Saturday, October 21, 2017, 7:30 pm
Written and Directed by Milan Dragicevich. Music by Tim Eriksen. Tickets $18.00 General Admission. $12.00 Students/Seniors.
Two sisters gaze across an endless stretch of barren desert at the El Shatt refugee camp, while a war rages across Europe. In the hollows of southern Appalachia, an idealistic guitar-strumming activist fights to preserve a way of life. On the streets of embattled Belgrade, a hustler struggles to survive in the underground markets of a desperate people. What binds them together? Where
is home? When we cross borders, what do we become? This new play with music jumps across time and place, with a multigenerational story of displacement, capricious destiny, and the search for identity.
REFUGEE examines the lives of two Serbian sisters displaced at the El Shatt refugee camp on the Sinai desert during World War II—and five decades later, their grandchildren, dispersed across two continents. The story is loosely based on the historical sojourn of Dragina Kalanj (playwright’s mother), who came to El Shatt as a teenage girl, the beginning of an epic odyssey that thwarted a return to her native land—and family—until 25 years later. The play explores the memory of family, the search for identity and acceptance in a new land, as well as the myriad meanings of refugee and how that experience shapes one’s destiny—and creates generational aftershocks. REFUGEE also introduces audiences to a forgotten chapter of World War II, the El Shatt experience in Egypt, as well as to a “forgotten” or little-understood region of contemporary America: the people and culture of Southern Appalachia. REFUGEE is a play with music, composed and performed by Grammy-nominated musician, Tim Eriksen.
Australis Aquaculture • Artisan Beverage Cooperative • Benjamin Company • Berkshire Brewing Company • Cohn and Company Real Estate Agency • Community Credit • Common Capital • Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts • Connecticut River Internists • Dean's Beans • Easthampton Savings Bank • FirstLight GDF Suezna • Gill Tavern • Goff Media • Great Falls Harvest • Green River Festival • Greenfield Community College • Greenfield Cooperative Bank • Greenfield Savings Bank • Loot • Massachusetts Cultural Council • Montague Bookmill Montague WebWorks • Northeast Solar • People's Pint • Rainmaker Consulting • The Rendezvous • Solar Store of Greenfield • Stobierski and Connor • Told Video • True North Transit • Turn It Up
Exciting News for A Happening IV: Leviathan
Cloudgaze and Eggtooth Productions are thrilled to announce that we have received a generous grant from the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice to support our 2024 Immersive Arts Festival, “A Happening IV: Leviathan.”
This festival will transform the Shea Theater into an exploration of theme, hosting installations, music, theatrical performances, and movement pieces, featuring the collective contributions of over 30 local artists. Audiences will experience otherworldly environments and narratives inspired by folklore, fairy tales, horror motifs, American literature, and the mythos of the Old Testament, all of which delve into the central question guiding the festival: "What does it mean to encounter something greater than yourself and to be consumed by it?" Through this theme, we explore how a community reemerges and imagines itself after destruction and transformation.
With the support of the Markham-Nathan Fund, we are excited to create an event that complicates perspectives and fosters meaningful dialogue. We are grateful for this partnership and for the work of the Markham-Nathan Fund for Social Justice.
Thanks to the Mass Cultural Council for their vital support this year.We'd also like to thank the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for their support in the form of a Flexible Funding grant. We couldn't do this work without you!