine Noon

The Ghost Road Company (Los Angeles)

(read more…)

July 31 – August 6

PING CHONG & COMPANY SUMMER THEATRE INSTITUTE

Ping Chong, Talvin Wilks, & Sara Zatz

Innovative community-based performance and documentary theatre practices behind Ping Chong’s award-winning “Undesirable Elements” series. For Performers, Directors, Scholars and Activists.

(read more…)

2009 Performances

HELP! HELP! I KNOW THIS TITLE IS LONG, BUT SOMEBODY’S TRYING TO KILL ME!

July 10 – 12 (Fri & Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.)

an all-ages event created and performed by: Drew the Dramatic Fool (Drew Richardson)

directed by Avner Eisenberg (Avner the Eccentric)

All the performers in this vaudeville variety show have been murdered – except for Drew the Dramatic Fool. Unfortunately for him, the show must go on, or he’s next. Drew attempts every act in the show, from juggling 36 balls to sawing a woman in half, in this comical examination of fears–fear of performing, fear of failure, and fear of death. When courage fails, the only answer is dramatic foolishness.

Drew the Dramatic Fool reinvents the ancient art of brilliant bumbling. Inspired by a thousands-of-years old tradition of royal jesters, vaudeville eccentrics, silent film comedians, animated cartoons, theatrical clowns, and imperfect humans everywhere, Drew offers amusement relevant for today‘s audiences by giving them laughter built on a range of human emotions, from joy to fear to despair and back to joy again.

“If you like Bill Irwin, You have to see Drew the Dramatic Fool. He’s a world-class visual comedian.” —Charleston Gazette

And if you think you hate clowns….we dare you not to laugh, and welcome your rant at the discussion that follows every performance!

THE MISUNDERSTOOD BADGER

written and performed by: David Ferney

co-written and directed by Nick Trotter

An eccentric biologist goes off the deep end in his quest to explore the mysterious realm of the North American Badger (taxidea taxus). Part lecture and part free-association dream, The Misunderstood Badger is a solo comedy performed and written by actor David Ferney. The show probes deep within one individual’s struggle to balance his ties to the civilized world with his desire for the wild. Professor Harold Burrows is extremely passionate—you might even say obsessed—about his life long study of badgers. After living in the wild with a community of badgers for a year, he has returned to civilization to share his findings.

Using live music, projections, and mask performance, Ferney take us on a comedic journey to find the badger within.

In the heart of the 5-College area, are academics fair game?

BEYOND THE HIGH VALLEY a Quechua Story

SUNDAY, July 19 at 8 p.m. (One Performance Only)

performed by the METTAWEE RIVER THEATRE COMPANY under the direction of Ralph Lee

Our annual favorites with a piece drawn from the Quechua people, descendants of the Incas, who live in villages in the Andean highlands of Peru. As the story begins, a giant condor spies a young woman tending her family’s llamas in a meadow. He sweeps down from the sky, transforms into a dashing lover and then carries her off to a rocky crag. Her unlikely rescuer is a creature of dazzling ingenuity, a plucky little hummingbird.

A range of puppets and other visual elements realized on many different scales, are used to evoke the vast distances, radiant sky and rugged, vertical thrust of fierce and beautiful Peruvian terrain. Performed out under the stars within a landscape permeated with live music, song and a spirit of celebration.

OUT OF SIGHT

July 24 – 26 (Fri & Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.)

A solo comedy that brings circus tricks, shadow puppets and a Jewish queer sensibility to questions of family loyalty and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
written and performed by:

SARA FELDER
Directed by David O’Connor
Shadow Puppets by Morgan FitzPatrick Andrews
Sound Design by Matthew Lorenz

DRAMATIC FOOLERY:The Paradox of Comic Acting

July 13 – 18

with Drew Richardson (Drew the Dramatic Fool)

In an effort to provoke deeper laughter, it’s often the case that the more serious you are, the funnier you are. No irony, no wackiness, just you, trying your imperfect best in absurdly real situations. In this workshop, Drew will guide the participants with tragically comic exercises using clown, mask, and movement to express their own dramatic foolishness and then use what they learn to create character-based theatrical comedy. For people who don’t think they are funny, actors who want to be funnier, or anyone who wants to explore sincerely playful creative problem solving.

FINDING COMEDY IN A SERIOUS WORLD

July 20 – 25

with David Ferney

An exploration of what is funny as a tool for creating new performance. Using clown, mask and absurdist theatre to find the comic in our often too serious world, Mr. Ferney will lead the class through an exploration of what is funny. Through exercises and explorations workshop participants will be encouraged to “find the funny” and develop a sense of play for creating interesting comic characters and generating new material.

CREATING SOLO PERFORMANCE: Amusing the Muse

(or – The Art of Juggling the Truth)

July 27 – August 1

with Sara Felder

A 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 for a solo performance. Emphasize the use of performance to say something important, and, if we’re lucky, to amuse (or schmooze or cruise) the Muse.

2008 Performances

A season on the theme of
“FOOD: appetites, attitudes and politics”

July 11 and 12 at 7 p.m.

Dark Dining Projects

Artist & Chef Collaborations | Sensory Feasts | Gourmet Meals Served to Blindfolded Guests
with participatory Art Events

Conceived and Directed by Dana Salisbury

Chef: Alan Harris of Noble Feast Catering

THE EVENT

Blindfolded guests enter the space and are seated at long tables. A splendid multi-course banquet of locally produced food and drink is set before them. Savoring the sensuous feast, diners tease out the mysteries of the menu. The room is an ever-changing olfactory, tactile and sonic landscape, an installation of wind, water, organic material, music, virtuosic performance and movement. At the evening’s close, diners are handed a sealed card in which the menu and performing artists are revealed.

For further information visit www.darkdiningprojects.com

DARK DINING PROJECTS

Enormously successful in New York City and elsewhere, Dark Dining Projects has won raves from diners and has appeared in such diverse media as ABC News, NY 1 News, Univision, Time Out, USA Today, New York Times, Village Voice, Metromix, Cool Hunting, Toxic Pop, Theatre Journal and Contact Quarterly Dance Journal.

NANABOZHO

SUNDAY, July 13 at 8 p.m.

performed by the Mettawee River Company under the direction of Ralph Lee

Our annual favorites with a piece drawn from Winnebago creation tales that describe how elements of the natural world emerged out of chaos and achieved their present form. Central to this process is Nanabozho, the trickster hare, whose fearless, sometimes dimwitted impulses have unexpected, frequently hilarious results and keep us guessing what will happen next. He emerges from the arms of his Grandmother Earth to confront amicable beavers, ferocious frog demons and a bevy of delectable spirit women. The world we have inherited appears to have been shaped by the combined efforts of wise benefactors, evil beings and a willful, capricious buffoon.

The production will be ASL Interpreted by Joan Wattman.

FRIDAY -SUNDAY , July 18 – 20 Fri., Sat. & Sun. at 8 p.m.

NOTE: AS THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL EVENT FOR US AT THE KO FESTIVAL, WE ARE PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO ADD ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES ON Sat. & Sun. at 2:00!

MILK-N-HONEY

created by: LightBox

directed by Ellen Beckerman

with Aysan Celik,* Shawn Fagan*, Signe V. Harriday*, Adam Rihacek, Gerry Rodriguez*, and a “mystery guest”

*Member, Actors Equity Association

music written by Shawn Fagan and the cast of MILK-N-HONEY
with text by Madeline George

Both the Ko Festival and LightBox have the creation of opportunities for civic dialogue as key parts of their respective missions. We in invite you to stay for the AFTER SHOW CAFE that follows every performance of Milk-N-Honey. Local experts on the the issues raised in the production will make short presentations and then we will open the floor for general discussion.

MILK-N-HONEY is a play about the pleasures and politics of eating, based on interviews the company conducted with migrant workers, flavor chemists, waiters and executives, diabetics, dumpster divers, grocery clerks, people with eating disorders, hunters, politicians and farmers. MILK-N-HONEY is a large-scale multi-media play that looks at food and appetite in the 21st century: the play’s interweaving storylines follow a couple whose marriage is at stake as they differ about what food to put on the table, a grocery store clerk who forages through dumpsters, immigrant farm workers, a family that struggles with diabetes, a flavor chemist who attempts to capture the flavor of light, et.al. The production features an innovative, wrap-around video design that envelopes the space in lush video imagery, with live-feed video cameras that the actors control and video supertitles for scenes performed in Spanish. The cast of five actors play a variety of roles and a sixth, The Eater, sits meditatively at a table and eats a meal for the length of the play. The performance includes original songs composed by Bray Poor and Sean Hagerty, several dance numbers, and a pageant about the history of corn.

HEARTS AND TONGUES

SUNDAY, July 25 – 27 (Fri & Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4.p.m.)

created and performed by WOOFNOVA

TEMPLE CROCKER & ANNIE KUNJAPPY

in collaboration with Daniel Allen Nelson

lighting by Sabrina Hamilton

As we live, we eat the world through our senses, our mouths ingesting the material of the natural world, our eyes, ears, nose and skin absorbing the colors, shapes, smells and vibrations. All meet in the blood stream, mingle with breath, tangle with the deepest intentions within the chambers of the heart and, thus transformed, are released as words, actions and other emanations of the heart and mind. Thus the inner landscape of our physical body, the subtle vibrations of our energetic body, and the unfolding of our being in time are shaped by the material of the external world.

Led by our hunger and passion, if we are what we eat, our digestive systems are conduits for an intimate communion with our environment, and our manifested beings are reincarnations of all that we have consumed.

In their latest theatrical exploration Temple Crocker and Annie Kunjappy attempt to sort through the chaos of information and experience to understand man’s sublime, contentious and ever evolving relationship with the natural world.

ABOUT THE COLLABORATION

Temple Crocker and Annie Kunjappy’s handcrafted performance work combines installation and objects, songs and gestures, original and appropriated texts. The research process that accompanies the making of a piece draws on a variety of sources including literature, philosophy, the natural and social sciences, alternative medicine, homespun recipes and visual art. Weaving together personal and universal mythologies the work explores the intersection of whimsy and insight addressing themes such as the curious nature of identity, and the phenomena of presence and memory.

SONGS OF HUNGER & SATISFACTION

SUNDAY, August 1 – 3 (Fri & Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m.)

a new cabaret created and performed by: BELLE LINDA HALPERN

musical director/accompanist Ron Roy

directed by Sabrina Hamilton

A Ko Theater Works production

A funny, intriguing and profound look at constant cravings—hunger for food, sex, acceptance and fame — and for true nourishment. Songs that range from Tin Pan Alley classics by Gershwin, Berlin and Bernstein to pop anthems are interspersed with personal narrative reflecting Halpern’s Jewish-American experience.

The Boston Globe has called called Belle Linda Halpern’s work “stunning, both as music and theater” as she connects the music and lyrics of American and European cabaret songs with clarity, warmth and style. With her incredible dynamic range, she sensuously croons ballads, powerfully belts out the blues, and, with lightning speed and hilarity, whips out a patter song, the Boston Herald hails her as, “Boston’s best singing actor.”

Halpern was last seen at the Ko Festival two summers ago as the Empress Josephine in the Pilgrim Theatre production of (N) Bonaparte. Earlier that season, she garnered riotous applause in the Ko Kabaret with her selections from Moon Over Dark Street, a Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill revue.

Special Additional Event

SUNDAY, August 8 – 10 (Fri & Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m..)

2/3 two short plays for three actors

ME AND BOBBY McGEE and LUGNUTS OF THE SOUL

Writteen by by PETER LOBDELL

Me and Bobby McGee:

In the first scene Bobby and McGee find themselves in a kind of limbo. They attempt to orient themselves, but the environment affects them in strange ways. In the second scene Me, an old woman in a wheel chair, speaks directly to the audience who learn that Bobby and McGee exist within her mind. For Bobby and McGee she might be God? For Me might they be memories, fantasies, or something more creative?

Lugnuts of the Soul:

An ordinary evening for Denise and Dave is interrupted by a telephone call. The telephone call segues into a visit by Angel. Angel claims to be Dave’s cousin, but there is something other worldly about her — including her ability to shift her personality into the other characters’ bodies.

CAST

The roles will be played by Bernard Bygott, Honora Talbott, and Teresa Spencer — all recent graduates of Amherst College.

2008 Workshops

THE ART OF COLLABORATION: devised theatre & ensemble practice

Temple Crocker and Barbara Lanciers

July 7 – 12

Discover the art of building an ensemble and utilizing the various interests and talents of a group to create original theater. This workshop explores the intimacies and intricacies of the collaborative process while engaging in various strategies for generating material for the stage. Theatre artists and educators Temple Crocker and Barbara Lanciers guide students through a unique actor training process allowing them to develop their own distinctive presence and style while engaging in the dynamics of ensemble performance.

The training – both highly physical and deeply contemplative – draws on the principles of various actor training methods and physical disciplines including Viewpoints, Suzuki, Yoga and The Alexander Technique. Throughout the week the group will create theatrical compositions utilizing elements provided and generated by the participants, including original and appropriated texts, songs and movement, objects and installations. The mornings will be devoted to ensemble training and the afternoons will be dedicated to the creation of theatrical compositions.

FINDING THE THEATRICAL SOUNDSCORE: with voice and non-traditional instruments

Katie Down

July 14 – 19

This workshop is open to theatre professionals and enthusiasts simply interested in our relationship to and with sound. The soundscore in a theatrical context can be as present as any character in a play or as a sonic support to the trajectory of the story. Sound comes from many different sources and how sound is created, manipulated and used in theatre will be explored through improvisational vocal and instrumental explorations as well as recording and mixing techniques. Sound walks will take place daily with the use of portable recording devices and open discussions about sound design, “sound-scapes” and composition will be fodder for collaborative creations and a final presentation at the end of the week.

PHYSICAL & EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES TO CLASSICAL TEXTS

Ellen Beckerman

July 21 – 26

Bridge the divide between language and physicality in this intensive, on-your-feet workshop, focusing on scenes from Macbeth. Learn the basics of the LightBox Approach, which integrates movement techniques from around the world, including Butoh, Suzuki, Viewpoints, and Commedia dell’Arte, into one unified approach to physical theatre-making. Each class begins with meditation and ensemble-building before moving into a rigorous exploration of Shakespeare’s classic play using experimental staging techniques. Explore character through Butoh movement. Discover character relationships and generate staging through physical improvisation. The LightBox Approach is applicable to any performance style, and can help directors and actors uncover the contemporary resonances in classic plays. The Approach teaches the art of collaboration, ensemble-building, and whole-body listening skills that are as important in life as they are in art-making. This course is open to all theatre artists, including actors, directors, writers, dramaturgs, designers, and technicians.

CREATING CABARET: styles, stories and songs

 Deletta Gillespie

July 28 – August 2

Many cabaret performers have backgrounds in music and singing, but lack equal training in the theatricality that goes into making a successful cabaret act. In this workshop, our work on the art and craft of cabaret performance will include work on developing a persona for performance, choosing music, singing, creating spoken material relating to the audience, and on structuring an act. We will work with a variety of performance styles, thinking about the optimal way to engage audiences and convey meaning. There will be opportunities to share work in an environment that is safe for risk-taking and for growth. This workshop is suitable for first-timers, as well as professionals who want a chance to either hone or shake-up their work.

FUNDAMENTALS OF PUPPET PERFORMANCE: performer, instrument & score

Robert Smythe

August 4 – 9

This class will use a variety of techniques and games to develop an awareness of the three fundamentals of puppet performance: the performer, the instrument and the score. The class will use LeCoq mime technique and other theatre exercises to develop performance skills; found objects to create hand-puppets and Japanese-style bunraku puppets for instruments; and simple improvisational exercises to open the exploration of developing works for puppets. Participants will work solo and in pairs and will learn how to create their own work through exercises designed to increase control of the elements of theatre.

2007 PERFORMANCES

a season devoted to “Stories of Illness and Healing”

 
FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 6 – 8

MATERMORPHOSIS

by Lenelle Moise, performed by Serious Play!

directed by Sheryl Stoodley, designed by Kathy Couch & Robin Doty

with Linda Putnam as Gregora/Mother

and Steve Bailey, Billy Girand, Jeannine Haas, Glenn Love, Alberto Peart, Alexis Reid

In this darkly ironic and comic adaptation of Kafka’s masterpiece of isolation and human cruelty “Metamorphosis,” award-winning, Hatian-American slam poet/playwright Lenelle Moise, reworks Kafka’s Gregor into Gregora, a critically ill, menopausal mother who has supported her family by working in the sex industry. By depicting her ”change of life” as her transformation into insect, the Serious Play Ensemble dissects the social constructs that compromise humanity, family bonds, and the loss of physical autonomy that occurs as we age and confront the possibility of illness and even death.

SUNDAY, July 15

PEACE

by Aristophanes, performed by the Mettawee River Company

under the direction of Ralph Lee

Our annual favorites with a contemporary adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedy PEACE that tells of a mortal who journeys on the back of a dung beetle to Mt Olympus to complain to the gods about the situation on earth, only to learn that the gods have fled, leaving War and Greed in charge and Peace buried under a trash heap. In the end, Peace is rescued and an extended celebration begins. This all-ages event is performed outdoors with live music, masks and giant puppets.

Performed on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and insect repellant, but leave the dogs at home!

The production will be ASL Interpreted by Joan Wattman.

FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 20 – 22

THE MAMMY PROJECT

created and performed by Michelle Matlock

co-developed with Joan Evans, directed by Amy Gordon, lighting by Sabrina Hamilton

Writer/performer Michelle Matlock uses original music, storytelling, multimedia documentary materials and her considerable comedic skills to explore the influence that the “Mammy” icon has had on contemporary American culture by re-imagining the cultural traditions from which the image was born — slavery, minstrelsy and advertising. The piece unpacks the little-known history of Nancy Green, the first African-American woman hired to play the part of “Aunt Jemima’ at the 1893 World’s Fair, and in so doing transforms an oppressive stereotype of African-American womanhood into a celebration of the power to be gained from knowing and understanding history

 
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 27 – 29 at 8 p.m.

O YES I WILL (I will remember the spirit and texture of this conversation)

written and performed by Deb Margolin

direction and dramaturgy by Merri Milwe, lighting by Sabrina Hamilton

How much do we say when we speak? Yet what if we speak truth and aren’t there to hear it? In OBIE Award-winning playwright/performer Deb Margolin’s new piece a woman is amazed to learn that just prior to going under for surgery, she talked, talked and talked for 12 straight minutes without stopping! This unmediated aria performed before a bunch of men in scrubs with knives was known to them but unknown to her. Was it love she talked about? Politics? Sex? Conspiracy theory? Evasion? Ontology? Requests for a ménage à trois, quatre or cinq? What kinds of things do you say when your body and mind are engaged but not married? This comic tour-de-force for one actor is a kind of Scherezade for the surgery-bound, and offers five radically different possibilities of what she might have said outside the realm of conscious volition. In doing so, she explores the essential nature of language itself, the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity, what it means to live in a woman’s body, and the role of theatre and imagination in our lives. Diagnosed with lymphoma ten years ago, Margolin has processing it, as with every significant event in her life, by writing and creating performance. In her work, the personal is always both the political and the poetic.

SUMMER WORKSHOPS 2007

BEYOND THE BARS: making theatre with incarcerated people and the recently released

July 2 – 7

with Julie Lichtenberg

Learn the unique process the Performance Project has developed over the past 12 years in its work inside and outside of prison settings that gives voice to identity and culture as it catalyses and supports change and transformation through self-reflection and the creation of artistically compelling work. The workshop will particularly address the role of the “outside” artist in the creation of performances that are opportunities for dialogue and relationship between performers and audience.

The Performance Project focus is on giving voice to identity and culture through self-reflection, catalyzing and supporting change and transformation, building a strong relationship among group members, and creating artistically strong work. Our workshops establish a creative and personal space within a jail or workshop setting. The Performance Project model of developing artistic work has five phases. 1) a workshop; 2) project development; 3) rehearsals; 4) production and performances; and, 5) evaluation.

The exercises will invoke a spirit of playfulness, creativity, and collaboration, and explore improvisational structures in theater and movement. Techniques for script development processes will include storytelling and writing exercises designed to give voice to identity and culture will be explored as well as exercises that the students invent themselves.

THEATRICAL CLOWN

July 9 – 14

with Julie Nelson

The exploration of Theatrical Clown plays a vital role in actor training. In this workshop, actors will enter the world of clown and get to know its topography. For example, adventurous physicality is a way of life here. Words are used sparsely and never squandered. The impulse bypasses the brain and gets right to work in the body. The presence of the performer is heightened by the immediate connection and volatile relationship between clown and audience.

Through a progression of exercises and structured improvisations, the actor will recognize and develop his/her nascent clown character. In the process, s/he will uncover and highlight habits and foibles that, until now, s/he wanted to ignore, hide or banish. They turn out to be crucial and delightful building blocks for the clown.

As with any theater ensemble, good will and a collaborative spirit are essential in creating an atmosphere in which all can take big risks.

BREATH, VOICE AND THE PERFORMATIVE SELF: from inner experience to outer expression

July 16 – 21

with Leeny Sack, Laurie McCants

A single cycle of breath and you’ve already been in relation: impressed through the inbreath, expressed through the outbreath. And you’ve shared air.

“Hmmm”, you might say, and you’ve also, perhaps unknowingly, just toned ancient sacred sounds, and voiced a sound you’ve seen in comic books. Hmmm …

A voice is like a fingerprint. Unique. Identifiable. Only yours.

It is vibratory imprint. It is a form of touch. “Speech,” says Dr. Oliver Sacks, “consists of UTTERANCE – an uttering forth of one’s whole meaning with one’s whole being”.

If you said, “hmmm” aloud, did you “utter” it? What did you mean by it? Was it loud? Barely audible? A single pitch? Several? Was there wonder in your voice? Disdain? Was there a frog in your throat, or a family member, whose voice seemed to come through you? Did you feel the sound in your body? Did you “utter” it?

This series combines guided, experiential practices for expanding internal awareness with exercises for reeducating and unifying the body/mind through breath and sound.

Elements of the following will be included:

• breath awareness
• breath, voice and the diaphragm
• vowels and subtle energy centers (chakras)
• consonants as frame and punctuation
• embodying communication
• softening psychophysical constraints
• working with self-consciousness and fear
• working with evocative and provocative texts
• simple presence

Open to students of all levels.

SOLO PERFORMANCE

July 23 – 28

with Michelle Matlock

This workshop will focus on how to develop and perform a solo show. Starting with what motivates you!

Through theater games for the solo actor we will explore the “right now” and “doing, not thinking.” Clown techniques will be introduced to uncover the unique, connected and visible performer. We will then move into building your character/characters from a physical point of view. Storytelling will figure heavily in the work as you begin to discover and structure your own solo performance material.

Participants are asked to please come in with an idea. It can be anything, a poem, a prop, a gesture, a monologue, a word. Anything.

CREATING STAGE TEXTS FOR OUR TIMES

July 30 – August 4

with Ruth Margraff

How does the play you are writing (or want to write) measure up against the world right now? How can we write beyond America’s own backyards? Is there a way to write your story from a more world-driven centrifuge? How can we write more colossal characters? What are the politics of empathy and travel? In our highly intuitive laboratory, we’ll do writing exercises designed to get your play in motion, expand the horizon of your stage and to stir up interdisciplinary passions.

Open to writers and would-be writers from all genres of playwriting, screenwriting, fiction, music-theater, poetry, solo performance, etc.

PERFORMANCES 2006

Ko celebrates its 15th Anniversary
by bringing back  artists from the first 14 years, to show their latest work

VALENTYNE AND ORSON

FRIDAY, July 14 at 8 p.m.

Ralph Lee’s Mettawee River Company of New York

A visit from our annual favorites with their new production which is based on a sprawling medieval French folk tale. This show will incorporate live music and a variety of masks, large and small puppets and other strong visual elements, in a response to the pageantry of court, castles and dark forests conjured up in the medieval imagination. Ralph Lee will designs and directs, with costumes by Casey Compton.

An all-ages event, outdoors on the Amherst College Observatory Lawn off of Snell Street. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and insect repel

The production will be ASL Interpreted by Joan Wattman.

Special Anniversary Gala: THE KO KABARET

SATURDAY, JULY 15 at 8 p.m.

In an echo of The Ko Show that closed our first season 15 years ago, the Ko Festival welcomes back a surprise roster of artists from the first fourteen years in a special anniversary gala cabaret, performed in a stunning environment designed by members of Boston’s TENT Collective.

HOUSE/BOY

SUNDAY, JULY 16 at 8 p.m.

Conceived and performed by Nicky Paraiso of NYC

Directed by Ralph Peña, Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater of NYC

Direct from La MaMa in NYC and Mexico City’s International Cabaret Festival, Nicky Paraiso’s third autobiographical evening-length solo work (ASIAN BOYS appeared in the 1994 Ko Festival) dealing with identity, sexuality and the enduring theme of what “home” means to Filipino Americans.

N (Bonaparte)

FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 21-23 at 8 p.m.

By Laura Harrington of Cambridge, MA

Performed by Pilgrim Theatre of Ashfield, MA

Exiled to an island on the edge of nowhere. Plagued by Rats. Haunted by Joan of Arc. Seduced by fame. One small politician prepares to conquer the world.

A contemporary theatrical confrontation with our lust for power, with Ko Festival favorite, Kermit Dunkelberg, as the Little Emperor.

The performance on Sunday, 7/23 will be ASL interpreted by Joan Wattman.

VERONICA’S FOLD: Take 1

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 28 – 30 at 8 p.m.

by Wendy Woodson of Amherst, MA and Present Company

Wendy Woodson & Present Company Inc. brings its innovative and provocative multi-media work to the Ko Festival in an evening of new and recent work. Featured in the program is Veronica’s Fold: Take 1 a video and performance piece featuring 5 characters lost and found in an off kilter world of missed connections, disputed recollections and unexpected acts of compassion. Joining Woodson are New York and Western Mass artists Peter Schmitz, Marina Libel, Lisa Biggs, Candice Salyers and James Emery. Kathy Couch is set and lighting designer.

A COMIC STRIP

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, AUGUST 4-6 at 8 p.m.

Touchstone Theatre of Bethlehem, PA

Directed by Daniel Stein of the Dell’Arte Company of Blue Lake, CA

In Touchstone’s brand-new, dark and funny work, the life of a seasoned, successful, and world famous comic-strip artist begins to violently unravel. How can art possibly inspire change in a world so filled with very real suffering? He almost gives up, until his favorite comic strip characters manifest before his eyes and lead him on a life-changing journey.

WARNING: Viewer Discretion Advised! This piece contains adult themes, graphic language, strong sexual content, the devil himself, and a healthy dose of broccoli! Think Looney Tunes meets David Lynch. So keep the kids with a babysitter.

SUMMER WORKSHOPS 2006

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING: Designing from Non-Traditional and Found Materials

July 10-15

with Justin Townsend and Shannon Scrofano

Theatre can develop from visual, as well as from textual or performative beginnings. Learn to develop a vocabulary for making visually striking theatre that combines materials, performers, and actions. Create work using an “inside out” approach that links image and action from its inception. In this work, the economy of means that is often necessary from a budget point of view becomes a liberating factor. Using inexpensive, non-traditional and found materials, the workshop will culminate with an actual design and installation for a live performance – the Ko Festival’s 15th Anniversary Gala: THE KO KABARET. Open to all theater makers.

RE-IMAGINING OUTREACH: Community Engagement Programming

July 17-19

with Michael Rohd

Sojourn Theatre’s Michael Rohd, author of Theatre for Community Conflict and Dialogue: The Hope Is Vital Training Manual, offers a three-day workshop mixing case studies of best practices with active exploration of values, goals, and strategies for looking at theater and civic engagement. How do healthy partnerships and collaborations develop? What’s the difference between audience development and civic engagement? What types of processes support and nurture ethical, mutually beneficial projects that reach beyond your walls and intersect with populations that may not traditionally be served by your programming? The work will focus on project planning, partner-building, and arts-based civic dialogue practice.

DISCOUNT AVAILABLE FOR TCG & NET MEMBER THEATRES!

ACTOR ON THE ROAD: Encountering the Legacy of Grotowski’s Polish Theatre Lab

July 24-29

with Kim Mancuso & Kermit Dunkelberg of Pilgrim Theatre

A six-day intensive, practical workshop for performers, directors and other theatre makers. Open to all levels of experience.

Explore Pilgrim Theatre’s unique approach to performance creation developed through years of work with members of the Polish Laboratory Theatre, (Zbigniew Cynkutis, Zygmunt Molik, Rena Mirecka, Jerzy Grotowski) and others on the continuum of experimental theatre practice. Work will include physical training (presence, impulse, expressivity); vocal training, resonators, group sound, approaching text as partner); and generating provocative performance material.

You, the actor, are the source. We will utilize body, voice, imagination, experience, sense memory and association to seek new forms of creative expression and go beyond our perceived limits. The process will culminate in a brief final presentation.

MASK PLAY: A Lecoq Intensive

July 31-August 5

with Jennie Gilrain, E’cole Lecoq Graduate/Touchstone Ensemble Associate & Mark McKenna, E’cole Lecoq Graduate/Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre

“Whatever its dramatic style, all theatre profits from the experience an actor gains through mask performance” –Jaques Lecoq

A six day, Lecoq-based intensive on discovering the levels and structures of mask play. A mask demands that the actor support it, fill it, be led by it. Pre-conceived ideas will not play. Working with a variety of masks and styles, participants will hone performance skills such as presence, sensory awareness, spontaneity, clarity of gesture, and the ability to motivate, full-bodied physical action. This journey into mask play will also address mask-making and each student will leave the workshop with an individual maquette – a base for customized masks. This rigorous master class is meant for the experienced actor but also suitable for any serious student who wishes to explore his or her expressive and creative ability.