“I was looking out the window, waiting for words that did not come,” says Rebecca Norris Webb of sequestering herself in Wellfleet early in the pandemic. Outside, her husband, Alex, […]
Arts & Minds
Celebrating the creative and sometimes quirky culture of the Outer Cape.
Browse all Arts & Minds stories below or dive into a topic:
PERFORMANCE
Improv Is About Everyone in the Room
Outer Cape troupe fills a gap in the local comedy scene
IMPROVincetown’s June 16 show began with an unusual advisory. “Normally at a show, you’re told to turn your phone off,” announced improv troupe member Katie Pentedemos. “But we want you […]
DRAG REVIEW
Qya Cristál Brings Art to Artifice
A performance that’s part autobiography, part political statement, and completely spellbinding
In the same way that the groom shouldn’t see the bride before the wedding, the audience probably shouldn’t see the drag queen before the show. It’s not about superstition — […]
THEATER REVIEW
Hooking Up With ‘Marry Me a Little’
WHAT offers a living ode to the late Stephen Sondheim
When Stephen Sondheim died last November, the loss to the world of musical theater was incalculable. Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!; Mame; La Cage aux Folles) may have been the master […]
THEATER REVIEW
Gender Is the Thing in ‘The Lady Hamlet’
Sarah Schulman’s witty new play premieres at the Provincetown Theater
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not the manliest of tragic heroes. When the ghost of his father, the former King Hamlet of Denmark, accuses his brother Claudius, now king and Hamlet’s stepdad […]
Coming to a Venue Near You
Independent staff and contributors preview some upcoming performances
Brett Dennen at the Beachcomber, Wellfleet Instant attraction to a new artist is rare, so I could barely contain my excitement after listening to Brett Dennen’s “Wild Child” for the […]
Arts Briefs
Arts Briefs for June 7 through July 13, 2022
Surface Play at AMZehnder Gallery Patte Ormsby, Ingrid Scheibler, and Rosalie Acinapura bring an exploratory interest in surface to their respective works at the AMZehnder Gallery in Wellfleet. Acinapura’s photographs, […]
AESTHETICS
Finding Material Pleasure in the Glitch
Former FAWC fellows respond to instability with inventive and sensuous forms
The densest thing about “Density’s Glitch,” the current show at the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), is the accompanying text. Just a page in length, it has some knotty phrases. […]
PERFORMANCE
Quiet Myths Animate Hiroya Tsukamoto’s Songs
The guitarist sometimes stops mid-song to tell the story behind it
The guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto tells a story. About four years ago, in Hamden, Conn., he made a friend, a professor at Quinnipiac University. “He took me to this mountain,” says […]
LINE AND COLOR
Cynthia Packard Wages War to Find the Right Lines
The artist wants her paintings to have ‘a reason to survive’
Cynthia Packard says she dances with her paintings. It must be a tango or flamenco; it’s not a waltz. Her intensely physical approach to painting is intuitive, abrupt, sure, and […]
LINE BREAK
Mad Libs Poetry: To Spring on Cape Cod
Jessica Smart brings Mary Oliver home with peepers, lilacs, and whales
Mary Oliver’s voice, vision, and words are beloved around the world and uniquely tied to Provincetown, where she lived for many decades. Her poems have introduced countless readers to ponds, […]
BOOK REVIEW
A Place of Quiet Beauty Reveals Its Lively Past
Sharon Dunn combines poetry and history in writing about Bound Brook Island
In the same week that we came to live in a cottage halfway between Lombard and Paradise hollows, on the Wellfleet-Truro line, Christopher and I took a walk on Bound […]
QUEER ‘I’
The View From Five-Foot-Five
At Tea Dance, finding the upside of being short
I’m five-foot-five, and I’m never as aware of this fact as when I’m at Tea Dance. Before I say more, I want to clear up a misunderstanding: I like being […]
Arts Briefs
Arts Briefs for June 30 through July 6, 2022
12-Person Show at AMP Works by Barbara E. Cohen and Jay Critchley occupy the same wall at Art Market Provincetown (432 Commercial St.) right now. Cohen’s four paintings depicting a […]
LONGING
A Journey Back to Portugal With Sonia Bettencourt
The award-winning fadista channels heartbreak, joy, and her home country in song
PROVINCETOWN — At the start of each performance, Sonia Bettencourt, dressed to the nines, takes center stage with a warm smile. But as soon as she opens her mouth, she […]
