A Man for All Scenes, He Steals Each One
Tara Keegan

Daniel Beaty is a man of many talents. And in his off-Broadway, award-winning play called Through the Night, he is a man of many men. Tonight, July 27, Mr. Beaty is bringing this one-man performance to Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, courtesy of Monina von Opel.

“I’ve been watching his career evolve over time,” said Ms. von Opel. “I like to watch people evolve. I am very interested in the creative process.”

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Fresh off Ruining Lives, Now Breaking a Leg
Tara Keegan

My mom is trying to ruin my life. A simple sentence that has become a catchphrase for generations of young people. But one of these life-ruining moms recently embraced her status and wrote a children’s book in honor of her role as the so-called villain in her daughter’s life.

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Free Performances from Award-Winning Drama Students

Free Shakespeare is available this weekend, from the awardwinning drama department at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Shaking up their usual fall program, the student thepians are performing selected scenes from the Bard and other playwrights instead of a single play.

Tonight at 7 p.m. it’s selected scenes from As You Like It, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet.

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Wanted: Directors

Wanted: Directors

Island Theatre Workshop, Inc., celebrating its 40th year in 2008, invites proposals from directors for one-act plays to be produced in March.

New directors are encouraged to submit proposals; plays can be from 10 minutes to just under an hour. Collections of 10-minute plays and one-act plays are available in local libraries.

To apply please call 508-693-5290. Copies of plays to be considered must be submitted no later than Dec. 15 to be performed at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven in March.

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Underwater Ballet Gallops into Breach
Juiia Rappaport

In the aftermath of the Patriots Day northeaster this spring, Chappaquiddick resident Francesca Kelly climbed into her pickup truck. She drove over debris-strewn roads, finally making her way to Norton Point. The whole time, a piece of classical music played on the stereo. When she got there, she parked and watched the water rush through the breach, a dead dolphin caught in the sands nearby.

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St. Nick’s Miracles Move to New Edgartown Stage

Miracles at Christmas returns this year with traditional carols and drama to add warmth to the Christmas season — but with a change of location to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown. This Island Theatre Workshop production takes you back to a traditional Christmas, combining medieval carols and St. Nicholas plays.

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Homecoming for the Holidays: Playhouse Stages Family Show

The holidays would not be complete without a show at The Vineyard Playhouse. Earl Hamner Jr.’s The Homecoming, adapted by Christopher Sergel and directed by M.J. Bruder Munafo, is back this year as part of the rotating repertory for The Playhouse’s annual family holiday show.

The Homecoming will run from Friday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 22 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and on Sundays at 3 p.m. All shows will be performed at The Vineyard Playhouse at 24 Church street in downtown Vineyard Haven.

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Oak Bluffs Christmases of Old Retold by Native Susan Klein
Tom Dresser

Storyteller par excellence Susan Klein captured the imagination of more than 40 people Saturday night at the Unitarian-Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard on Main street in Vineyard Haven, with her program entitled Silent Night, An Evening of Christmas Stories.

The raconteuse from Oak Bluffs opened with a sound check: “We’re recording all live performances from here on — just because.” Because, Ms. Klein explained, when she was old and gray she wanted to sit back and listen to us laugh again.

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Miracle Is How Ageless Morals Translate in Easy Punchlines
Sofi Thanhauser

Again and again, it seems, Christmas brings us face to face with the same old question. Where does a rabidly materialistic society like our own get off celebrating the man who taught poverty by reveling in a superfluity of consumer goods? Perhaps they didn’t juggle exactly the same paradox, but the monks of 12th century England labored over the same vexing question of how best to reconcile Christian piety with the pull of earthly delights.

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Playhouse Has Auditions For Family Holiday Show

The Vineyard Playhouse is holding open auditions for Earl Hamner Jr.’s The Homecoming, adapted by Christopher Sergel and directed by M.J. Bruder Munafo. Auditions will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25 and Friday, Oct. 26 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church street in Vineyard Haven.

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