Rogovoy Report For October 2, 2015

This weekend our region boasts Harold Pinter, avant-garde music, a special pre-release film screening of an Oscar contender, New Orleans jazz, a recreation of Bob Dylan and the Band, old timey music, and avant-garde performance.

At least as far back as acting class in college, and I think dating back even further, I have loved the work of Harold Pinter, and I consider him probably the greatest playwright of the 20th century. And “The Homecoming” is probably one of his greatest plays. Decades before the term family dysfunction was tossed around blithely, Pinter put on the stage the most menacing portrayal of a family reunion one could ever imagine, and the menace was all conveyed through indirect conversation, implication, pauses, and questions, rather than any kind of overt violence. The Berkshire Theatre Group is tackling this 20th century Pinteresque classic at its Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge now through Sunday, October 25.

Up in Pittsfield, “Veils,” a new play by Tom Coash that deals with acceptance and discrimination, gets is regional premiere at Barrington Stage Company now through Sunday, October 18.

Also in Pittsfield, The Hands Free, an acoustic quartet comprised of four of today's most innovative contemporary musicians – guitarist James Moore, accordion player Nathan Koci , bassist Eleonore Oppenheim and violinist Caroline Shaw, who also happens to be the youngest ever winner of a Pulitzer Prize for composition – performs in the second concert of the new Fringe Music series at Shire City Sanctuary tonight at 7pm. And unbelievably, this concert is free.

Speaking of free, “Freeheld,” the new feature adaptation of the award-winning documentary of the same name by Berkshire filmmaker Cynthia Wade, gets a special pre-release screening at the Triplex in Great Barrington on Sunday at 4pm. A presentation of Berkshire International Film Festival, the film stars Julianne Moore, Ellen Page and Steve Carell, and was produced by Academy Award-winner Wade, who will be on hand for a post-screening q&a.

On Saturday night in North Adams, New Orleans pianist Henry Butler brings his rollicking gumbo of jazz, Caribbean, pop, blues, and R&B to MASS MoCA at 8pm. Butler’s piano-playing combines impeccable musical polish with a refreshingly fearless attitude, resulting in music with singular storytelling ability and emotional capacity.

The Howard Fishman Quintet brings its critically acclaimed “Basement Tapes Project,” exploring music made by Bob Dylan and the Band at their homes in Woodstock, N.Y., in 1967-68, in a two-night residency that concludes the 2015 LIVE! Music Series at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs tonight and Saturday at 8pm. The project has been programmed to wide acclaim at major national venues, including Lincoln Center's "American Songbook" series, the Steppenwolf Theatre's "Traffic Jam," and at the Flynn Center in Burlington, Vt.

Old-timey trio the Wiyos bring their original blend of music inspired by the early American musical idioms of the 1920s and ’30s, including blues, country, ragtime, gospel, and swing, to Club Helsinki Hudson tonight at 9pm. Gleefully subverting genre distinctions, their music comes from a time before commercial formatting separated blues from country, ragtime from gospel, and swing from hillbilly. Their sound is reminiscent of days gone by, when live bands could be heard both on the radio and at community dances, juke joints, and house parties.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jonah Bokaer unveils his staging of Morton Feldman’s rarely performed opera “Neither” with two performances specifically designed for the architecture of the Hudson Opera House tonight and Saturday at 7pm. Bokaer’s staging begins with a silent prologue, performed without accompaniment, to introduce the movement and integrate the stark, visual staging with the music. By employing a “leveling” strategy for the choreography, the music, dance, and visuals, the performers inhabit a shared physical space in a non-hierarchical “field.” A 16-line poem by Samuel Beckett serves as the libretto. I’ll see you there.