For 23 years, the Rothstein family has welcomed visitors to Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Massachusetts, for a mind-opening experience that captures the eccentric energy of the Berkshires in a single shot. Located on 100 acres on the slopes of Mount Race, the property integrates a riverside inn, a Revolutionary War-era tavern-turned-farm-to-table restaurant, and an arts venue known for attracting a roster of acclaimed musicians, artists, and performers. This autumn, its three performance spaces will welcome a buzzy schedule of border-blurring programming from across the globe, including the can’t-miss Berkshires debut of Ghanaian hip hop performance artist Jojo Abot.
October kicks off with the world-renowned puppet theater master Julian Crouch, who will perform his groundbreaking chamber work, “Birdheart,” from October 6 to 8. Through a series of animated images built in front of the audience’s eyes, “Birdheart” creates something achingly beautiful from the humblest of beginnings: a sheet of brown paper, found objects, shadows, and a box of sand. The show, co-created with Saskia Lane, has been performed for everyone from infants to great-grandparents, and even the Dalai Lama.
On Saturday, October 21, a Broadway star comes to the Race Brook Lodge stage: composer-singer, experimentalist, and award-winning actress Grace McLean. Drawing from the tradition of vocalists like Bobby McFerrin, McLean multiplies her voice in electronic loops that can turn a singer into a one-person chorus.
The weekend wraps up on Sunday, October 22 with the mesmerizing duo Hinterlands. Between new music and folk trance, the performances of violinist Ben Russell and accordionist Matt Schreiber conjure a musical world where boundaries blur and new resonance is born. Both celebrated artists in their own right, Russell has toured and recorded with Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire, the National, and more, while Schreiber, currently pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology at CUNY, is an award-winning Balkan-style accordionist with roots in New Orleans and cabaret.
On Saturday, October 28, as Halloween approaches, cozy up in the barn for the Spooky Silent Cinema party, a playful homage to a bygone era. The screening of The Unsilent Picture starring “the clown prince of Broadway” Bill Irwin (Mr. Noodle on “Sesame Street”) features sound effects artist Leslie Bloome performing live accompaniment to the film. An in-person artist talkback on the history of silent cinema with Bloome and director Alex Harvey will follow the screening. A showing of the trippy 1920 expressionist horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will cap off the evening.
Ghanaian hip hop performance artist Jojo Abot makes her Berkshires debut on Sunday, October 29. Abot, who has performed at MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, the Venice Biennale, the Armory, Radio City Music Hall, and the Apollo, is an interdisciplinary healer exploring evolving themes of spirituality, identity, and community through music, film, fine art, and fashion photography. Abot will be in residence at Race Brook Lodge developing a new multidisciplinary show that will combine music, monologue, film, and plenty of outrageous, eye-catching handmade garments.
Sunday, November 5 will honor Dia de los Muertos with a day of regional Mexican dance and music from the vibrant, penetrating quartet Pulso de Barro. In the afternoon, members of Pulso de Barro will teach the dance and singing of Son Jarocho, a vernacular folk music of Veracruz, followed by a ceremonial Fandango for the ancestors in the evening that is open to all.
Race Brook Lodge’s weekly offerings continue throughout the fall, with its famed Reggae Party on Wednesday nights, local music performances on Thursday nights at its Down County Social Club, Jazz brunch on Sunday mornings, and community ecstatic dances on the third Sunday afternoon of each month.
To learn more about upcoming events at Race Brook Lodge, visit Rblodge.com/events.
