Main Street Stage presents its First Annual Short Play Festival, featuring pieces written by you!

Submit your one-act plays (15 to 30 minutes in length) by November 15th for a chance to see them performed by living, breathing people this January!  E-mail all scripts to aulde272 at strose.edu, or mail them, along with a SASE, to: Short Play Festival, P.O. Box 137, North Adams, MA 01247. Include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail on all submissions. Multiple submissions are not only accepted, but encouraged. For any questions or concerns, contact Eric K. Auld at (518) 610-2574.

Saturday, November 8, The Redroom, Main Street Stage’s popular cabaret series, will run it’s monthly show again at 57 Main Street, North Adams. An evening of mingling, sketching and, this time, a special performance by The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe (RBIT). Doors open at 8 PM for life drawing and light refreshment. The improv show will start at 9 PM. Every Redroom is a new show and a great deal: $10.00 covers an entire night’s worth of entertainment.

The Redroom was rated at 5 out of 5 by the Berkshire Eagle’s “Region After Dark.” It is an artist’s playground where genre lines don’t matter. One audience member called it something you’d see in someone’s basement in Greenwich Village during the 1960’s.

From 8-9 enjoy a glass of wine, mingle with the cast and other guests while a live model poses in the window. Bring your own art supplies or use the ones we provide. At 9, the variety show begins.If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby at theredroomna@gmail.com.

Nutshell Playhouse and BCC Players are proud to once again present Pirates! a swashbuckling adventure featuring bold buccaneers, a mysterious map with a riddle, cursed treasure, a visit to an island that you can’t see, a pirate ghost, and a magical journey to the bottom of the sea. Written and directed by Don Jordan, the sea-faring tale features mime, music, masks, and now puppets! This summer Mike O’Brien joins Nutshell Playhouse as puppet creator/director, adding a fun new element to the already successful show.

This new version of Pirates! welcomes BCC Players: Gary Cannon, Jessica Carty, Joe Sicotte and Aaron Thompson to the show and to the Nutshell Playhouse company. O’Brien and Jordan’s collaboration on Pirates! provides a family performance brimming with excitement and theatrical innovation.

Pirates! will be performed at Main Street Stage on Thursday July 24, Friday July 25 and Saturday July 26th at 11 a.m.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids

Produced by Melissa Quirk, this cast features many of the talented members from the Town Players’ production held at BCC in March.

Talking With… is a series of stories about individuals:  an actress just moments before the curtain rises, a housewife fantasizing about life in Oz, a disillusioned rodeo rider, a daughter mourning the loss of her mother, a snake handler, a champion baton twirler, and a woman who finds redemption through body art.  Each story is richly entertaining and cleverly written.  One finds humanity, humor and depth in each piece.

As a collection, Talking With… is the story of Everywoman.  It includes tales of faith, disillusionment, dreams and redemption.  There truly is a little something for everyone.

Ticket prices are $15 adult; $10 students/senior citizens. For reservations please call the Main Street Stage box office at 413-663-3240.

Our friends with The MCLA Reduced Shakespeare Company will be presenting The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at Main Street Stage on Saturday May 3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 4 at 5 p.m. This wild romp features three actors performing 37 plays and 154 sonnets of the bard in under two hours. Tickets are $5 at the door. This production is produced by Yorick (The MCLA Student Shakespeare Club) and features Matthew Tibbs, Tim, McEvoy and Doran Hamm. Due to strong language, this show is not recommended for children.

The Reduced Theatre Company has this disclaimer to share:

Warning!: This show is a high-speed roller-coaster type condensation of all of Shakespeare’s plays, and is not recommended for people with heart ailments, bladder problems, inner-ear disorders and/or people inclined to motion sickness. The RSC cannot be held responsible for expectant mothers.

Main Street Stage presents Living With It, written and performed by Frank La Frazia. Living With It is an auto-biographical account of life as a teenager with a parent suffering from bipolar disorder. It portrays a young man who is coming of age, seeking independence and being dealt the responsibility of caring for a sick parent. It is rooted in a factual story from a teen’s perspective. In the tradition of Spalding Grey, John Leguizamo, and Eric Bogosian, this poignant and humorous piece features Mr. La Frazia portraying several characters and narration throughout. Living With It plays at Main Street Stage on March 14, 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.