This week brings the opening of Gloucester Stage’s 45th season with a Tony Award-winning play, some Pride Week celebrations, and many other cultural events as spring kicks into high gear.
Up first is a book event presented by Sawyer Free Library, 21 Main St in Gloucester, with local author Sally Goldenbaum of the best-selling “Seaside Knitters” mystery series, which are inspired by Gloucester and Cape Ann. On Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m., the author will discuss the most recent installment, as well as the next in the series that will be released in November. She will delve into what “cozy mysteries” are and how they differ from other sub-genres, and how she began writing them.
Goldenbaum, who earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Indiana University, has had a diverse career. She worked in public television. She taught philosophy, Latin and creative writing. She edited bioethics and veterinary healthcare journals. As an author, she enjoys writing mysteries about “the intricacies of women’s friendship, the complexities of small-town living, and what happens to the good people when a murder disrupts their lives.” She has written more than 40 novels. She also writes the “The Queen Bees Quilting” mysteries. No registration required. For information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.
Tony winner opens Friday
Gloucester Stage Company opens its 45th season with a Tony Award-winning play, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” written by Christopher Durang, a decorated playwright. This year, Durang was the recipient of the 2024 Dramatist Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the latest in a career full of achievements. This play, called a comedic masterpiece, opens Friday and runs through June 23.
“I knew we wanted to launch this season with a big comedy. I’ve always loved Chekhov and Durang, so this mashup seemed kismet. I fell in love with this play for Durang’s ability to use humor to jab at family quibbles while effortlessly leaving us with a deep sense of connection,” Gloucester Stage Artistic Director Rebecca Bradshaw said. “Deep down this play asks us to slow down, lift our heads up from our screens, and see each other — a message we need more than ever.”
This production is directed by Bradshaw, and the cast features Diego Arciniegas as Vanya, Adrianne Krstansky as Sonia, Wendy Waring as Masha, Jaime José Hernández as Spike, Valyn Lyric Turner as Nina, and Eryn O’Sullivan as Cassandra.
In this play, three adult siblings reunite under one roof, “bringing with them a cacophony of opinions, quirks, and desires,” according to a program statement. “The production navigates the complexities of family dynamics with humor and heart as the trio finds themselves slipping into the petulance of their teenage years amidst a cast of eccentric characters.”
Gloucester Stage Company is located at 267 East Main St., Gloucester. For show times and tickets, visit GloucesterStage.com. Season packages start at $200 and offer early access to seating, no fees and free ticket exchanges. For details, call 978-281-4433 or visit gloucesterstage.com/subscribe.
Cape Ann Pride Week events
Several events are happening to mark Cape Ann Pride Week, starting with the Gloucester Pride flag raising Friday at 11 a.m. at City Hall, 9 Dale Ave., Gloucester.
Also on Friday, from 7-10 p.m., Beauport Hotel, 55 Commercial St., will host the Pride Edition of its Sunset Sessions on its Birdseye Rooftop patio with a DJ. Tickets are $30 at eventbrite.com. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the Cape Ann Pride Coalition.
The Cut Live, at 177 Main St. in Gloucester, has several events, starting Friday with a dance party and music by Coleslaw; no advance ticket purchase necessary. For details on other events at the venue, visit thecutlive.com.
Cape Ann Lanes, at 53 Gloucester Ave., Gloucester, has a few events starting with a LGBTQIA+ Youth, Families and Friends Bowling with Pride event on Saturday from 1-5 p.m. Advance reservations can be made at https://www.capeannlanes.com/bowling. Later that evening, there will be a Pride Social at the Laneside Pub and Brewery at Cape Ann Lanes from 5-7 p.m.
Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, at the corner of Middle and Church streets, Gloucester, will hold a Celebratory Pride Service on Sunday from 10-11 a .m. with music by the Steve Lacey Trio, featuring Rhiannon Hurst. Everyone is welcome.
Sawyer Free Library in conjunction with the Cape Ann Museum will host a free Pride Family Picnic at CAM Green, 13 Poplar St. in Gloucester, on Sunday, June from 1-3 p.m. Bring lawn seating, enjoy Rainbow Story Time with Kristin, and music from Jammin’ with You. Pick an LGBTQ book or stories. Sign up for a library card.
Book signing with Eric Dolin
Best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin has a new book, “Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World” for which he will have a book signing on Saturday from 4-6 p.m. at The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main St., Gloucester. The book is a true story of five castaways abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812 in this tale of “treachery, shipwreck, isolation, and the desperate struggle for survival,” according to a synopsis.
The book is filled with twists and turns “involving greed, lying, bullying, a hostile takeover, stellar leadership, ingenuity, severe privation, endurance, banishment, the great value of a dog, the birth of a baby, a perilous thousand mile open-ocean journey in a 17-foot boat, an improbable rescue mission, and legal battles over a dubious and disgraceful wartime prize.”
Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review: “This stunning account of shifting fortunes is riven with tension on every page, as Dolin provides detailed descriptions of bickering and backstabbing, tricky nautical maneuvers, and desperate survival techniques. It’s an edge-of-your-seat adventure.”
New work by Jon Sarkin
Artist Jon Sarkin opens an exhibition of recent works, titled “Maritime,” Saturday at 7 p.m. The public is welcome to stop by his Fish City Studios at 39 Main St., Gloucester. The show runs through July 14.
Currently represented by the Henry Boxer Outsider Art Gallery in London, Sarkin is known for his “frenetic and visually arresting drawings and paintings, which mix words and images,” according to his bio. “These drawings and paintings cross-hatch and scrawl their way through pop-culture, rock ‘n’ roll, the mundane, and the subconscious.” Sarkin began his career as an outsider artist in 1989, when complications from neurosurgery led to a stroke, after which he had to shut down his chiropractic practice. In a novel twist, art became his incessant focus and he continues his work with a deep passion.
Art opening: ‘Green Resolutions’
A new art show opens Saturday with a public reception from 3-5:30 p.m. featuring the works of Bobbie Kovner in a show titled “Green Resolutions No. 1-12” at Jane Deering Gallery’s newly expanded space at 19 Pleasant St., Gloucester.
In an artist statement, Kovner wrote: “I am besotted by plants and flowers — their form, their color, their contrasting meaning and function … As markers of seduction and marriage, birth and death, serenity and celebration …”
Kovner has a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, master’s degrees from Columbia University and Lesley University, and a diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She taught “Theory of Design” seminars and advanced drawing at Endicott College in Beverly. Kovner has been selected for numerous exhibitions and awards. The artist has completed multiple commissions for national corporations, including a 36-foot long mural for MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
An interactive art event
An artistic community, called SCRIBBLE, confronts the problem of climate change in interactive art installations, performances and videos during an open house on Sunday. The event, titled “Reduce, Reuse, ReSCRIBBLE,” takes place from 3 -5 p.m. at MAGMA, Movement Arts Gloucester Massachusetts, 11 Pleasant St., Gloucester. The audience can expect thoughtful, provocative work from Erika Sutter, Jude Johnson-Shoucair, Sarah Slifer Swift, Peter Littlefield, Sophia Dunzelman, Nick Neyeloff, Christine April, Michael Lamarche, Hannah Krieger, Chris Lyman and Pamela Ellis Hawkes.
“A scavenger hunt leads participants through an immersive environment, following clues found within the artwork that speak in one way or another to climate change,” according to a program statement. The program was made possible with funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Gloucester Cultural Initiative, with support from NOAA. For details, visit https://magma.center.
Shakespeare on the Hill
Two Cape Ann actors are in Castle Hill Production’s rendition of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” which runs June 5 to 16, in an outdoor production set against the backdrop of the Casino Complex on Castle Hill in Ipswich. In this Shakespeare comedy, audience members will find themselves immersed in a world of whimsy and wonder. Bring a beach chair or blanket. This love-at-first-sight romance is complicated by the schemes of an angry Duke, played by Mark Effinger of Gloucester. The other local actor is Jackie Coughlin of Manchester-by-the-sea. Tickets are available at: thetrustees.org/theatre.
Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-675-2706 or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com at least two weeks in advance.
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.