Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news

Halloween musical 'Macabaret' coming to The Castle on Charles

ROCHESTER — Just before Halloween, The Castle on Charles in Rochester is presenting three evenings of song, music, wit, comedy and vaudeville-styled entertainment. The production is called 'Macabaret' and has been performed across the country and internationally. It is a spooky but comedic cabaret, presented with a three course dinner catered by The Governor's Inn, for three nights only, Oct. 20 to Oct. 22.

A show for ages 12 and up, this collection of grim and ghoulishly funny songs is an offhanded homage to madness, murder, and death.  It has been described as what would emerge if the Addams Family and the Munsters joined forces to do a musical revue, yielding an outrageous look at the morbid and macabre. The evenings double entendre hosts are Phil Graves, Victoria Bledsoe, Donna Shroud and Paul Bearer, with spooky sets by Denise McDonough. The original music and lyrics, written by Scott Keys & Robb Hartman, is brought to life by the piano of Kathy Fink.

The setting for this show is billed as 'absolutely perfect' for The Castle on Charles - an old Episcopal church built as a Castle - and it's 40 foot tower with crenellations, Gothic lanterns, arches, iron chandeliers, a large stone fireplace, impressive woodwork and intimate stage seating and lighting. The Castle on Charles has recently only been available for private events such as birthday parties and weddings, but is selling tickets to the public for this dinner show.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with appetizers available and a cash bar. Dinner starts around 7:30 p.m. followed by the show, with dessert during intermission. There is a choice of Castle stew: Beef, Chicken, or Lentil Vegetarian, all served over mashed potato. Dessert is warm apple crisp with fresh whipped cream. Most tables are front row group seating, so guests may meet new friends. Tickets range from $39 to $49, including dinner, tax and gratuity. There is ample parking at The Rochester Public Library from where the path at the back right of the parking lot leads to The Castle. Tickets are available at www.CastleNH.com.

Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy to host ‘Tradition Interrupted’

EXETER — Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will host Tradition Interrupted, a nationally traveling exhibition that was organized by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, Calif. The exhibit will be on view Oct. 18 to Dec. 10.

Tradition Interrupted explores how artists weave contemporary ideas with traditional art and craft to create thought-provoking hybrid images and objects. The 11 artists in this exhibition—and their traditions—hail from every corner of the globe. From rugs and mosaic to metalwork and ceramics, they are merging age-old art and craft customs with innovative techniques that interrupt tradition while still collaborating with the past.

The artists featured in Tradition Interrupted have lived their lives steeped in the traditions of their ancestors and their connections to cultural customs, imagery, and materials are complex. Some have shared the trepidation they felt when they conceptualized and created their art, but in the process of unraveling tradition, these artists are embracing it and bringing it forward. Ancestral memories and political history—at risk of being forgotten in our fast-paced, digital world—take center stage here. It’s harder to lose sight of something that is staring right at you.

Artists: Anila Quayyum Agha (Pakistan), Faig Ahmed (Azerbaijan), Camille Eskell (U.S.), Mounir Fatmi (Morocco), Ana Gómez (Mexico), Shirin Hosseinvand (Iran), Dinh Q. Lê (Vietnam), Steven Young Lee (U.S.), Jaydan Moore (U.S.), Ramekon O’Arwisters (U.S.), and Jason Seife (U.S.).

Visit the Lamont Gallery website to schedule your visit, learn more about the exhibit, and find out about additional events and educational programming: www.exeter.edu/lamontgallery.

The Art Center presents ‘Twins, Shadows, and Ghosts’

DOVER — Beth Wittenberg is a local multi-media artist living and working on the N.H. Seacoast. Wittenberg was awarded a Printmaking Residency at The Art Center, in Dover, N.H. in the fall of 2021. "The only printmaking experience I had ever had was a tenth grade Printmaking class in HS". In November of 2021 Wittenberg began her love affair with the printmaking process. She continues to work five to six days a week in the studio. "I arrive early in the morning and am able to work uninterrupted for four hours or so". Wittenberg uses an exacto knife to cut stencils out of mylar. "I look forward to creating spontaneously - I don't plan the images - they come to me as I begin cutting a shape. I never know what is going to come forward. The process is often cathartic. Every day I print, I cut new stencils.  My process is about the application of ink to the stencils and then I run the stencils through the printing press. I use a couple of stencils and I print the images overtop of each other creating twins, shadows and ghost prints.”

Wittenberg's recent work is from the series titled "Twins, Shadows, and Ghosts" and based loosely on the idea that printing multiple images of the same stencil, on one piece of paper, creates an image where there are twins present. "I have been working and looking at the twin flames relationship.  The "twin flame" is the idea that there is a spiritual relationship between two souls that have separated in this existence.  "I had met someone in the last year, who claimed to be my twin flame - the relationship was very tumultuous and I have since moved away from this relationship, but the imprint is undeniable. I began creating images of twins.”

Based on Joseph Campbell's archetypes, "The Shadow" is dark subject matter - and the beasts and birds are images I use to depict the darkness of the idea of a shadow. "The shadows are quite literal - I have used a process whereby I am creating multiple prints on one piece of paper and the picture plane is full of these shadows - I am creating a space for my creatures to dwell. They live in the shadows - the dark corners of existence - where they are not easily seen.”

"Making ghost prints is also part of the process. I use leftover ink, after I make a print, to create ghost-like images that sit on the paper and are interwoven with the ideas of the twin flames and the shadow archetype. The ghost-like images remind me that the twin flame relationship I experienced left a deep impression - one where a ghost of the individual is in my mind-scape.”

Wittenberg is very prolific. She has been creating four monoprints daily for approximately eight months. And has hundreds of prints available. The exhibit consists of eight curated prints and are on display through October at The Art Center in Dover. An Artist Reception is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The exhibit can also be seen in person at The Art Center, One Washington Street, Suite 1177. For more information, visit www.theartcenterdover.com, call 603-978-6702 or email theartcenterdover@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news