America’s Top Twelve Small-Town ArtPlaces is a new annual ArtPlace initiative recognizing smaller communities in the country where the arts are central to creating the kinds of places where people want to live, work, and visit.

ArtPlace Director Carol Coletta said, “Earlier this year, ArtPlace announced America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces in major metropolitan areas—vibrant communities identified as being exceptionally successful in combining the arts, artists, and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle. It is equally important to recognize and celebrate dynamic Small-Town ArtPlaces and the unique qualities that make them well worth the journey to explore and enjoy.”
…click here to read the whole article on artplaceamerica.org

Gorgeous and Delicious Gingerbread Playhouse
created by Martha Yukevich

King John is Shakespeare’s most obscure history play, but it’s very timely for election season. The story concerns itself with the conflict over who is the rightful ruler of England: John himself, or his young nephew, Arthur (spoiler alert: things do not go well for Arthur). Each candidate has his die-hard supporters, but the toxic, dysfunctional campaign is ultimately controlled by special-interest lobbies (read: the Catholic Church). A number of characters, including Arthur’s mother Constance and John’s mother Elinor of Aquitaine, make the presidential campaign’s election managers look like wusses.

Even Shakespeare’s original script has a sense of the absurd to it, and Shakespeare for the Masses’ mission is go deeper into that absurdity. Expect a very cheeky re-interpretation of Shakespeare’s own “game of thrones.”

While The Vineyard Playhouse is closed for renovation, Shakespeare for the Masses has been performing in other venues. Last year, they enjoyed a relationship with the Pit Stop in Oak Bluffs. Because of the physical requirements of staging King John (see above: onstage battle scenes), they have moved to the Katharine Cornell, just down the street from the Playhouse.

King John features Christopher Brophy, Brooke Hardman-Ditchfield, Christopher Roberts, Molly Purves, Rob Myers, Jill Macy, Xavier Powers, Leslie J. Stark, Chelsea McCarthy, Nicole Galland, and first-timer Samuel Graben-Hahn as John’s nephew and rival, Prince Arthur.

Performances are at 7 pm on Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3 at the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven. The show runs about an hour. Admission is free of charge, but donations are welcome.