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• Play Reading Shared Interest Group

  • Start
    Friday, July 26, 2024
  •  
  • End
    Friday, August 23, 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    In-person and/or Online via Zoom

  
  

  OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's Shared Interest Group

  Play Reading Shared Interest Group

  Meets Twice a Month from 3:00 to 5:00 pm ET

  Free and open to all OLLI at BCC members 

  Do you love reading plays?  Our SIG gives participants a chance to read aloud and analyze scenes and characters from prize-winning plays.  We meet once or twice per month for two hours, usually on a Friday afternoon, so as not to conflict with other OLLI courses.  During the year we are open to suggestions as to which plays to read, while in the summer, when hopefully theatres will resume performances, we choose plays that we can both read and view.  We encourage our members to prepare and lead discussions on plays that interest them.  Thriving on group participation, we allow two sessions to cover each one.  Particular editions are selected that can be ordered online or through your local public library. We meet on Zoom, except in summer when we meet in-person or in a hybrid format (both in-person and Zoom). Please contact Alice Roth, Barbara Waldinger or Karel Fisher for more details or additional information about the Play Reading SIG. Schedule of Forthcoming Play Reading Events Summer Schedule We will be having some in-person meetings this summer.  These should be fun, social occasions!  All meetings are on Friday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. June 7 & 21:  (Facilitator: Karel Fisher) Boeing, Boeing by Marc Camoletti.  This play is a French farce that was translated and adapted for English-speaking audiences in 1962.  Barrington Stage will be showing this play in July, with Julianne Boyd as director.  From Wikipedia: "The play is set in the 1960s, and centers on bachelor Bernard, who has a flat in Paris and three airline stewardesses all engaged to him without knowing about each other. Bernard's life gets bumpy, though, when his friend Robert comes to stay, and complications such as weather and a new, speedier Boeing jet disrupt his careful planning.  Soon, all three stewardesses are in the city simultaneously and catastrophe looms.”   Location:  Hybrid.  In-person at BCC Pittsfield , Room F102 (next to the OLLI office, near the auditorium).  Or attend via Zoom. July 12 & 26:  (Facilitator: Paula Kaplan-Reiss) Flight of the Monarch by Jim Frangione.  The play has its regional premiere in August at Shakespeare & Company’s Bernstein Theater, in a joint production with Great Barrington Public Theater.  The director is Judy Braha.  From the theater website:  "Two siblings, Sheila and Thomas, were both born and raised in a small, New England fishing village where they still live. This darkly comic play explores how siblings’ lives are intertwined, what we owe to the people who know and love us best, and how family members’ needs and desires may push the boundaries of what we can be expected to do for others.” Location:  In-person at a member’s home in Canaan, NY.  If you would like to attend, contact me for directions. Aug. 9 & 23:  (Facilitator: Alice Roth)  The Weir by Conor McPherson.  This play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson premiered in London in 1997 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.  It will be shown at Berkshire Theater Festival’s Unicorn Theater in late September and October, directed by Eric Hill.  Three men and a woman gather in a pub one evening in rural Ireland and entertain each other with ghost stories, but the mood takes an ever darker turn.  From the theater website: "The play unfolds as a tapestry of supernatural narratives interwoven with personal tragedies, showcasing the haunting power of storytelling that binds individuals together in unexpected ways. McPherson’s deft touch and the raw emotions brought forth by the characters create an unforgettable theatrical experience that lingers long after the curtain falls.” Location:  TBD Sept. 13 & 27:  (Facilitator: Rachel Brier) How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel.  Written by American playwright Paula Vogel, this play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1998.  According to Dramatists Play Service, the play is “a wildly funny, surprising and devastating tale of survival as seen through the lens of a troubling relationship between a young girl and an older man.  How I Learned to Drive is the story of a woman who learns the rules of the road and life from behind the wheel.” Vogel was inspired to write the play after reading Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. Location:  TBD Getting the Scripts We will be reading from the editions listed below.   Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti.  Samuel French acting edition, available from Concord Theatricals for $10.95 here.  This is the latest edition, translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. Flight of the Monarch by Jim Frangione.  Jim Frangione is the artistic director of Great Barrington Public Theater.  Please email me if you plan on attending.  The Weir and Other Plays by Conor McPherson.  Theater Communications Group, 1999.  The paperback edition is available for $11.60 from Amazon here.   How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel.  Dramatists Play Service, Acting Edition.  Available for $14.00 here.

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• Gotta Reads: New York Times Best Seller Book Club

  • Start
    Thursday, August 15, 2024
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  • End
    Thursday, December 19, 2024
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  • Schedule
    5 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  
  

  The Gotta Reads - NYT Best Sellers Book Club reads books from the NYT Best Seller List of the last couple of years. We look for books that are "discussion-worthy" and thought provoking.

  This group meets on the the third Thursday of each month at 4pm.

  Please click here to contact group leader Sheila McKenna for additional information & to join the email list.

  Here are the books we have selected so far for 2024:

  June: The Women by Kristen Hannah

  July: Long Island by Colm Toibin, his sequel to the book Brooklyn

  August: The Deepfake by Joan Cohen

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• Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group

  • Start
    Monday, August 19, 2024
  •  
  • End
    Monday, December 23, 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    5 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  
  

  OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's Shared Interest Group

  Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group

  for an online discussion 

  The Fourth Monday of Every Month

  from 1:30 to 3:00 pm Eastern

  Free and open to all OLLI at BCC members 

  OLLI's Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Book Group meets once a month, typically on the 4^th Monday at 1:30 pm. Everyone is welcome. We typically meet for no more than 1.5 hours. Historically, the meetings were at someone’s house. Since the pandemic, however, the gatherings have been Zoom-based.
  

  Books are selected one year in advance… and are not your typically hot present-day offerings. At the meetings, we discuss the chosen book, of course, but often we talk about other books we are reading, movies we have seen, serials we’ve watched/are watching on TV, etc.

  Please contact Bruce Cohen for additional information and to receive the Zoom link. 

  Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Book List 2024

  January           Mystic River                                             Dennis Lehane

  February         Ordinary Grace                                       William Kent Krueger

  March              Shutter Island                                          Dennis Lehane

  April                 Slow Horses                                             Mick Herron

  May                  Smiler with a Knife                                Nicolas Blake

  June                 The Dry                                                     Jane Harper

  July                  The Killer Inside Me                              Jim Thompson

  August             The Last Days of Ptolomy Gray         Walter Mosley

  September      The Long Call                                          Ann Cleeves

  October           The Plot                                                    Jean Hanff Korelitz

  November      The Talented Mr. Ripley                       Patricia Highsmith

  December      When Justice Sleeps                               Stacey Abrams

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• Contemporary Gender Roles SIG

  • Start
    Wednesday, August 21, 2024
  •  
  • End
    Wednesday, December 18, 2024
  • Schedule
    5 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom

  Register

  
  

  This OLLI Contemporary Gender Roles Shared Interest Group was started by Deborah Caine to study and explore cultural changes in the roles of men and women in the family and in the workplace and the multiple changes in gender presentation and identity exemplified in the growth of the LGBTQ+ communities; changes not always easily understood by many.

  
  The group has grown over the last several years from three members to two dozen women and men who enjoy the lively monthly discussions on topics of urgent and current interest.

  
  Members volunteer to lead a discussion on a topic of their choice and/or invite an outside speaker and circulate articles from major newspapers, magazines and journals that are relevant to group interests.  

  
  The Contemporary Gender Roles group sponsored an OLLI course on the Equal Rights Amendment in 2018 which was well attended.

  
  We meet on Zoom at 2 pm on the third Wednesday of the month. 

  
  Check out the Contemporary Gender Roles SIG Padlet, for articles, videos, and pictures here!

  
  For more information about this SIG, please contact Ellen Croibier.
  

  
  

  Topics for 2024 Contemporary Gender Roles SIG

  Helen Hailes: “Gaslighting in Intimate Partner Violence” on January 17

  Leyn Burrows on self-defense for women vs. men on February 21

  Michael Wilcox: Topic TBD on March 20

  Berkshire Pride and the Elizabeth Freeman Center on April 17

  Chris Canning Wilson on the role of women in the Middle East on May 15

  Mal Wasserman with book review: Undaunted and/or The Exceptions on June 19

  Farrah Cukor, literary rep at United Talent Agency on July 17

  Linda Baxter will give a talk on midwifery on August 21

  Mary Hunt, PhD on feminist theology on September 18

  Chief Deanna Strout on women in criminal justice on October 16

  Farah Cherif D’Ouezzan on women in Morocco on November 20

  December 18 TBD

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• Climate Change Shared Interest Group

  • Start
    Wednesday, August 28, 2024
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  • End
    Wednesday, November 27, 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    4 sessions
  • Location
    Richmond, MA

  

  OLLI at BCC members are invited to join OLLI's

  Climate Change 

  Shared Interest Group 

  Free and open exclusively to OLLI at BCC members

  This OLLI Shared Interest Group (SIG) will study the effects on the Planet Earth caused by fossil fuel emissions by following the science and media news daily. The horrific effects of climate change are now apparent every day and affect all humanity wherever we live. Just watch the daily news in any media. The effects on State and Federal budgets of hurricanes, floods, and extreme heat are now becoming clear to everyone.

  The SIG will utilize the work of national organizations such as Third Act (founded recently by Bill McKibben, the famous environmentalist) and Elders Climate Action (among others). Both of these organizations have monthly newsletters and free webinars.

  As activists the OLLI Climate Change SIG will write letters and postcards to the media and politicians - all who have power to effect changes in National and international behavior. 

  The group will meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month and share information about all local and national efforts to fight the global warming caused by the fossil fuel industry. It will also share information, by e-mail, gleaned from other environmental organizations in Massachusetts and nationally. 

  Please contact Deborah Caine for more information about this SIG.
  

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• Listening to Chamber Music SIG

  • Start
    Thursday, September 05, 2024
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  • End
    Thursday, December 05, 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    4 sessions
  • Location
    Online

  

  Attention Chamber Music Lovers!

  The Listening to Chamber Music SIG is for people who are interested in chamber music and who would enjoy learning about and listening to chamber music repertoire with other chamber music aficionados.

  Our meetings are currently held on Zoom at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on the first Thursday of every month.

  After our June 6 meeting, we will be taking a break for the summer (maybe meeting in -person at Tanglewood!) and resuming our Zoom meetings in the fall.

  At each meeting a member presents some Chamber Music they are interested in. Prior to the meeting, links to recordings of the selected pieces will be circulated so that we can all listen before the meeting. At the meeting, the presenting member will provide some program notes - and then we can each talk about our thoughts on the piece(s).

  Contact Harriet Wetstone if you would like the Zoom link or any additional information about this Listening to Chamber Music SIG.

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• Creative Nonfiction Writing SIG

  • Start
    Tuesday, September 10, 2024
  •  
  • End
    Tuesday, February 11, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    6 sessions
  • Location
    Online

  Register

  Creative Nonfiction Writing

  

  Shared Interest Group
  

  Meets the second Tuesday of the month at 

  9:30 a.m. Eastern

  Free and open exclusively to OLLI at BCC members

  Do you love to write and want to have a writers’ group to share and critique your work? If you do, consider joining our Creative Nonfiction SIG which meets monthly via Zoom. The format of our meetings will be flexible but will focus on each member sharing their work and receiving mindful critique from other group members.  At each meeting we will pick a leader for the next meeting. That leader will assign a prompt for the next meeting’s writings or writers may choose their own subject.

  What is creative nonfiction? It can be essay, memoir, personal narrative, travel writing, food writing, chronicle, fact-based essays, or biography. The commonality is that the writer uses literary techniques to tell the facts allowing the reader to understand the situations described in a fuller, more emotional way. As one writer — Melanie McGrath, whose book Silvertown, an account of her grandmother's life, describes her writing — the known facts of her stories are "the canvas on to which I have embroidered. Some of the facts have slipped through the holes—we no longer know them nor have any means of verifying them—and in these cases I have reimagined scenes or reconstructed events in a way I believe reflects the essence of the scene or the event in the minds and hearts of the people who lived through it. ... To my mind this literary tinkering does not alter the more profound truth of the story.”

  For more information, please contact Lana Bennett. 

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• Happy Needlers & Hookers: A Needlework Shared Interest Group

  • Start
    Monday, September 16, 2024
  •  
  • End
    Monday, December 16, 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    7 sessions
  • Location
    Lenox, MA

  
  

  Happy Needlers & Hookers:
  A Needlework Shared Interest Group

  Meets the first and third Monday from 12:30pm-2pm in Lenox. 

  Monday meetings are paused for the summer due to construction at the venue. 

  Shared Interest Groups are free and exclusively for current OLLI at BCC members.

  The Happy Needlers & Hookers Needlework Group is a Shared Interest Group for people that like to knit, needlepoint, cross-stitch, crochet or enjoy any other needle-based craft.

  You can work on any project you wish. The camaraderie and time we spend together is what we find so enjoyable!
  

  All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced.

  Please contact Sharon Walker or Carol Sabot for more information and to join the group. Let Carolyn know if you will be joining us so we have an idea of how many will be attending. 

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