Donald Beal’s Painterly Drama
An exhibition of paintings by Donald Beal now at the Wellfleet Adult Community Center (715 Old King’s Hwy.) displays three bodies of work: landscapes of grand, sweeping views; floral studies; and a trio of views of waterfalls. Beal’s range is evident in both the variety of subjects and in his paint handling, which — like the weather he often depicts — is tempestuous, shifting dramatically over the surface of one picture and encompassing faster gestures and softer, more temperate touches in others.
Beal developed the three large-scale landscapes in the show through a laborious process of moving paint around, scraping it away, and repainting until he came up with images that he says felt “vital” to him. The process captures some of the wildness of nature, which is especially evident in Moonrise and Fire, a moody, dark painting activated by a flash of fire at its center. Barren Hill and Abandoned Quarry recall both the dynamism of geology and the human body in the land’s crevices and bulging hills.
The long wall in the exhibition space lends itself to a sequential reading of Beal’s paintings. Following the grand landscapes are a series of images of flowers in vases. Here, the energy is more restrained. There are still moments of painterly indulgence, like the juicy dab of yellow paint that describes the petal of a peony in Floral (Condolence). The energy picks up again in Night Blooms, in which the flowers are liberated from their vases, their oversize petals dominating the composition as a storm looms in the distance. The effect is operatic and gothic.
The exhibition concludes — or begins, depending on how you move through the space — with three fantastic paintings of waterfalls. It becomes obvious why the artist is drawn to this subject: Beal paints in a manner that conveys the energy of a waterfall. Paint rushes downward. In Hillside Torrent, it seems to explode across the surface. Yet there’s delicacy here, too. In Saco Falls (Variation #2), the pale colors of the water evoke the misty atmosphere of a waterfall and a carefully painted top edge introduces a deep, carefully articulated space in the distance.
The show is on view through the end of December. See wellfleetcoa.org for more information. —Abraham Storer
Fermin Rojas Wants You to Consider the Motive
Would our views on the wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood” change if we knew townspeople had been suspicious of him for being different? Might a gunman reconsider his shooting plan if the ghost of Abraham Lincoln appeared and heard him out? What would our final thoughts be if we were about to die?
Those are three intriguing scenarios Fermin Rojas explores in his “Some Things Old, Some Things New: A Collection of Short Plays,” being given staged readings on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Truro Public Library, 7 Standish Way (trurolibrary.org). The readings are the third installment in the Truro Playwright Collective’s monthly off-season series.
“Human-rights issues are extremely important to me,” Rojas says, “and understanding why people do the things they do.”
Born in Cuba just after the revolution, Rojas grew up in Florida after his family moved there in 1966. He studied acting and directing and pursued theater alongside a career in banking.
He didn’t return to Cuba until 50 years later — after he’d moved to Provincetown and worked at Galeria Cubana. Following that, he co-produced Alumbrones, a 2013 documentary film about Cuban artists. He and his partner Jay Kubesch, who is also his film-company partner, also formed Cuba’s first gay men’s chorus.
The fact that Rojas’s immigrant heritage influences his work is part of what drew artistic director Chris Ostrom to his American-history-oriented play, Liberty Talks, which was produced at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in September. In it, the Statue of Liberty contemplates her own story in a way Ostrom says he found “compelling, fun, and light-hearted, but also deeply meaningful.”
Rojas tackles difficult subjects with storytelling and often, as in the Red-Riding-Hood play, with humor. “I describe myself as a hopeful pessimist,” he says. —Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
Weaving Creativity at the Wellfleet Fiber Arts Show
The second annual Wellfleet Fiber Arts Show is currently on view at Wellfleet Public Library (55 West Main St.). This non-juried exhibition, which was open to all Wellfleet residents, offers an array of creative approaches to fiber arts, defined by the library as “original pieces that are created through any craft or medium that makes primary use of yarn, thread, fabric or other textile material.”
Materials range from standard craft store yarn to corn and wisteria fibers. Techniques are similarly varied and incorporate a range of tools: sewing machines, looms, crochet hooks, Elmer’s glue, and even simply hands for tying macramé knots. Wall texts identify the maker of each work and the medium used to create it, with additional information about weaving traditions or a personal story behind the work.
One of the most impressive works on view is a handknit Fair Isle sweater jacket by Linnea Olson. Made of wool, silk, and cotton, its alternating colors and repeating patterns demonstrate great skill and thoughtful design. There’s a practical side, too: as the accompanying text explains, the two layers of the stranded knitting technique make the garment good for blocking wind, “great for us living and working on the coast.”
Other works are purely decorative forms of self-expression. Nature is a recurring inspiration for several of them. Amy LaLone’s wall hanging, Sunset on Blackfish Creek — a Finnish raanu-style rug made of wool and linen — replicates the colors in a photograph of a sunset near her home. Katie Hickey’s small tapestry, Beech Forest Pond, is similarly inspired by the Cape landscape and is a woven version of one of her paintings. Sheryl Jaffe’s Keeping It Together challenges our expectations of what fiber is as it combines actual plant fibers with a photopolymer print on fibrous paper.
Sometimes, a particular material or the process itself provides inspiration. Chris Grozier uses luminescent Angelina fiber for her appliqué jellyfish, while Scott Packer’s market bag, which has sewn elements and a handwoven strap, is made of fabric by Vlisco, a Dutch company formed in 1846 that specializes in printed fabric.
The show is on view through Jan. 18. There will be an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 20 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. See wellfleetlibrary.org for more information. —Chet Domitz
Calling All Nerds
Comic artist Phil Jimenez says the initial focus of “Talk Nerdy to Me,” a new weekly gathering at Provincetown Brewing Co. (147 Bradford St.), is on “classic nerd” stuff like comic books, Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons, and video games. But his hope is that it will evolve into an evening where everyone can share something they nerd out about: “From vintage cars to vinyl and turntables to … whatever!” he says.
Jimenez, who is known for his work on classic comics Wonder Woman, New X-Men, and The Invisibles, says that his motivation for “Talk Nerdy to Me” started with a former student of his who struggled socially among his college peers — and who later created his own self-published comic. “That discipline, that ambition, that kind of relentless dreaming is something I admire,” he says.
For the first night of “Talk Nerdy to Me” last month, Jimenez presented a tutorial on how he makes comic books and how they are eventually adapted into big-budget movies. “The ‘how to’ part was a big success,” he says, adding that the subjects of future gatherings will be determined by the interests of the people who participate.
“We’re hoping people will just come by and eat, drink, and celebrate all the nerdy stuff,” he says. “Mostly, it’s just a way for those of us in town who are into this stuff to get our nerd on together.”
“Talk Nerdy to Me” meets every Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. See ptownbrewingco.com for information. —Pat Kearns
A Grinch Returns to Provincetown
Paul E. Halley was in the audience for the first townie variety show at the Provincetown Theater in 2017. He was so taken with the local talent that he’s performed in it every year since.
“What I love most is that it’s ordinary people from around town,” says Halley. “Actors get up there, but you also see the cashier at Stop & Shop on stage singing. There’s never any shortage of talent in this town, so you don’t know who’s going to show up, and that’s part of the fun.”
This year’s annual Townie Holiday Extravaganza, comprising around 20 acts, takes place at Provincetown Theater (238 Bradford St.) from Thursday, Dec. 19 to Sunday, Dec. 22.
Halley, who says he moved to Provincetown for the summer in 1987 and “never left,” jokes that nobody would pay for his singing. Instead, he plays to the spoken-word strengths he’s developed after acting in other shows at the Provincetown Theater, including Casa Valentina, It’s a Wonderful Life, and the recently closed Almost, Maine.
In previous extravaganzas, he’s read the classic essay “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus” (from an 1897 editorial in the New York Sun) and Tim Burton’s poem “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” This year, he’ll read Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with pianist John Thomas adding a silent movie-like accompaniment.
“That’s all his creativity, and it adds another layer that’s a lot of fun,” says Halley. He may recreate a version of the goth–inspired outfit he wore in last year’s show for his costume.
The talent show holds other precious memories for Halley, he says, including the year when a young performer brought the audience to tears with a rendition of Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” a song about resilience written after a friend’s cancer diagnosis. Then he laughs recalling when another performer’s missed entrance cue ended up with the uncomfortable silence being filled by the audience spontaneously breaking into “Silent Night.”
Tickets for the Townie Holiday Extravaganza are $25, plus fees, at provincetowntheater.org. —Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
