Editor

Parties

Berkshire Playwrights Lab's Annual Celebration of New Works

Bess Hochstein reports from Great Barrington.Berkshire Playwrights Lab mixed things up a bit at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, June 9 during the kick-off to its fifth season; the traditional evening program of new works went multimedia. In place of the expected, gently self-mocking opening number by founders

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Community

Let The Good Times Roll, With Two Types of Horsepower

There are two ways to think about vehicles: as purely functional modes of transportation, or as beautiful, even sensual, means of conveyance that get you from here to there in style. Lucky are those who adhere to the latter sentiment, as this weekend they can enjoy two neighboring events that

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Parties

Illustration Celebrations in Hillsdale and Stockbridge

On Friday, June 8, the opening reception of an exhibit at the Roeliff-Jansen Community Library in Hillsdale of the work of Ancram resident R.O Blechman, animator, illustrator, children's book author, and New Yorker cartoonist, drew a crowd rife with admiring fellow artists and illustrators.  The show,

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Community

Mount Lebanon HerbFest Unveils the Secrets of Shaker Swamp

From the Native Americans to the Shakers, from the Tilden Pharmaceutical Company (1824–1960) to today’s alternative-healing practitioners and locavore chefs, the residents of New Lebanon, NY, have benefited for centuries from the town’s greatest natural resource: herbs. "Austerlitz has blueberries, West Stockbridge has zucchinis, and

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Parties

Local Artists in the Spotlight During 7th Annual BIFF

Bess Hochstein reports from Great Barrington.Two locally based, internationally acclaimed artists were the focus of two nights of screenings and celebrations during the Berkshire International Film Festival, and both artists made rare personal appearances to engage with those who had just been given a behind-the-scenes glimpse at

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Parties

Close Encounters With Music's 20th Season Roars to a Close

Fiona Breslin reports from Lenox. Close Encounters With Music closed its 20th season on Saturday, June 2, with a performance at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall called The Roaring Twenties: Berlin, Paris, and New York. This theme carried over into the evening as CEWM supporters gathered at the Gateways Inn

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Food

AgriCulture: Peaceable Kingdom

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week, Mark writes: We’re coming into summer’s longest days. In the early evening twilight, I sit alone in a state of blissful exhaustion on the screened porch, quietly enjoying a dinner

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Arts

Art Review: Canadian Club

David Harper's sculpture of a wild boar, "Finding Yourse," is constructed of fine porcelain and covered in soft cowhide at MASS MoCA's vast exhibition,Oh, Canada. Anyone who needs visible proof of the socio-psychological benefits of a free universal health-care system should

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Style

Garden View: Peonies, The Party Girls of Springtime

Liza Gyllenhaal is the author of the novels “Local Knowledge,” “So Near,” and the forthcoming “A Place for Us,” all set in the Rural Intelligence region. She and her husband divide their time between Manhattan and West Stockbridge, MA where she writes — and putters around in her garden. We’re

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Food

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar and Mint

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas at the Great Barrington Farmers’ Market. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural

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Arts

Aston Magna At 40: Still Going for Baroque

As Aston Magna, the summer music festival he founded in Great Barrington, readies for its 40th season, Lee Elman seems as if he were born to the role of Berkshires cultural patriarch. His parents Barney and Mildred were early supporters of Tanglewood, making weekend visits from Westchester County and contributing

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Parties

From Garden Party to Ferrari Party, As Day Turns to Night

Tara Kelly reports from Falls Village and Lime Rock.This quiet corner of Connecticut was humming on Saturday, June 2, with two prominent back-to-back fundraising parties, and a few enthusiastic souls with stamina managed to attend both. An afternoon concert at Music Mountain followed by a garden party

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