Community Calendar

Do we own our memories? The Onion is a new opera in which family secrets collide with a memory-enhancing AI. Through contact with their younger selves, its characters bring to the surface the experiences that have shaped their lives: a sexist theft of scientific work, the vanishing of a parent, the erasure of a gender identity. Will the intervention of an AI hurt or heal?

The opera unfolds on an island in the Pacific Northwest where a neuroscientist has sequestered herself with her daughter to create the Onion, an AI device that allows anyone using it to re-live a personal memory. Rounding out the human roles are the Onion’s young co-inventor and the neuroscientist’s ex-partner. The Onion itself is a character in the opera: its independence and influence on the human characters seem to grow each time they use it.

The Onion is a creation of composer/librettist Eric Sawyer and director/librettist Ron Bashford . The performance features a cast of five prominent Boston vocalists. The orchestra will be conducted by Ryan Turner, Music Director of Emmanuel Music. The production is co-presented by MassOpera.

"Self-proclaimed “Food Bank Influencer” Kristina Wong offers her rendition of the American Musical that nobody asked for by celebrating our emergency food system. Having experienced food distribution (or lack thereof) from New York to the Navajo Nation, Wong shares irreverent commentary while illuminating American food insecurity and the subsequent national pastime that is collecting and giving away free food. But, how will she pull this off with humor? It’s a SNAP! (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that is!)

Join us for the sing-a-long show you never knew you needed (you’ll even leave with some food to take home)."

"Self-proclaimed “Food Bank Influencer” Kristina Wong offers her rendition of the American Musical that nobody asked for by celebrating our emergency food system. Having experienced food distribution (or lack thereof) from New York to the Navajo Nation, Wong shares irreverent commentary while illuminating American food insecurity and the subsequent national pastime that is collecting and giving away free food. But, how will she pull this off with humor? It’s a SNAP! (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that is!)

Join us for the sing-a-long show you never knew you needed (you’ll even leave with some food to take home)."

"Self-proclaimed “Food Bank Influencer” Kristina Wong offers her rendition of the American Musical that nobody asked for by celebrating our emergency food system. Having experienced food distribution (or lack thereof) from New York to the Navajo Nation, Wong shares irreverent commentary while illuminating American food insecurity and the subsequent national pastime that is collecting and giving away free food. But, how will she pull this off with humor? It’s a SNAP! (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that is!)

Join us for the sing-a-long show you never knew you needed (you’ll even leave with some food to take home)."

Three brothers shoot the breeze under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interior worlds—the great loves and bitter blues—of Black men in America. Hang Time is a deeply moving and subversive work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard starring Kamal Bolden, Brian D. Coats, and Bryce Foley.

Three brothers shoot the breeze under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interior worlds—the great loves and bitter blues—of Black men in America. Hang Time is a deeply moving and subversive work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard starring Kamal Bolden, Brian D. Coats, and Bryce Foley.

Three brothers shoot the breeze under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interior worlds—the great loves and bitter blues—of Black men in America. Hang Time is a deeply moving and subversive work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard starring Kamal Bolden, Brian D. Coats, and Bryce Foley.

Three brothers shoot the breeze under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interior worlds—the great loves and bitter blues—of Black men in America. Hang Time is a deeply moving and subversive work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard starring Kamal Bolden, Brian D. Coats, and Bryce Foley.

The 4th Witch is a fantastic new tale, inspired by elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which a girl escapes war and seeks protection from three witches. They agree to take her on as an apprentice with only one condition: she must never use her powers for revenge. Consumed by grief and rage, the girl comes to realize that it was Macbeth who killed her parents. Now she must choose between reconciliation or vengeance.

Told through inventive practical effects executed in plain sight, the troupe brilliantly employs shadow puppetry, live music and actors in silhouette, to create an entire new world in The 4th Witch. Manual Cinema has built a devoted fanbase in Boston over the course of their thrilling past productions at ArtsEmerson including Ada/Ava and Frankenstein. Do not miss their triumphant return this fall!

The 4th Witch is a fantastic new tale, inspired by elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which a girl escapes war and seeks protection from three witches. They agree to take her on as an apprentice with only one condition: she must never use her powers for revenge. Consumed by grief and rage, the girl comes to realize that it was Macbeth who killed her parents. Now she must choose between reconciliation or vengeance.

Told through inventive practical effects executed in plain sight, the troupe brilliantly employs shadow puppetry, live music and actors in silhouette, to create an entire new world in The 4th Witch. Manual Cinema has built a devoted fanbase in Boston over the course of their thrilling past productions at ArtsEmerson including Ada/Ava and Frankenstein. Do not miss their triumphant return this fall!