2022 Season
sally howland2023-03-27T14:42:42-04:00From Artistic Director, Sabrina Hamilton
KOFEST’S 2021 HYBRID SEASON TO CENTER
JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The Ko Festival of Performance’s 30th season will feature two different productions centering the themes of Justice, Environmental Safety and Climate Change, With Amherst College’s COVID-driven cancellation of all outside summer programs, the Ko Festival will be presenting our shows online, and our collaboration with Serious Play Ensemble Theatre will also have an option for live attendance.
PERFORMANCES

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
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2022 WORKSHOPS

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
2021 Season
sally howland2023-03-24T16:01:45-04:00From Artistic Director, Sabrina Hamilton
KOFEST’S 2021 HYBRID SEASON TO CENTER
JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The Ko Festival of Performance’s 30th season will feature two different productions centering the themes of Justice, Environmental Safety and Climate Change, With Amherst College’s COVID-driven cancellation of all outside summer programs, the Ko Festival will be presenting our shows online, and our collaboration with Serious Play Ensemble Theatre will also have an option for live attendance.
PERFORMANCES

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 GoneRead More
2021 WORKSHOPS

TRANSFORMING YOUR WRITING BY RESTING YOUR MIND
A meditation and writing workshop with JUANITA ROCKWELL
MAY 15-16 & OR JULY 10-11.
Whether we write for our own pleasure or for others, to be read on the page or to be spoken aloud, we want our writing to reflect our experience of the world. But our habitual thinking and the ways we tell these stories become a kind of spell of doing, of busy-ness; a spell that binds us, separates us from others, and limits our authentic expression. If we release this imprint of Doing, what might happen if we can rest in the stillness, silence and spaciousness of our Being? In this two-day, small group workshop, you will learn practices that will ...Read More

TRANSFORMING YOUR WRITING BY CLEARING YOUR MIND (level 2)
A meditation and writing workshop with JUANITA ROCKWELL
JULY 17-18
A spacious and lively restfulness can be more elusive than we might think. In this workshop we will explore practices that work with breath and body to refresh and clear obstacles of aversion, attachment and confusion. These energetic practices can facilitate a more open and aware resting of your mind in stillness, silence and spaciousness. They can also stimulate memory, imagery and imagination that can enrich our writing and our lives. The first day of this small group workshop focuses on ...Read More