What a Difference a Day Makes
Think of what you’ve accomplished in the last 24 hours. Does it involve writing, rehearsing, directing, and performing an original play before a live audience? Multiply that by a half dozen and you’ll have an idea of what’s behind the 24-Hour Plays event at the Provincetown Theater (238 Bradford St.) on Saturday and Sunday, March 4 and 5.
Now in its 13th year in Provincetown, the program — produced in partnership with the Provincetown Playwrights’ Lab — will bring together six playwrights and six directors with 18 actors for six new 10-minute plays that will be performed over the course of the weekend. Playwrights Paul E. Haley, Racine Oxtoby, Sylvia Peck, Candace Perry, and Lynda Sturner have been confirmed as participants as of this week’s deadline.
In addition to live performances on both days at the Provincetown Theater, the Sunday, March 5 performances will be livestreamed via the theater’s website.
Established in 1995, the international 24-Hour Plays series has staged productions in London, Los Angeles, Dublin, Minneapolis, Finland, Mexico, and other locations all over the world. The 24-Hour Plays: Viral Monologues series that started in 2020 has produced 600 theater pieces that have been archived by the Library of Congress.
For more information on 24-Hour Plays: Provincetown, see provincetowntheater.org.
Looking at the Natural History of Cape Cod
It would take a lifetime to fully explore the ecology, wildlife, waterways, and other natural resources of Cape Cod. But there’s an opportunity to catch up on some of the most recent discoveries and research about the Cape’s natural history in just one day.
On Saturday, March 11, Mass Audubon will present the 26th annual Cape Cod Natural History Conference at Cape Cod Community College’s Tilden Arts Center (2240 Iyannough Rd., West Barnstable) from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
This will be the first time in three years that the annual conference will be held in person. “It’s always been one of my favorite events in large part because of the special opportunity to meet and talk to local scientists one-on-one,” said Mass Audubon Cape Cod Regional Director Melissa Lowe. “It provides a place to learn about the people doing work related to the environment and to network — and even to inspire future projects by sharing questions and ideas.”
The conference will include presentations on topics such as the role Cape Cod plays in protecting habitats of the whimbrel, an endangered Western Atlantic shorebird; new research on the feeding habits of humpback whales; and updates on a successful 10-year project to restore a population of spadefoot toads in Falmouth.
The conference fee is $25 ($15 for students). Coffee and refreshments will be provided. See massaudubon.org/ccnhc to register or call 508-349-2615.
Reading The Outermost House
“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach,” wrote Henry Beston in The Outermost House, published in 1928. “I have heard them all, and of the three elemental voices, that of ocean is the most awesome, beautiful and varied.”
Beston had returned from the trauma of being an ambulance driver at Verdun, France in World War I when he retreated to the Outer Cape, built a two-room cabin on the Great Beach at Eastham, spent a solitary year there observing the seasons and the wildness of nature, and then wrote his classic memoir, which helped inspire the creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Eight writers and naturalists with strong connections to the Outer Cape will be reading selections from Beston’s book on four Sundays in March at the Inn at the Oaks in Eastham. This Sunday, March 5, the series will be kicked off by the celebrated nature writer Robert Finch of Wellfleet, who wrote the introduction to the 75th anniversary edition of The Outermost House, published in 2003. He will be joined by Martha Minow, the 300th Anniversary Professor and former dean of Harvard Law School, a part-time Eastham resident.
The other readers in the series, which will be streamed live, are Dennis Minsky, Sebastian Junger, Deborah Ullman, Margot Stage, Rebecca Okrent, and Bob Seay. All proceeds from the events go to the nonprofit Local Journalism Project, which provides fellowships and housing for aspiring journalists in partnership with the Provincetown Independent. For more information and tickets see localjournalismproject.org. —Edward Miller
Going Back to School in Truro
The second week in March marks the beginning of the Truro Community Education spring session, which includes a mix of in-person classes at Truro Central School and Zoom classes online. Course lengths range from single-day classes to six-week sessions.
According to Heather Harper, the Truro community education and after-school activities director, two sessions of classes are offered each year: one from October to December, and one from March to May. “It’s been in existence for at least 25 years,” she says.
Class subjects this spring include full-body fitness, beginner’s Spanish, singing, mindfulness meditation, nature drawing, and watercolor techniques. There is also a series of free guided hikes around Wellfleet with Kevin Carroll of the Wellfleet Hiking Club. Although some classes have been geared toward children in past sessions, this spring’s lineup is mostly for adults.
Course instructors are mostly drawn from the Outer Cape community. “There’s a core group of teachers,” says Harper, adding that some have been teaching courses for over 20 years. Her own favorites are classes on clay sculpture and pine needle basket-making. “They’re just incredible,” she says. “The students make wonderful things.”
Most course fees range from $45 to $85 per class. See truromass.org for a full schedule and registration information. —Eve Samaha
