Peterborough Dance Theatre

Announcing the Redfern’s Exciting 2019-2020 Season!

The Redfern Arts Center, Keene State College’s arts presenter of dynamic and multifaceted arts experiences, proudly announces its 2019-20 performance season, featuring seven unique and thrilling performances in dance, theatre, music and puppetry, artist residencies and more. Redfern’s 38th season celebrates interdisciplinary artists at the top of their form, those who blend and remix styles, who bring down the house with horns and rhythm, and who explore the important topics of our time. Projects will forefront human stories, historical characters, and layered histories to create emotional resonance between past and present and invite listening, conversation, and empathy.

The Redfern opens its season with its Season Kickoff Party on Wednesday, September 11 from 4:30- 6:30 p.m.- an annual, free, and open celebration of the arts at Keene State. Party-goers are invited onstage the Main Theatre, to eat, drink and connect behind-the-scenes, hear about the performing arts programs at Keene State, and get highlights of the upcoming performance season.

Redfern’s 38th Season, running from September 2019 through May 2020, will showcase an exciting range of work, including: the fiery, fun Slavic Soul Party! from Brooklyn, NY; Israeli-born choreographer/ dancer and “bona-fide b-girl” Ephrat Asherie with her new work Odeon-  a high octane dance work for seven dancers and four musicians; the electrifying Julian Fleisher and His Rather Big Band in an interactive performance of American popular music from the year 1975; and a charming, food-filled farce for audiences of all ages from Piti Theare Company. The season includes the debut of POWER by choreographer Reggie Wilson/ Fist and Heel Performance Group, exploring intersections between Black Shaker worship and movement, and the return to Keene of stage and screen actor Roger Guenveur Smith and Vermont’s Sandglass Theater, each with new theatre pieces that explore contemporary narratives on homelands and refugees, displacement, memory, and belonging.

Throughout the season, the Redfern’s Creative Connections engagement program invites the KSC campus, local community members, and partners to participate and collaborate in a range of creative exchanges and interactive experiences with artists, such as workshops, class visits, artist residencies and post-performance talks. The Creative Connections program provides free engagement activities and points of entry into our performance season and generates opportunities for audiences to dig deeper into art, artists, and the creative process. Creative Connections highlights for the 38th season include a flash mob with the Slavic Soul Party!; puppetry workshops with Sandglass Theater; post-show art making following Piti Theatre’s Sammy and Le Grand Buffet; and an intergenerational, community dance workshop with Ephrat Asherie Dance. For more information about Creative Connections activities, contact Redfern’s Assistant Director Sharon Fantl, 603-358-2167, sfantl@keene.edu.

Tickets for the new season go on sale Monday, August 5 to members only, and to the general public a week later on Monday, August 12.

Memberships can be purchased by phone 603-358-2168 and in person when the Redfern Box Office is open, Monday to Friday, from 12 to 5 p.m.

Redfern Arts Center Wins 2018 Ewing Award!

Monadnock Region artists in 10 categories were celebrated at the fourth annual Ewing Arts Awards on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, hosted by The Sentinel and Arts Alive!. The Redfern Arts Center was honored to be awarded the 2018 Ewing Award for Arts Presenter.

The awards aim to support and celebrate creative practices within the Monadnock Region by recognizing the artists and arts organizations that are doing the most to fuel the development of a vibrant local arts scene. A portion of ticket sales benefits Arts Alive!, a local nonprofit organization committed to improving the quality and accessibility of cultural opportunities for all area residents.

The program honors the late Ruth and James Ewing, former owners of The Sentinel, who were champions of the arts.

Read about the Redfern’s award here!