Berkshire Theatre Group, one of the foundations of quality theater in Western Massachusetts, has partnered with the ambitious upstart, WAM Theatre to produce the American premiere of the Canadian play, Kate Cayley’s The Bakelite Masterpiece at Berkshire Theatre Group’s intimate Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. It’s a partnership of note.

David Adkins and Corinna May in The Bakelite Masterpiece | Photo by Emma Rothenberg-Ware

WAM, under the leadership of Kristen van Ginhoven, calls itself “Theater for everyone that benefits women and girls”. It’s known for employing women as playwrights, directors, actors, and production people. It donates a percentage of its box-office proceeds to non-profits that provide programs and services to women and girls.

Van Ginhoven, Canadian-born director, is bringing one of the best representatives of contemporary Canadian theater to the Berkshires. The subject matter of The Bakelite Masterpiece, set in Holland, resonates with Van Ginhoven, since her family survived World War II in The Netherlands.

In this taut 90-minute drama, punctuated by solid writing, thoughtful staging, and two outstanding performances by David Adkins as an artist and Corinna May as an investigator working to repatriate Holland’s art masterpieces which had been looted by the Nazis, there is a fascinating story told to perfection. At the close of World War II, an artist is about to be prosecuted–and ultimately executed for selling a priceless Vermeer to a Nazi officer. The investigator, an art student, may have witnessed the sale, but the artist claimed that he’d copied Vermeer and created a fraud. She basically says “If you did, recreate another Vermeer that can’t be told apart from an original.” Kate Cayley’s play combines strong characters with elements of a thriller, and director Kristen Van Ginhoven fuses the performances and production values with satisfying results.

David Adkins and Corinna May in The Bakelite Masterpiece | Photo by Emma Rothenberg-Ware

David Adkins and Corinna May are much-respected actors on the Berkshire theater scene. They work together in synch, and both deliver superb performances. There are sequences in which Adkins takes center stage with no dialogue to render breathtaking artistry. May has subtle transitions in her performance that are equally splendid.

Juliana Von Haubrich’s Dutch prison set is effective, and it’s well-lit by Lily Fossner. Brad Berridge’s sound design is top quality, as are Deborah A. Brothers’ costumes.

The Bakelite Masterpiece is one of the best plays and productions that I’ve seen this season, and seeing WAM and Berkshire Theatre Group in collaboration is a partnership that I hope continues in years to come. Add the polished performances of David Adkins and Corinna May to the mix, and The Bakelite Masterpiece is a great reason to savor some good theater on a frosty Berkshires autumn night.

The Berkshire Theatre Group and WAM present The Bakelite Masterpiece by Kate Cayley. Directed by Kristen van Ginhoven. Scenic design by Juliana Von Haubrich. Costume Design by Deborah A. Brothers. Lighting design by Lily Fossner. Sound Design by Brad Berridge. Cast: David Adkins as Han Van Meergeren and Corinna May as Geert Piller.

Through October 23
The Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre
Stockbridge MA.
For tickets: 413-997-4444 or berkshiretheatregroup.org

This review originally ran in the Westfield News Group

Top image: David Adkins and Corinna May in The Bakelite Masterpiece | Photo by Emma Rothenberg-Ware

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Brian Huebner is a modern-day snake oil salesman. His Thoreauvian charm comes in handy when he’s pitching his elixir to hesitant buyers. Fire Cider is a concoction several years in the making for Huebner, his sister, Amy, and her husband, Dana St. Pierre, who is the original alchemist behind the trademarked tonic. The three started selling Fire Cider in 2010 at a holiday bazaar in the Berkshires.

Dana St. Pierre, Amy Huebner, and Brian Huebner | Photo by Tony Israel

“Dana started making it based loosely on a family recipe from his German grandmother. He was really battling seasonal allergies,” says Amy, the “kitchen witch” of Pittsfield, Massachusetts-based Shire City Herbals, which manufactures Fire Cider. “He’d throw in the lemon, the orange … things kept getting added in. We had several test batches sitting in our pantry. Then he really perfected the concept and got serious about writing things down.”

The final potion, though still somewhat of a secret, is a heady mix of cider vinegar, horseradish, oranges, honey, lemon, ginger, garlic, habaneros, and turmeric. The scent lies somewhere between zingy salad dressing and spiced cake. The flavor, well, it’s a burn. But a good burn. That’s what they tell reluctant passersby at farmers markets and potential retail outfits.

“We offer samples everywhere we go. Sometimes people think it’s moonshine or hard cider,” says Brian. “We tell them it’s a health tonic and they really need to just try it for themselves. The first sip’s a doozy.”

Fire Cider is not just for health nuts and food purists. The Average Joe crowd bangs back the potent Kool-Aid, too. Amy cites a collective fear of big pharma, and a return to hearty industriousness as part of the reason people are busting out of their comfort zone and flocking to the snake oil.

“It’s the gateway drug to using food as medicine,” she says. “People say they’ve never shopped at their co-op before until they realized that’s the only place they could get the tonic. That’s how it starts.”

You can find Fire Cider just about anywhere, from Terminal B at Logan Airport to soda bars and dark cafes. The tonic is sold in nearly 800 locations across the country. A few celebrities, including Willie Nelson and Elizabeth Warren, have slugged it back. And the producers are just getting started.

“We sent Bernie Sanders some,” Amy laughs. “We wrote ‘Feel the Bern’ on it. I hope he tried it.”

Fire Cider Earl Grey Hot Toddy

Brew one cup of Harney & Son’s Earl Grey tea

Add:

1 1/2 tsp of Fire Cider
1 1/2 tsp of Berkshire Mountain Distiller’s Berkshire Bourbon
(You can substitute any kind of bourbon, but why not drink local?)
1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
1 tsp of honey or to taste

Makes one-cup serving

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Twenty years ago, Mikhail Baryshnikov invaded the quiet woods of Becket, Massachusetts, sweeping everyone off their feet with his fame and physique. The Latvian-born, Russian-bred god of dance added yet another layer of hard sparkle to the already gleaming stage of the now 80-year-old Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. But awe sometimes inspires alienation and soon after that auspicious visit, the Pillow recognized the need to create more connective tissue with the outliers and non-aficionados of dance.

“Dance is the least experienced of all the art forms,” says Education Director J.R. Glover. “I just felt like we should open it up, the whole thing, to the community. We’re making points of entry.”

Photo courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow Dance

For $8 a pop, anyone can swing by during the summer season to experience the morning classes (once open only to interns and staff), Monday through Friday. The demographic is as varied as the offerings themselves, which range from Pilates to ballet to Zumba. It’s quiet on the wooded campus and the grass is still wet when 62-year-old Linda Bacon, a veteran class participant, emerges from the studio.

“When I first started taking the classes I was concerned about ‘was I wearing the right attire, did I fit in?’” she says. “But I don’t feel intimidated. There are a lot of interns who take the classes and some are just gorgeous dancers. I feel inspired by that. Nobody’s laughing at me.”

The morning classes are a steal. And they’re pretty packed, especially when you have instructors like choreographer Adam Weinert leading floor exercises. At night — 6:15-7 p.m. before the headliners — the Inside/Out series invites everyone, free of charge, to take a seat on a log and watch all manner of movers — hip hop artists, tango queens — whisk across the giant outdoor stage. People eat sandwiches, some drink wine, children stand off to the side and try to mimic the dancers, who are moving against the backdrop of a wooded vista.

Photo courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow Dance

“I have a bench outside my office, and I love watching who sits on that bench and who comes down that grand path — teachers, parents with little kids, young people,” says Glover. “It just takes the introduction, then they come back. They love the informality.”

As night wears on, and the Baryshnikovs of today’s dance world leave the main stage, the line between watchers and watched continues to blur and smudge. At the Pillow Pub, a sturdier version of a tiki bar, dancers have changed into civilian garb and they mingle with late-stayers and shy ‘groupies’ sipping beer and swatting mosquitoes. Suddenly, impulsivity takes hold. Tables are pushed aside, flamenco guitarists begin to play feverishly and an epic jam session ensues. And yes, everybody’s dancing.

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Mass MoCA, the preeminent curator of cutting-edge visual art in the Berkshires, has also firmly established its reputation as a purveyor of live entertainment.

At the vanguard of its foray into the phonic is the biennial Solid Sound Festival, which takes place June 26-28 and is headlined by festival founders and alt-country messiahs Wilco. A weekend-long campout where you’re equally likely to stumble into a mandolin workshop, a falafel booth, or a bizarre bit of street theater, Solid Sound has become a summer staple for dance-starved, vibe-hungry visitors to North Adams.

Speedy Ortiz | Photo by Shervin Lainez

It’s also a festival where New England acts are well-represented, including the Expandable Brass Band and Northampton’s Speedy Ortiz, who were added earlier this month when Springfield native and blues icon Taj Mahal had to bow out of his slot citing health issues.

“This will be my first time playing at Solid Sound, but I was gonna go either way,” says Speedy’s Sadie Dupuis. “We’re really looking forward to playing with Wilco and Real Estate.”

Solid Sound Festival | Photo courtesy of TMM

Also on the bill are New England rock legends NRBQ. The band’s sax player, Klem Kimek, credits New England’s wealth of live-music venues for his musical evolution: “Me and my pals were music hungry, and New England was small enough that any venue in the six states was reachable by road trip to catch great music. It was a full-time hunt — bars, colleges, theaters, the Berkshire Music Barn, hockey rinks, and stadiums all presented great live music, and giants roamed the earth. Don’t get me goin’…”

Vermont folk artist Sam Amidon (performing with Bill Frisell), played a couple years back and “immediately loved the wide range of music and arts and the genuine spirit of celebration that pervades the festival,” and says he can’t wait to go back.

John Hodgman | Photo by Chattman Photography

Brookline, Massachusetts native (and Montague Book Mill haunter) John Hodgman returns to curate the comedy stage, along with fellow Daily Show alum Jessica Williams. Hodgman says he found his way into Solid Sound through the side door.

“I attended as a paying customer at the first Solid Sound in 2010,” he says. “Like all brilliant things that I love, I immediately wanted to parasitically attach myself to it. I succeeded.”

Solid Sound Festival | Photo courtesy of TMM

For kids, Vermont’s Circus Smirkus provides thrills and laughs, while performances by the Needham, Massachusetts-based nonprofit Plugged In, a program that helps kids who want to start or join bands get their jam on, might inspire younger audience members to strap on a Strat.

Top photo courtesy of TMM

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The scene inside Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown, Massachusetts at 9:45 p.m. is a lively one. Inside the high-ceilinged room where everybody seems to know one another, a woman with an air of Kim Gordon cool offers wine to a couple camped out in a corner banquette. She is Mezze co-owner Nancy Thomas, and her next stop is the table of five where the patriarch holding forth is Kim Wells, the farmer responsible for the evening’s pork belly special.

Seated at the bar is a guy who raised the cow that provided the milk for one of the night’s cheese selections, Maggie’s Reserve. It was his father, a Williams College economics professor, who in the 1990s took sophomore Bo Peabody, Mezze’s future co-owner, under his wing. Together they created Tripod, an early social-networking startup that would sell several years later in a deal that made Peabody a very wealthy 26-year-old.

Like many tech titans, Peabody existed on take-out. Unlike many tech titans, however, he decided to open a food enterprise in the Berkshires that was a pioneer of farm-to-table dining in the region. In partnership with restaurateur Thomas, his focus on local food back in 1996 was something that the tech world would call an early-adopter play. Today, Mezze Restaurant Group operates the Bistro as well as Allium Restaurant + Bar in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in addition to a catering and event-planning business.

Pork belly, lentils, sprouts, apple cider and watercress at Mezze Bistro + Bar | Photo by Nicholas Moulton

“It’s nice to be in a business where you get to witness customer satisfaction in a real and immediate way,” Peabody says. “In the technology business, it’s all so virtual, and the gratification is often delayed.” He still launches successful technology enterprises as a partner in the venture capital firms Greycroft Partners and Village Ventures, of which he is also a co-founder.

Farm-to-table, nose-to-tail dining – with its inherent high food costs for organic produce and pasture-raised animals, and the skill level required to work with both – isn’t for the faint of heart. There is blight. There are uneven seasons.
Thomas takes it in stride. “I like to say I was a punk-rock kid who is scrappy and enjoys guerrilla survival tactics,” she says.

On March 9, it was showtime for the Mezze Restaurant Group, which presented “Berkshires’ First Taste of Spring Dinner” – fittingly after one of the worst New England winters ever – at the esteemed James Beard House in New York City. There was no room for error, and Thomas’ team was ready. The microgreens were “living” – still planted in their flat from Mill River Farm – and snipped to order on site. The lamb for “Lila’s Mountain Lamb, Quince and Fennel Marmellata” was raised especially for the meal.

James Beard, chef and champion of American cuisine, once famously said, “The only thing that will make a soufflé fall is if it knows you’re afraid of it.” Thomas and her team, led by Mezze chef Nicholas Moulton and Allium chef Daire Rooney, were not afraid.

“Our two kitchen teams came together to share space, cooked their hearts out, and celebrated the moment,” Thomas recalls. “It was a night to remember shared by family, friends, and farmers.”

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