Événement

Broad Brook Anthology

In 2011, the Town of Guilford celebrated its 250th anniversary with a year-long celebration, beginning on New Years Day and culminating in a New Year's Eve gala. There were events every weekend, and one of the most meaningful and memorable was Guilford poet Verandah Porche's Play for Voices, with photographs by Jeff Woodward and music by Don McLean.

The work consists of narratives Porche collected in her "Kitchen Talks with Guilford Elders." Their recollections, from the 1920s on, include memories of one-room schools, the hurricane of 1938, rural electrification, courtship and hardship, and youthful mischief, read by some of the areas best actors, directed by Michael Fox Kennedy.

Broad Brook, which flows just behind both the Meeting House and the former Grange Hall, is an important waterway in Guilford, winding its way from one of the Town's two major villages, Guilford Center, to the other, Algiers, and then on its way to the Connecticut River. A lot of the Town's inhabitants historically lived along this brook, which powered various mills.

Our venue is the meeting house in one of the Town of Guilford's four villages, Guilford Center, the home village of Guilford Center Stage. This church, a descendent of the Town's original Congregational Meeting House up on the hill above the village, was moved to the village and substantially rebuilt in the 1830's as the Universalist and, later, Unitarian Universalist Church. Its congregation dwindled in the 20th century, and it is now maintained by the Guilford Historical Society, and a lovely venue for chamber music concerts, weddings, and other events. One of the recollections of a Guilford Elder in this play is her reminiscence of her wedding in the building many years ago.

This, our fall production, is presented in association with Guilford's Monteverdi Artists Collaborative, celebrating its half-century anniversary this year.

Though parking is limited right near the building Some parking is available at nearby Broad Brook Community Center is available the performance is on the ground floor, and a ramp will be in place.