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“We’re doing it in the round,” Haefner said during a telephone interview from her home in Andover, Vt., between rehearsals last week. “This way, the audience is almost right in the living room with us. It’s almost like we’re spying on a real-life thing.”
As an actor, Haefner, whose resume includes stints on Broadway and performances with Vermont’s Northern Stage and Weston Playhouse, had experienced the 360-degree scrutiny while co-starring in Shaker Bridge’s productions of The How and the Why in 2016 and Other Desert Cities in 2015. For 4000 Miles, which examines a rootless young man’s efforts to reconnect with his grandmother and to figure out how and whether to maintain relationships with two women of his own generation, Haefner, 52, sought the same kind of intimacy that in-the-round demands.
“Sometimes I choose an image when I’m directing, and in this case, we’ve got a character who cycles across the country on a bike,” said Haefner, who has directed plays in Vermont and Connecticut. “To me, it symbolizes the circle of life. And we circle around each other until we find each other.”
Those rotations, as well as the intensity of the one-on-one scenes, have made rehearsals equal parts challenging and exhilarating for Irene Green, of White River Junction, who will portray Bec, the on-again, off-again girlfriend of the male character.
“After I read the script, I was enthralled with the story,” said Green 34, who in her day job handles sales and marketing at Northern Stage, for which she occasionally acts as well. “It’s a story that maybe needs to be told right now. To me, the play is all about people just missing each other, and not quite being able to connect for lots of reasons.”
Green is grateful for the way Haefner, who also teaches acting in Brattleboro, is keeping the cast connected.
“She’s extremely collaborative,” Green said. “She’s also very positive. She sees the glass half full, in life and in the rehearsal room. We really need that with this play, where there are things that happen that are really soul-destroying.
“She brings a lot of light.”
After performing with Green in Northern Stage’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol and during the company’s New Works Now festival of staged readings, Haefner saw the kind of light she wanted in Bec’s character.
“I loved her energy in the room,” Haefner said. “I loved how she collaborated. So once we got the go-ahead for this, I just called her. I didn’t even audition her. She’s got a nice balance of intelligence and a sweet energy on stage, and at the same time is very driven.”
Haefner added that she is counting on Green and the rest of the cast (Peggy Cosgrave as the grandmother Vera, Jackson Thompson as the grandson and Maya Knaff as the potential new love interest Amanda) to illuminate Herzog’s themes.
“After I read the play, I went right up to Bill Coons and said, ‘Can we put this on and can I direct it?’ ” Haefner recalled, referring to Shaker Bridge’s artistic director. “The way it digs into family and relationships really hit me. These characters … I was weeping and crying just reading it.”
And she couldn’t imagine a better place to stage it than Shaker Bridge.
“I’ve acted in three plays there,” Haefner said. “It’s so intimate. There’s not a lot of extra production values needed with a play like this. It’s about the story and the actors.”
Shaker Bridge Theatre kicks off its production of
Best Bets
Accordionist Jeremiah McLane and bagpiper Timothy Cummings play traditional dance music from the British Isles, northern Europe and North America, as well as their own compositions, at ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret on Saturday night at 7. Admission costs $15 at the door, and $20 for those requesting the Vermont duo’s new CD, Wheezer and Squeezer. To reserve tickets and learn more, visit artistreevt.org.
• In the run-up to Mardi Gras, The Conniption Fits host a Masquerade Ball at the Fireside Inn in West Lebanon on Saturday night. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. for the gala, to which the alt-rock band is encouraging attendees to wear at least a mask, preferably full costumes in gothic or colonial style. Prizes will be awarded for best mask and for best-dressed masquerader. Admission costs $20 in advance and $30 at the door; by the middle of this week, the event was approaching a sellout. To reserve tickets and learn more, visit conniptionfits.com or facebook.com/conniptionfits or call 603-667-7712.
• Strafford-based Americana musician and producer Jim Rooney leads the Briggs Ole Opry Pickin’ Party and Variety Show at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction on Saturday night at 8. Sharing the stage will be White River Junction-native singer-songwriter Jes Raymond with her band The Blackberry Bushes, Rob Oxford and Americana’s Most Wanted, Dave Clark with Juke Joynt, and trumpeter Bob Totz. Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door. To reserve seats, visit yellowhousemedia.com.
•The Gypsy Minor duo of Tom Moreau and Sarah Jane Nelson set the rhythm and Nils Fredland calls the steps for Muskeg Music’s contradance at Tracy Hall in Norwich on Saturday night at 8. A walk-through for newcomers will be held at 7:45. All should bring a clean pair of soft-soled shoes, as well as snacks for the pot luck. Admission is $6 to $9.
• Argentine singer-guitarist-composer Cecilia Zabala performs a wide range of Latin-American music at Dartmouth College’s Faulkner Recital Hall in Hanover on Sunday afternoon at 4. Accompanying Zabala through the performance, part of the Vaughan Recital Series, will be wind-instrumentalist Don Davis and pianist Joe Deleault. Admission is free.
• Plainfield’s Peter Pardoe hosts an open mic for comedians at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon on Monday night at 8:30. Sets run five to seven minutes. Sign-up starts at 8.
•Singer-songwriter Brian Warren performs Cajun music, he hopes with fellow musicians who show up to put the jam in jambalaya, from 7 to 10 on Tuesday night, during the Mardi Gras celebration at The Public House in Quechee. The Fat Tuesday party begins at 4.
Looking Ahead
Singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky performs at the Flying Goose Brewpub and Grille in New London next Thursday night at 8. Reservations are required. To order tickets and learn more, visit flyinggoose.com or call 603-526-6899.
• Dartmouth College graduate student Camilla Tassi will unveil her research of 17th-century baroque composer Giacomo Carissimi on March 4 at 7 p.m. at the Hop Garage space in Hanover, with a multimedia production featuring a chamber chorus singing duets of Carissimi works that she transcribed at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, Italy. The presentation also includes Italian poetry and digital projections of the space in Italy where one of Carissimi’s oratorios was first performed in 1648. Admission is free.
•The Moonlighters big band will fill Hartland’s Damon Hall with jazz, rock, ballroom, disco and polka rhythms on March 4. After Jenny Gelfan teachers a swing-dance lesson at 6:30 p.m., the band takes the stage at 7:30. Admission costs $12 per person or $22 per couple. To learn more, email hartlandarts@gmail.com or themoonlightersbigband@yahoo.com or call 802-436-2069.
Theatre/Performance Art
Northern Stage continues its production of the Neil Simon comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers over the coming week, starting with performances at 2 this afternoon and 7:30 tonight. The play runs through March 5. For tickets ($14 to $54) and more information, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000.
•The theater department at Dartmouth College lowers the curtain on its production of Urinetown: The Musical• with performances at the Moore Theater in Hanover on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 and on Sunday afternoon at 2. To reserve tickets ($10 to $15) and learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Music
Roots-rocker Celia Woodsmith returns to her native Upper Valley on Saturday night to perform with guitarist Chris Hersch and their Woodsmith & Hersch quintet at the Skinny Pancake. The show runs from 8 to 10. To reserve tickets ($15) and learn more, visit skinnypancake.com.
• Conductor Filippo Ciabatti leads the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra through Sibelius’ Violin Concerto• and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1• on Saturday night at 8 at Spaulding Auditorium in Hanover. Ciabatti will talk about the pieces at 7 in the Hopkins Center’s Faulkner Recital Hall. For tickets to the concert, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
• Vocalist Giacomo Gates performs the Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon session this weekend at the Center at Eastman in Grantham. The music begins at 4. To reserve tickets ($16 to $18) and learn more, visit josajazz.com or call 603-381-1662 or email bill.wightman@comcast.net.
Dance
Revels North hosts a community dance at Norwich’s Tracy Hall on Saturday night from 6:30 to 7:30, with Band of Fools providing the music and Nils Fredland serving as caller. Admission to the dance, which is part of Revels Traditions Day, is by donation.
•The Upper Valley Dance Club invites self-doubters as well as aspiring Fred Astaires, Ginger Rogerses, Gene Kellys and Cyd Charisses to a community dance on Saturday night at 8 at Hanover’s Richard W. Black Community Center. Admission is $10. Before the main event, Faye Grearson will lead a workshop in West Coast Swing from 6 to 7:30, then a free mini-lesson in swing. To reserve tickets and learn more, call 603-443-6550 or email UpperValleyDanceClub@gmail.com.
Bar and Club Circuit
Juke Joynt rocks the tavern of the Lyme Inn tonight starting at 6.
•Singer-songwriter Andrew Merzi appears at the Taverne on the Square in Claremont tonight at 6.
•Pianist William Ogmundson commands the keyboard at the Canoe Club in Hanover tonight starting at 6:30. Following him to the venue with 6:30 performances over the coming week are pianists Jonathan Kaplan on Friday, Randall Mullen on Saturday and Gillian Joy on Sunday, and guitarist Bruce Gregori on Tuesday.
•The Wheelers cover multiple genres at Cataleyas Bar and Grill in New London tonight at 7.
•Still Hill pulls into Windsor Station tonight at 7:30 for a session of Americana music. Next to the microphone over the coming week are the rootsy Band of the Land with an acoustic set on Friday night at 9:30, The Party Crashers on Saturday night at 9:30 and saxophonist Mike Parker and Royalton singer Alison “AliT” Turner on Tuesday night at 6.
•Singer-songwriter Guy Burlage performs at Bentley’s in Woodstock tonight at 7.
• Singer Linda Boudreault and guitarist Ted Mortimer appear in the tavern at Jesse’s restaurant in Hanover on Friday night at 5.
•The Funky Crustaceans set the tone for the Mardis Gras celebration at Salt hill Pub in Lebanon on Friday night starting at 8. And at the same hour on Saturday night, rocker Dave Bundza takes the microphone.
Chris Powers plays an acoustic set of rock at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Friday night at 9, followed on Saturday night at 9 by Club Soda with a mix of rock, pop, R&B, dance tunes and country.
About Gladys fills Newport’s Salt hill Pub with danceable rhythms of party rock and funk on Friday night at 9. The Dusty Gray Band brings a country twist to the venue on Saturday night at 9.
• Moxley Union rocks Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners on Friday night at 9.
•Singer-songwriter EJ Tretter performs at the Stone Arch Bakery in Lebanon on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
•Bow Thayer plays his weekly set of Americana at the Skinny Pancake on Wednesday night at 7:30.
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David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.