In a normal season the Hancock Shaker Village, which was founded sixty years ago near Pittsfield, is open from April through December. With spring planting and the birth of livestock this is a busy time of year. The annual Baby Animals Festival draws some 20% of annual visitation and 15% of earned revenue. We spoke with director Jennifer Trainer Thompson about strategies to function during the pandemic.

The 2020 Bang on a Can Marathon will feature more than 40 participating artists, over two dozen solo performances, and four world premieres of newly commissioned works by Dai Wei, Shara Nova, Molly Joyce, and Ken Thomson. Guest composers will be online to introduce their works. The 6-hour live Marathon will be hosted by Bang on a Can Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe.

The tree grows. It does not try to; it just does. This is our life, and the purpose of it is to live. In this moment, and the next. It’s okay once in a while to sit on the Old Bastard’s bench, and catch our breath. But life does not stop, and we must continue to live it.

The status of the Italian poet, essayist and gallerist, Mario Diacono, is legendary. To be with his wife Claudette, a native of Lynn, Mass, he moved to Boston and opened a gallery in 1985. He was renowned for showing a single work for which he wrote scholarly essays. Then relatively affordable he made few Boston sales of the now renowned artists he exhibited. The Museum of Fine Arts bought a Ross Bleckner painting and appropriation by Sherrie Levine. Most of the work was acquired by the Italian collector Achille Maramotti. Today Diacono is a curator for Collezione Maramotti.

Out of precaution for actors, creative teams, staff and audiences, Barrington Stage Company will employ best safety practices, including reducing the 520-seat Mainstage to one third of its capacity; increasing the distance between rows and seats; and deep cleaning the theatre after every performance, among other measures. Patrons will be required to wear masks until further notice.

Bard continues to stream treasured past events from its website. If you missed a production, or conversation, now is your chance to catch up. This week, Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss is offered.

While Emerson College in Boston is closed the The Media Gallery may be viewed on line.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the ongoing uncertainty around the COVID-19 health crisis and the lack of clarity regarding the duration of the pandemic

Showtime recently screened the intriguing 2018 movie “Mary Magdalene”, written by Helen Edmundson and Phillipa Goslett, directed by Garth Davis. This provocative, revisionist, version (with undertones of the current worldwide feminism movement) gives one the opportunity to think outside the accepted “biblical box” concerning the role of women in history both religiously and socially.

Los Angeles-based No Pants Theatre Company is one of several founded as a response to the pandemic. The company, as of now, produces only live-streamed productions. Up next for No Pants Theatre Company is a college and university short play festival.

The Williamstown based artist, poet, musician and philosophe, Jane Hudon, launches a new feature for Berkhire Fine Arts. During this time of isolation we invte you to share what's cooking.

We are all connected; we are one. One plus one is one. There is even a word for this. That word is love. As difficult as it may be sometimes, it is nonetheless the answer.

An artist neighbor, Linda Obrien, of the Eclipse Mill in North Adams is an amazing home chef. Food for her is a passion. We have been fortunate to share meals with her and Opie.

When life serves you lemons, make lemonade.

Our Eclipse neighbors Michael Bedford and Sarah Sutro spent many years living and working in Asia. Here he concocts a handy snack that will freeze well.

Chicago critic and fellow ATCA member is taking a forced leave from covering theatre. She walks us through her Eggplant Parm.

Phil and Maria spent several months in Spain before the pandemic hit. They share what was a typical Spanish breakfast. Served cold it is also a familar tapas item in bars,

Sydney who lives Down Maine is cursed by shellfish allergy, She still craves lobster in summer with friends. All that it's cracked up to be but for now no longer possible.

Shaker Museum, Mount Lebanon invites the public to participate in a community engagement project, “Call for Art: In Union, Remotely,” with artwork which may be submitted in a variety of mediums.

When life gets bitter-sweet Pip opts for the sweet. It's rhubarb time in Norwood Heights. She tried this for this last night and reports that it was a hit.

It was summer of 1954 when I scoured downtown Gloucster to cop a copy of "Rock Around the Clock." A couple of years later Little Richard busted out with "Tutti Frutti." There has never been anyone like him before or since. He died this week at 87.

One might say that the New York critic best known as Fast Eddy is a tad eccentric. When he came to visit in the Berkshires he sent a long list of ingredients. He came with a friend and invited two more from Connecticut. We were relegated to cleanup. For dessert he baked rum cake. The recipe is found here. It was indeed divine and we became friends with his friends. Typical of Fast the formatting here is as topsy turvy as it was sent.

'How about Hungarian Goulash?' - he asked: 'Yes, that's a very good idea!' Hungarian Goulash is a German National dish and, of course, in Eastern European countries* as well. I grew up eating 'Ungarisches Gulasch' with boiled potatoes and green beans, perhaps, or another vegetable and a side salad. (Was it really first prepared in Hungary and when? Just as the Hamburger was coined by Americans. 'I am a Hamburger,' my cousin told an American. 'You are eating burgers!')

The Mount the home of Edit Wharton in the Berkshires announces a schedule of free programs. It is requires registration at EdithWharton.org.

Here is a foolproof recipe from may old running buddy. We served it to friends and it's now a go to dinner for my BFF. The key is to lay in s stash of tarragon my any means necessary.