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

Portsmouth's Pontine Theatre kicks off its 47th season

PORTSMOUTH — Pontine Theatre’s 47th Season kicks off Sept. 15 to Sept. 17 with performances by Sarah Frechette, founding director of Vermont’s PuppetKabob. Her latest creation.  Dirty Gerts, is a paper pop-up extravaganza. A groovy blend of historical fiction, 60's pop culture & colorful confetti. Frechette studied puppetry in Germany with legendary Master Puppeteer, Albrecht Roser. She has performed across the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria and China.  Performances are scheduled for Sept. 15, at 7 p.m., Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. and Sept. 17 at 2 p.m.  Pontine Theatre’s venue, the 1845 Plains Schoolhouse theater, is located at 1 Plains Avenue in Portsmouth.  This intimate performance space is fully accessible with free parking available on site. Tickets are $35 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org.

The season continues Oct. 20 to Oct. 22 with  Great Small Works’ We Love Trees,  a toy theatre play created by Great Small Works' John Bell and Trudi Cohen in collaboration with classical musicians Marci Gerri and Daniel Sedgwick. It's the story of a copper beech tree in Somerville, Mass., which once stood in front of the house of a 19th century composer and later became the anchor for a green oasis called Symphony Park. Also on the program is "Living Newspapers: Episode Two: Sidewalk Ballet," a toy theatre play about Robert Moses' and Jane Jacobs' struggle over Washington Square Park In NYC in the 1960's. Great Small Works was founded in 1995 by a collective of artists, all veterans of Vermont's Bread & Puppet Theater.

Nov. 24 to Dec. 3, Pontine Theatre presents A New England Christmas featuring an original adaptation of Frank Stockton’s story, Cap’n Eli’s Best Ear.  This 1908 Christmas tale introduces a widowed sea captain who cleverly engineers his Christmas celebrations to secure his heart’s desire; a new family! The performance features a cast of bunraku-style puppets created by Pontine Artistic Co-Director, Greg Gathers.  Also on the program is holiday music by fiddler Ellen Carlson and friends.

The Season closes March 15 to March 24, 2024 with Robert Frost’s New Hampshire — In 2019 Pontine Theatre created a new work based on the early poems of Robert Frost which, due to the pandemic, was never performed before a live audience. Now the company presents its long-delayed premiere. Frost, a long-time summer resident of Franconia N.H., received the first of four Pulitzer Prizes in 1924 for his volume:  New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes. Known for his New England settings, his down to earth, stark depictions of the difficulties of rural farm life, and his use of colloquial speech, Robert Frost is widely admired as a true American Master.

Haley Art Gallery hosts Jenn Kurtz and Curt Bessette in concert

KITTERY, Maine – Haley Art Gallery will host “Original Songs & Stories” a concert by local seacoast music veterans, Curt Bessette and Jenn Kurtz, on Friday, Sept. 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person and can be reserved by contacting the Gallery at haleygallery@comcast.net or by calling 617-584-2580.

Jenn and Curt will be performing original songs from their concert programs (Veteran’s tribute, Woodstock Anniversary, Valentine’s Day) and a few of their favorite cover songs.

Gallery’s current group exhibit–In Art We Trust–features work by seacoast artists Paul Burke, Laima Vince, Carlos Vega, and Duaa Zahra. Haley Art Gallery also offers Tea-Time Art events on Thursday and Friday afternoons for groups of four or more–by reservation only. The two-hour event is $35 per person and includes gourmet tea and locally sourced delicacies served in antique tea sets.

‘Encontra’ solo exhibition featuring paintings by Robert Sullivan at Aplomb gallery

DOVER — See the vibrant solo exhibition featuring oil paintings by contemporary artist Robert Sullivan at an opening reception Sept 9, from 5 to 8 p.m. Free and open to the public, advanced registration requested https://aplombgallery.com/encontra/.

Juried by Julie Hamel, she reflected:

"It is almost like you could lose your breath with how striking some figures are but then the viewer is simultaneously pushed and pulled with the tension of colors and shapes."

Sullivan possesses an expansive range to his artist’s career, with painting, digital media, design, illustration, critical theory, and writing integral to his educational and professional experiences. Currently a lecturer at Lesley Art+Design, Sullivan specializes in seminars related to visual culture. His art is exhibited in galleries and collections from New York City to Boston and beyond. Sullivan maintains his art practice at his home studio in Portland, Maine.

In Art We Trust group exhibit opens at Haley Art Gallery

KITTERY, Maine – Haley Art Gallery’s season’s end exhibit In Art We Trust will begin with an opening reception on Saturday, Sept. 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. The group exhibit showcases works by artists Paul Burke (New Hampshire), Carlos Vega (Massachusetts), Laima Vince (Maine), and Duaa Zahra (Massachusetts). The exhibit will remain on view through Nov. 18, 2023.

Upcoming Sept. to Oct. events at Haley Art Gallery:

• Sept. 8, 7 p.m. – Jenn Kurtz and Curt Bassette in concert. $10 Admission.

• Sept. 16, 1 to 3 p.m. – Artist, Laima Vince presents: The Silenced Muse: The Brief Life of the Poet Matilda Olkinaite.

• Oct. 7, 1 to 3 p.m. – Artists Gallery Talk with all the artists.

Haley Art Gallery offers Tea-Time Art events on Thursday and Friday afternoons–by reservation only. The two-hour event is $35 per person and includes gourmet tea and locally sourced delicacies served in antique tea sets.

Contact: Haley Art Gallery at 617-584-2580 or haleygallery@comcast.net.

3S Artspace presents: As Above, So Below featuring works by Davana Robedee and TESTSET featuring works by Shaina Gates

PORTSMOUTH — 3S Artspace will hold an Opening Reception and Meet The Artist Event for two new art exhibitions this Friday, Sept. 8, from 5 to 8 p.m., in the Gallery: indigo stitch resist shibori by Davana Robedee in As Above, So Below; and photo film figure sculptures and lumen prints by Shaina Gates in TESTSET. The two artists will give a talk and an opportunity for Q&A at 7 p.m. Included in the reception is an additional exhibit in the Lobby Gallery: paintings by Eric MacDonald in Portsmouth After Dark.

Davana Robedee grows and dyes with indigo, using it in her work questioning human consciousness. She makes marks and patterns in the silk, paper, and cotton using shibori stitch resist techniques.

“Indigo dye is an intriguing substance. It strikes a balance between precise science and magical experience,” Davana Robedee said. “Long before its scientific understanding, indigo was used all over the world for its color and revered for its magical transformation from green to blue in the dye process.”

As such, Robedee describes its place in her artistic practice as both symbolic and functional. From one vantage point she said she slows her experience of time, creating a magical transformation. From another, she is binding fabric and initiating a chemical reaction. She said the resulting imagery references her parasomnia hallucinations.

“My experience with visual aura, lucid dreams, and hallucinations is the driving force behind my creative practice. Many of my pieces function as direct metaphors representing the line between thoughts and matter, dream and wake, and consciousness and unconsciousness,” Robedee said.

Davana Robedee will teach a two-day community art workshop while her work is on view in the Gallery: Indigo Shibori Workshop Saturday, Sept. 9 through Sunday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Member $135 / Non-Member $150

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