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Cultural Pittsfield does it again!
Posted by Kaitlyn in Arts & Culture, Events, Family
The crowd enjoying the show under the moon & stars at Springside Park. (Click any photo to enlarge!)
Last night’s beautiful nearly full moon brought along with it an amazing interpretation of the Iroquois creation tale told through music, masks, and puppets. Cultural Pittsfield hosted their free event to present The Mettawee River Theatre Company at Springside Park in Pittsfield last night.We parked in the closest parking lot and arrived just before 8 with our blankets, snacks, drinks, and of course my camera. We found a spot to the side right as everything got started and laid out our blanket under the beautiful dramatic sky. The sun was starting to set behind us so there was something amazing to see in every direction you looked!
The woman on the back of the turtle
They had great props as well as puppets to tell the story
The tale was about a woman who fell from the sky and landed on a turtle’s back. All of the sea creatures bring up mud from the bottom of the sea to make the earth grow. I just have to stop right here, I thought it was amazing how they translated this! The turtle puppet where the woman had landed was unfolded into the beautiful cloth that covers the set as they all sang and chanted the word “Mud“.The woman gave birth to two boys who take us through the rest of the spiritual, comical, and creative tale before the earth was ready for humans to arrive.
Live music & sound effects
The beautiful cloth that unfolded from the turtle to become the earth
The performers really brought the puppets to life! Their faces were expressive, their voices were well projected and they flowed and worked so well together that I sometimes forgot the puppets weren’t part of them. In addition to the song and dance, it was all backed by live music and sound effects performed by a one man band. All of the stands for the lighting and musical instruments were made from wooden sticks and branches which really tied in well the whole scene.
The Mettawee River Theatre Company is a company committed to bring theater to people who have little or no access to live professional theater. Each year there is a new production to see, they perform outdoors all over New England, Upstate New York and NYC.
The wind added a magical touch!
The Mettawee River Theatre Company will be performing again on August 1st at 8pm in Cummington, MA at Pettingill Field, Main St. Please visit their website for a full schedule, they will be in VT and other places in MA before the 1st and after it too! Don’t Miss them!!
I have also created some lists of museums, landmarks, theaters and restaurants that i will be adding to regularly! I will also be adding a gallery list and more pages to the Facebook Pages of the Berkshires. Some people weren’t sure where to leave comments, you can do that by clicking the word “comments” below and scrolling to the bottom, I would love some more feedback or to know how you enjoyed the event if you attended as well! Thanks for the support, I hope my blog will inspire you all to get out and see some of this stuff for yourselves! Hope to see you at the next place I attend!!
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn, photographer, born in Pittsfield, entrepreneur, empathetic, born on the cusp (February 18), Mild addiction to Facebook and my iPhone, chocoholic, <3's the ocean and tropical islands, engaged to the love of my life on a tropical island, love my 14 year old kitty like my child, favorite season is Autumn. 
i am so happy you suggested this to me. after reading of the event, i am excited to attend the next available one soon. that particular show sounds absolutely gorgeous, and i am bummed that i missed it. anyway, keep taking beautiful and inspiring photos! much love to you and yours, ally. <3