Arts & Humanities Curators Speak at Next Stage Arts in March and April

Next Stage Arts announces the return of the NXT Curators Series, offering an opportunity for audiences to hear from curators in various arts/humanities fields. The intent is to shine a light on less known styles and genres, providing a behind-the-scenes look at what curators need to consider when working with their medium.

“Three curators, all speaking on a different facet of what it means to present, collect, and preserve various objects, will be a part of our yearly Curator Series,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “The series highlights a diverse lineup of topics – Art Deco, the environmental movement, and a historian committed to preserving music recorded on shellac. The range of topics gives the audiences a broad range of perspectives to consider.”


Guilford Center Stage 2024 Season

Guilford Center Stage will again this year be staging two productions, in the spring and fall of 2024, at Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford. These will be the 12th and 13th shows since the group was founded in 2015, and both feature the work of Vermont playwrights.

On the first weekend in May, Hardwick, Vt. playwright Marc Considine’s “Love Lost Diaries” will be staged, directed by Julie Holland of Guilford. Considine is a science teacher at Hazen Union School in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. He is coach of the school’s ambitious Drama Club. It was for his student actors that Marc Considine wrote this play, which was the ensemble’s entry in a regional drama festival in the late 1980’s.


Greg Worden on “Here We Are”

Greg Worden is a mainstay of downtown Brattleboro, bringing beauty and ingenuity through art and crafts at Vermont Artisan Designs. A tireless advocate for Brattleboro, Greg serves the community with heart, insight and experience.


Willow O’Feral on “Here We Are”

A most delightful and fascinating show with filmmaker Willow O’Feral. An award winning documentary filmmaker, Willow’s films focus on social justice and human interest. Co-founder of Haptic Pictures she leads with finely tuned cinematic skills and curiosity – her approach is “fiercely heart-forward”. Her film “Break the Silence” features local Brattleboro women.


A Haunting Show at Guilford Center Stage

Guilford Center Stage’s first autumn production in four years brings Haunts of the Season to the stage at Broad Brook Community Center on October 20-22. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2:00 pm. The production is helmed by local playwright/director Michael Nethercott with a cast of sixteen. The show is a combination of original plays by Nethercott and a bevy of creepy classics.

Included are monologues, songs, and poems by Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson and others. Robert Frost’s poem/play “The Witch of Coos” is among the offerings. Also featured are several works by Nethercott himself, with influences by Vermont legends, ghost lore, and The Twilight Zone.

The veteran cast includes (in alphabetical order) Cyndi Cain Fitzgerald, Richard Epstein, Jennifer Gagnon, Jenny Holan, Archer Holland, Julie Holland, Cassandra Holloway, Joel Kaemmerlen, Cassidy Majer, Stewart McDermet, Aaron Morse, Hunter Savage, Marvin Shedd, Carolyn Taylor-Olson, and Bob Tucker. Nethercott acts as host. Stage Manager for this production is Sue Shedd, with tech work by Maria Pugnetti. Don McLean is producer.


“Here We Are” with Sandy Rouse

Brattleboro Literary Festival is coming soon!
Over the last 25 years, Sandy has been a community builder and advocate – she founded the Brattleboro Literary Festival in 2002 and talks about how it’s become one of the top ten LitFests in the Northeast. And this year’s is Oct. 13-15.


Wyn Cooper on “Here We Are”

One of our finest poets, WYN COOPER has had some remarkable serendipity over the years (Joni, Madonna, Sheryl), and written some wondrous poems and lyrics that he creates by sound – harmonies of depth, irony and pure pleasure.


Nye Ffarrabas on “Here We Are”

An artist, writer and poet, NYE FARRABAS’s experiential art is in many collections including MoMA, The Getty, the Walker Art Center AND at CX Silver Gallery here in W. Brattleboro.

In the early 60’s she and her FLUXUS cohort – including Yoko Ono, Geoffrey Hendricks and John Cage – created a new wave of art way outside the box, and the first “Happenings” in NYC.


NXT Gallery Presents an Exhibit of Works by Vermont Center for Photography Artists

This small group exhibit, entitled “Four Perspectives,” represents the work of Al Karevy, Davida Carta, Joshua Farr, & Vaune Trachtman, four different local artists who are members of the Vermont Center for Photography in downtown Brattleboro. Each of these artists create photographic work covering a diverse range of style and subject matter, though are unified via a shared passion for the photographic arts and its many expressive possibilities. Each of the four artists will be displaying a small selection from a body of work, giving a greater context to their creative vision and process.


Guilford Brass Band Concert Postponed

Christ Church Society sadly announces that the Celebration Brass Band concert scheduled for Sunday has been postponed due to a particularly wet weather forecast (even by the standards of the past week!)

Even Gov. Scott has proclaimed Sunday a miserable weather day.


Jamie Mohr on “Here We Are”

“Rewarding the Curious” is what Epsilon Spires is all about – and Jamie Mohr is finding ways to bring the arts and science together in ways we never imagined……Tune in to hear about some of her adventures!


Eowyn Jakub on “Here We Are”

Eowyn loves Circus! Since age 5, Eowyn has been on the ropes…..and the tramp and the silks and more. Now 13, she looks forward to every session and performance with NECCA (New England Center for the Circus Arts).


Bearing Witness, a Retrospective by Artist Karen Becker

Bearing Witness, a retrospective exhibit of watercolors, pastels, and prints, by Brattleboro artist Karen Becker, is currently on view at the All Souls Church in the West Village Meeting House., through June 30. Becker’s artwork focuses on the beauty she finds in nature, and she represents the animals and trees that are all bearing witness to the devastation of climate change.

The public is invited to an artist’s reception on Saturday, June 10, from 3 – 5 pm. All Souls Church is located at 29 South St, West Brattleboro. The exhibit is open Sundays, 12 – 2 pm, or by appointment (802-257-4710).


Gordon Hayward on “Here We Are”

A premiere garden designer, Gordon’s books and writings on horticulture illuminate and inspire, while his own gardens, which he’s created with his wife Mary, are jewels of elegant beauty and delight.


“Our Town” in Guilford Next Weekend

Guilford Center Stage will perform Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town, at the Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford onFriday and Saturday, May 5 & 6, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, May 7 at 2:00 pm. Ian Hefele directs a cast from the tri-state region.

A theatrical groundbreaker when it debuted in 1938, Our Town was written at the nearby MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH, and the town of Grover’s Corners in the play is based upon that locale.

Among the innovative features of the play is Wilder’s use of a central character, the Stage Manager, who communicates directly to the audience, and both moves the action along and interrupts it with commentary. Jennifer Gagnon plays this pivotal role.


Chard deNiord on “Here We Are”

Celebrating Poetry Month in conversation with our former Vermont Poet Laureate. CHARD deNIORD shares some great stories, and talks about how poetry is the constant thread, inspiring his life.


Acclaimed Solo-Performance Artist Sara Juli to Bring New Work to Next Stage Arts

Next Stage Arts is excited to welcome Sara Juli, a celebrated solo-performance artist, for a three-day artist-in-residence program. During her residency, Juli will develop her latest work, “Naughty,” a piece commissioned by the Strand Theatre in Rockland, ME.

The residency will culminate in two free lecture/demonstration showings on April 29th, at 11:00am and 2:00pm. This showing of the piece in development will include an audience discussion with the artist on process, feedback, and dialogue.

“Naughty” is a performance piece that explores the impacts of trauma on the brain stemming from sexual assault as a child. Interweaving regressed thinking with a conflicted inner voice, coupled with finding the humor in the tragic, the work breaks down victimhood to ultimately reclaim the mind.