Vermont Public Community Calendar

THE CHILDREN
by LUCY KIRKWOOD
directed by SARAH ELIZABETH WANSLEY
MARCH 25 - APRIL 12, 2026

In a remote cottage on the lonely British coast, two retired nuclear scientists have settled into a peaceful existence. Outside, the world is unraveling in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear disaster. When an old friend arrives with an unsettling proposal, they must confront the choices of their past and the moral dilemmas of their future. A gripping, suspenseful drama that The New York Times calls “bristling with chills,” The Children is an urgent and haunting exploration of environmental responsibility, legacy, and the price of survival.

Join us in the Athenaeum Art Gallery for an afternoon poetry reading by Mary Elder Jacobsen, who will be sharing selections from her debut collection of poetry, Stonechat (Rootstock 2024), along with – aptly - a few new art-inspired poems.

Mary Elder Jacobsen lives, writes, and plays in Calais, Vermont. Her work has appeared widely in print, online, and on the air.

For more about Jacobsen and Stonechat, visit the website of Mary Elder Jacobsen.

During the 1840s, six settlers and their guide are caught in a dangerous situation: They are lost, food and water are running out, and the surrounding desert threatens to claim them all. Meanwhile, their guide, Stephen Meek (an unrecognizable Bruce Greenwood), refuses to acknowledge that they may be several weeks off-course. When a Native American (Rod Rondeaux) is captured, Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams), one of the settlers, shields him from Meek’s wrath.

Kelly Reichardt’s survival film offers a radically modest take on the Western. It’s here that she fully mastered her unparalleled sense of proportion, where one minor decision leads to a constellation of consequences. She also inverts the genre brilliantly, telling this story mostly through the eyes of the women in the caravan, whose limited power serves to amplify the tension and stakes of an increasingly dire circumstance. Williams work here is as strong as anything in her lengthy body of work, alternately resilient and devastatingly vulnerable. She and Reichardt met at a Yo La Tengo concert, naturally, and it’s here, in the second of their four films together so far, that their collaboration really blossomed.

What is our responsibility to our planet and future generations? What can we do to promote sustainable practices and be good stewards of our environment? Join us for a conversation with director Sarah Elizabeth Wansley and Ecologist Dr. Bala Chaudhary from Dartmouth College’s Environmental Studies Department following the 2 p.m. matinee performance.

About Dr. Bala Chaudhary:
Dr. Bala Chaudhary is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College. She is a National Science Foundation CAREER Awardee and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Continent Scale Biology. Research in her lab focuses on mycorrhizas, underground networks between plants and fungi, and how they can be incorporated into nature-based environmental solutions. Her work spans dozens of ecosystems, from cities to deserts to rainforests, and has applications in climate change mitigation and adaptation, soil conservation, ecosystem restoration and sustainable agriculture. Prior to academia, Dr. Chaudhary worked as an environmental consultant in Los Angeles restoring drastically disturbed urban areas to create habitat for endangered species. She is an award-winning advocate for antiracist strategies in STEM and the founder of WOCinEEB, an international organization for racial and gender minorities in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Admission is Free to the Public.

You are invited to the Richmond Free Library at 4:00 on Saturday, April 4th, to help support The Richmond Food Shelf and Thrift Store. Join Master Storyteller, Woodsman and Author Bill Torrey as he weaves together true, hilarious, heartwarming stories. The NPR Moth Mainstage Performer and Five-Time Moth StorySlam Winner will take you on a jaunt through the real Vermont. Come listen to a sixth-generation native recount stories of loyal friends and tolerated family. Mean teachers and crazy cows. Tall trees and devoted dogs. Tickets are free and there is a suggested donation of $10-$20. All proceeds will go to the Richmond Food Shelf and Thrift Store.

Free Presentation: Lisa Masé presents The Culinary Pharmacy: Food as Medicine. In this engaging talk, Vermont-based holistic nutritionist and author Lisa Masé introduces the concept of the culinary pharmacy: using everyday foods and herbs to support healing and vibrant health. Drawing from her book The Culinary Pharmacy, Lisa blends modern nutrition science with ancestral traditions such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Mediterranean way of eating. Participants will learn simple ways to personalize their eating, understand the energetic qualities of foods, and build a kitchen stocked with ingredients that nourish and support wellbeing. This is a free public event in person and online as part of the Capital City Grange speaker series. The talk is followed by a Community Potluck at 6pm (please bring a dish to share).

Contra dance with live music from musician Amy Englesberg and her band. Cash bar. Kids get in free! $20 suggested donation includes dinner and dance instruction. A fundraiser for the Windsor Public Library.

From Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium to listening rooms throughout the United States, husband-wife duo GOLDPINE has been offering their own brand of bold harmony-driven Americana to audiences large and small. Winner of the 2022 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest, their distinctive harmonies are clearly a channel for their sometimes-raucous, sometimes-reminiscent compositions. With an incredible collection of stories about life, love, and purpose, their live performance is a powerful projection of everything Goldpine is about: striking vocals, bold harmony, and introspection into the human experience.

Shaker Bridge Theatre presents a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck (most Broadway-produced female playwright). Four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting comedy.

Sayles’s masterful film—novelistic in its intricacy and featuring a brilliant ensemble cast, including Joe Morton, Elizabeth Peña, Matthew McConaughey, and Kris Kristofferson—quietly subverts national mythmaking and lays bare the fault lines of life at the border. A keen observer of America’s social fabric, writer-director John Sayles uncovers the haunted past buried beneath a small Texas border town in this sprawling neowestern mystery.

When a skeleton is discovered in the desert, lawman Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper), son of a legendary local sheriff, begins an investigation that will have profound implications both for him personally and for all of Rio County, a place still reckoning with its history of racial violence.

Wild Goose Players presents Cabaret!

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful… even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including best musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1920's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

Fri, April 3, 2026, Sat, April 4, 2026 (mat & eve), Thu, April 9, 2026, Fri, April 10, 2026, Sat, April 11, 2026 (mat & eve) & Sun, April 12, 2026

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful... even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1930's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

The Montpelier Contra Dance happens every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturday at the Capital City Grange Hall. We dance to live music with contra dance bands and callers from around New England and beyond. Beginners, singles, and all ages are welcome; all dances are taught. We use gender neutral role terms. There's a newcomers lesson at 7:45 pm and dancing 8-11pm. Please bring clean soft-soled shoes. More info at www.montpeliercontradance.org $12 adults, $5 kids/low-income, $20 dance supporters. Cash preferred. Venmo or CC accepted. Questions? 802-225-8921 or cdu.tim@gmail.com.

THE CHILDREN: Artist Talkback
Saturday, Apr. 4th following the 7:30pm performance

Join us after the 7:30 PM show for a conversation with the The Children company.
Admission is Free to the Public.

Shaker Bridge Theatre presents a provocative comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck (most Broadway-produced female playwright). Four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting comedy.

Wild Goose Players presents Cabaret!

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful… even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including best musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1920's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

Fri, April 3, 2026, Sat, April 4, 2026 (mat & eve), Thu, April 9, 2026, Fri, April 10, 2026, Sat, April 11, 2026 (mat & eve) & Sun, April 12, 2026

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful... even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1930's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

Wild Goose Players presents Cabaret!

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful… even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including best musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1920's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

Fri, April 3, 2026, Sat, April 4, 2026 (mat & eve), Thu, April 9, 2026, Fri, April 10, 2026, Sat, April 11, 2026 (mat & eve) & Sun, April 12, 2026

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub, where life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful... even the orchestra is beautiful!

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, this masterpiece uses the decadent nightlife of 1930's Berlin as a backdrop for the rise of fascism.

Explore the movements of the new form Ba Fa Wu Bu (Bā Fǎ Wǔ Bù — “Eight Methods, Five Steps”) with Tai Chi Vermont certified instructor Jo Bregnard. If being on your feet for an extended time is challenging for you, join us right from your chair.

In China, Ba Fa Wu Bu is now taught as the standard beginner form. It includes quintessential tai chi movements, and it focuses on the core principles of the practice:
* deliberate weight transference
* healthy posture
* relaxed breathing
* body awareness
* steps that improve balance and agility

These 60-minute classes meets eight Tuesdays at the Springfield UU Meetinghouse and via Zoom livestream online. Recordings will be posted afterwards once they're available for folks who want to review the material or can't attend live.

Follow the link for additional information and to register for livestream access. Please wear comfortable clothing and flat, closed-heel and -toe shoes for practice, and have a full water bottle with you. Questions? Email jo@jobregnard.com.

This class series is supported by Senior Solutions--all are welcome.

(Dreamstime photo)