The Advocate

Larry Kramer died recently at age 84. The activist and playwright tried to bring attention to the AIDS crisis after perceiving indifference among government officials and others. Kramer penned a largely autobiographical play, The Normal Heart. The late, fiery Kramer also founded the Gay Man's Health Crisis. It was the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy.

If there were one word to characterize this year’s selection of possible documentary Oscar nominees, it would have to be nihilism. In its preliminary round of voting, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected 15 films of the 170 submissions for Best Documentary Academy Award, many produced by Amazon Studios, Netflix, HBO, et al.

On October 12 at 3 PM there will be a performance by the Dover String Quartet of new works by Berkshire based composer Stephen Dankner. It was originally scheduled for the Clark but because of construction issues has been moved to Williams College and the Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, 54 Chapin Hall Drive, Williamstown. We met for lunch to dicuss this and other premieres scheduled through March.

You can be an avid concertgoer and never once hear a string quartet or a symphony by such as Arnold Bax, Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, Vincent Persichetti, Vittorio Rieti, Peter Mennin or Ernst Toch; the piano sonatas of Dussek, Clementi or Griffes; the piano concertos of Hummel, Field, Tippett, Malipiero, Palmgren, Busoni or Lutoslawski.

Given negative trends in media it comes as no surprise that The North Adams Transcript will merge with the Berkshire Eagle as of January 20. The weekly Adovcate, which has been in freefall for the past few years, will cease publication. As a part of the transition the Eagle will exand its weekly arts tabloid insert from summer to year round. Given the importance of the economy based on cultural tourism, and coverage of issues and politics in the still depressed Northern Berkshire County, despite attempts at positive spin this is really bad news.

The world premiere of Myra Slotnick’s new play, The Weight of Water, opened at the Provincetown Theatre on October 6th, 2011. In November of 2012, the entire original cast appeared in a staged reading of the play at The Abingdon Theatre in NY. The upcoming New York production features the original cast and creative team from The Provincetown Theater production.

For the past twenty years photojournalist Gillian Jones has covered the Berkshires as a staff member of the North Adams Transcript. Her images have also appeared in the Berkshire Eagle and other publications. A survey of her work opens at Gallery 51 in North Adams on May 27 and remains on view through June 24.

Berkshire theatre critic reviews for the weekly paper The Advocate. He also posts overnight for his on line site Berkshire Bright Focus. His reviews are also syndicated nationally. He started covering Broadway at the age of fourteen and now in his 60s had been doing it ever since.

Writing reviews of some dozen theatre companies within a two hour radius of her home in Williamstown is just one aspect of Gail Burns. Since 1997 her site GailSez has become an invaluable documentary resource of theatre in the region. This is part two of a critical discourse.

Few Berkshire based critics see more theatre than Williamstown based Gail Burns. She is know for feisty, passionate over the top reviews. Her on line site GailSez includes not only her own reviews but compiles lists and links to all of the other critics in the region. She also posts press releases and casting calls. It is a massive archive reaching back to 1997. This is the first segment of an extensive dialogue.

There is no question that the first season of artistic director Jenny Gersten has done well at the box office. In a release WTF announces that its sales for August are double what they were in August last year. Overall they are stating attendance at some 44,000. According to the wildly uneven reviews, however, Williamstown Theatre Company has slipped from its once dominant position among the four major Berkshire theatre companies.

Increasingly the marketing and pr strategy of theatre companies has turned to social networking sources like Facebook and Twitter to drown out the negative reviews of established print and on line critics. Today Williamstown Theatre Festival sent out an e mail blast with raves from unattributed sources. The majority of Berkshire theatre critics were less than thrilled by the world premiere of Touch(ed) by Bess Wohl. But, hey, who cares what critics think?

In this final installment of their dialogue Murray and Giuliano discuss cutting edge theatre which is a mainstay of America Repertory Theatre in Cambridge. And why there is nothing like that in the Berkshires. Murray defines an approach as providing information to readers to help in making informed choices. With so much being offered this summer it is less about competition and more about a critical mass of superb theatre.

Interviews provide access to the primary source. There is much to be learned through dialogues with actors and directors. But it also entails a conflict of interest and concerns when we have to write about their work. Does that entail softening the blow when we don't respond to a production? This installment of an extensive dialogue explores the tricky business of honestly informing the reader. It is the reason why some critics refuse to conduct interviews.

For most of us right now its jingle bells. With the announcement of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule this week, however, Berkshire arts organizations are hard at work planning a fast launch to the season on the Fourth of July. But, like Abbott and Costello, come summer, let's hope they aren't wondering about "who's on first." There is desperate need for branding, pooled resources, and a marketing strategy for the Berkshires.

For an opportunity to see the new generation of theatre at its best check out "Speech & Deliver" which is having its premiere at Lyric Stage in Boston. The very young Stephen Karam has written an awesomely hilarious play.

This exhibition presents the work of eight artists who are dead serious about the issues they deal with but with an enormous sense of humor. With this project it is quite alright to have a few laughs.

A perfect storm of cool, rainy weather, $4 a gallon gas, and a lousy economy caused the coining of a new term "Staycation" during the summer of 2008. While clearly an off year Berkshire arts and tourism held their own largely through its range of world class offerings.

If all goes according to plan in April gallerist Ralph Brill will light up a section of the Hoosic River between the Eclipse Mill and Mass MoCA in North Adams. He is involved in the development of a World War II Museum that would become the Northern Berkshires' "Fourth Museum."

Gillian Jones is the chief photographer for the daily North Adams Transcript. Her photographs are presently on display at Papyri Books on Eagle Street in North Adams through the end of February.

Now in its third year the North Adams Open Studios has grown to include twenty three venues and nearly a hundred individual artists.

In the formerly busy downtown business district of Adams, Mass. a new gallery GreylockArts has opened with an emphasis on new media and alternative uses of energy.