CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Josh Prager of Twenty Summers.
PROVINCETOWN – The second summer of Twenty Summers, the month-long nonprofit arts center in Provincetown located in the historic Hawthorne Barn, is underway through June 15. The lineup includes concerts, talks and a play.
The concerts will feature iconic singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, local guitar visionary Patty Larkin, Wellfleet’s own Parkington Sisters, and the Boston-based L’Académie Chamber Orchestra.
Several of the events have already sold out and those have been marked below.
On the literary side over the next four weekends, there will be a discussion between legendary writers Michael Cunningham and Adam Gopnik, gay-rights activist and former congressman Barney Frank will discuss his new book, and wordsmiths Stephin Merritt and Rives will hash out the beauty of two-letter words. Other events include a docudrama by Jeremy Davidson and Mary Stuart Masterson, a conversation with photographer David Hilliard, and, to close out the series, a symposium on the work and teachings of artist Hans Hofmann.
Attending events at Twenty Summers is an intimate affair. The room holds up to 60 guests, so each event is a magical experience.
The following is a list of the upcoming events:
COURTESY OF TWENTY SUMMERS
A historic image of the old Hawthorne Barn. The barn is the location for Twenty Summers, a month-long arts and cultural event in Provincetown.
On Saturday, May 23 is Good-Bye, Sailor: An Evening of Fond and Not-So-Fond Farewells, Spoken and Sung. This is an evening of classical music and readings about nautical wanderlust. The musical performance by L’Académie chamber orchestra will feature dramatic pieces by Henry Purcell, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Marin Marais, and others. Literary excerpts, ranging from Homer to Robert Browning, will be read by National Book Award–winning authors M. T. Anderson and Julia Glass. The show is at 7 p.m. and costs $25.
The following event is SOLD OUT. On Sunday, May 24 is No Passport Needed: Canada to California, Paris to Provincetown . . . with Tour Guides Michael Cunningham and Adam Gopnik. Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham (a Ptown regular) and the Canadian-American New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (who’s partial to Wellfleet) will unite onstage for the first time ever, to talk of matters newsworthy and intimate, factual and imaginary, lofty and lowbrow. Learning to drive, channeling Virginia Woolf, parenting in a foreign country, trespassing in the forbidden forest of the fairy tale—no topic will be off limits. An audience Q&A session and book signing will follow the conversation. This event is at 7 p.m. and costs $20.
On Friday, May 29 is “the little things”: A Docudrama by Jeremy Davidson, directed by Mary Stuart Masterson. This is a reading of a documentary theater piece about one family’s journey through the enigma of Lyme disease, based on transcribed conversations with the Elone family of Poughkeepsie, New York. The piece stars Marcel Spears, Brandon Michael Hall,Jean-Remy Monnay, and Kellie Overbey. This event is at 7 p.m. and costs $25.
Storyhorse, the entity behind “the little things” was created by Jeremy Davidson and Mary Stuart Masterson. It is a documentary theater project based on transcribed conversations with people in the Hudson Valley, focusing on the social, environmental, and medical issues in our communities.
This event is SOLD OUT. On Saturday, May 30, is The Parkington Sisters in Concert. When Ariel, Sarah, and Rose Parkington of the Parkington Sisters pick up their instruments to strike up a song, the air begins to buzz. Hailing from Wellfleet, Massachusetts, the Parkington Sisters cut their teeth on music from the very beginning. Daughters of a prog rock musician and a classically trained guitarist and songwriter, they were raised playing music on picturesque Cape Cod. They became a band performing on the streets of Provincetown and since then have shared the stage with artists ranging from Mavis Staples and Bruce Springsteen to Dispatch and the Dropkick Murphys, performing in radio studios and stages across the US, Canada and Europe, including New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The event is at 7 p.m. and costs $20.
On Sunday, May 31, is Perception of Self: Photographer David Hilliard in Conversation with Hunter O’Hanian, a presentation and reception at Schoolhouse Gallery at 494 Commercial Street. Hunter O’Hanian, director of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City, will talk with David Hilliard about the photographer’s work, especially as showcased in David’s new book, What Could Be, a semi-autobiographical progression of the artist’s explorations of family, societal norms, relationships, and moments of personal discovery in understanding concepts of masculinity. After the presentation, David and Hunter will be free to answer questions and discuss issues raised during their conversation. The event is at 5 p.m. and is free, but donations to Twenty Summers are encouraged.
On Friday, June 5 is Cheating at Scrabble Without the Internet: Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields) and Rives in Conversation. Two poets collide when Stephin Merritt and Rives visit Twenty Summers for a conversation about poetry, language, music, and Scrabble. This event is at 7 p.m. and costs $20.
On Saturday, June 6 is Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields) in Concert. This performance is part of a rare solo U.S. tour by Stephin Merritt. A longtime bandmate Sam Davol will accompany him on cello. Merritt will present a set of solo, acoustic versions of selected songs from his extensive catalog, performing exactly 26 songs, each song title starting with a different letter of the alphabet and running in alphabetical order. This event is at 7 p.m. and costs $60.
This event is SOLD OUT. On Sunday, June 7 is Barney Frank in Conversation with Joanna Weiss. How did a disheveled, intellectually combative gay Jew with a thick accent become one of the most effective (and funniest) politicians of our time? Barney Frank grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey, where, at age 14, he made two vital discoveries about himself: he was attracted to government . . . and to men. He resolved to make a career out of the first attraction and to keep the second a secret. Now, 50 years later, his sexual orientation is widely accepted, while his belief in government is embattled. Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage is one man’s account of the country’s transformation—and the tale of a truly momentous career. This event is at 1 p.m. and costs $20.
Joanna Weiss is an op-ed columnist at the Boston Globe, where she also edits political commentary and curates a series of short documentary films. Her work has appeared in Slate, Pacific Standard, and other publications.
This event is SOLD OUT. On Saturday, June 13 is Patty Larkin in Concert, Down Through the Wood: Songs from a Dune Shack. Patty Larkin redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics. Acoustic Guitar hails her “soundscape experiments” while Rolling Stone praises her “evocative and sonic shading.” She has been described as “riveting” (Chicago Tribune), “hypnotic” (Entertainment Weekly) and a “drop-dead brilliant” performer (Performing Songwriter). The event is at 7 p.m. and costs $30.
On Sunday, June 14 is Artist and Teacher: A Hans Hofmann Symposium, a two-part symposium sponsored by The Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust, in celebration of the recently published Hans Hofmann Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings. The first part will be devoted to the catalogue raisonné itself, with a focus on his career-changing Chimbote series. Panelists will include gallerist James Yohe, professor Ken Silver, and Stacey Gershon, collections manager at The Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust. The second part will feature a discussion of Hofmann as teacher with Paul Resika and Penelope Jencks, who studied with Hofmann at two different periods of his career. The event is at 10:30 a.m.
Listen below to Josh Prager, a founder of Twenty Summers, discussing the events.
