7th Annual Great Greenfield DinoFest Continues to Explore Local History & Deep Time
Piti Theatre & PVMA keep engaging all ages with our region’s stories @ the 7th Annual Great Great Greenfield DinoFest on Saturday, Dec. 16: Blending local history and performance, DinoFest 2023 features Piti’s “The Princes of Deerfield” screening & reception at the Garden Cinema at 10:30 am which tells the tale of Abijah and Lucy Prince and a group of children from Deerfield in the 1770’s. Lucy is known as the first African-American poet. Next up, acclaimed improv show Story Wizards: Dino Drama is at the Library across the street @ 12:30 with a reception at noon and finally The Everlasting Gobstopper for the older crowd by performance artist Chris Janke will be at LAVA @ 7 pm and includes a post-show slide show by GCC Professor Emeritus Richard Little about armored mud balls in the Connecticut River Valley. Professor Little will have mudballs available starting @ 6:30. “The Princes of Deerfield” will also screen on Zoom Sunday evening. Admission is free. Info & registration @ ptco.org/dino
Saturday, December 16th
@ Garden Theater, 361 Main Street
10:30 am – 12 pm: Film Sneak Preview: “The Princes of Deerfield” expands the lens of DinoFest to look at local history in Deerfield in the late 1700’s. The film blends documentary with a story that imagines a group of children in Deerfield gathering at the former barn of Lucy Terry and Abijah Prince. Lucy Terry is known as the first African American poet and we know she was popular among the children of Deerfield in part due to her storytelling abilities. The movie was filmed on location at the site of the Piti Theatre’s future Art & Ecology Center in Charlemont and includes an original song by Northampton singer-songwriter Carrie Ferguson and Piti’s Jonathan Mirin about the Boston Tea Party. December 16 happens to be the 250th anniversary of the Tea Party. The final film will premiere in spring, 2024. Recommended for ages 7+.
@ the Greenfield Public Library, 412 Main Street
Story Wizards: Dino Drama – Story Wizards is Piti Theatre’s latest family audiences show where the story is created (and performed) by the audience with Piti’s actors. In this special version, we will be asking for dino-themed characters and places. Recommended for ages 5+.
@ The Lava Center, 324 Main Street, Greenfield
The Everlasting Gobstopper is Christopher Janke‘s sculptural performance about the Connecticut River, lollipops, and deep time is appropriate for all brave ages, lasts about 30 minutes, and includes a conceptual gift bag for the future. Following the show, special guest Richard Little, Professor Emeritus, Greenfield Community College make a short presentation about Armored Mud Balls in the area. Professor Little will also be available to answer questions and bring some of his mud balls for display before the show beginning at 6:30. Recommended for ages 10+.
Sunday, December 11th: Virtual Event – registration @ ptco.org/dino
7:30: The Princes of Deerfield Live Stream with Q&A on Zoom.
Other resources available online for home viewers include Piti Youth Troupe’s “Dexter and the Dinosaurs”, “The Mayor of Greenpants” and videos from Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, The Beneski Museum of Natural History, the Second Congregational Church, and more!
Dawn of DinoFest
Intrigued by Piti Theatre’s New England-wide Bee Week program and the annual BeeFest launched by Greenfield’s Second Congregational Church, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s long-time Executive Director Tim Neumann and Piti’s Co-Artistic Director Jonathan Mirin discussed how to bring dinosaur history to life for local residents. Neumann states, “I thought that the rich intersection of deep time and local history might merit a new celebration around a great scientific contribution from Greenfield’s history.”
In 2017, the Great Greenfield DinoFest was born. The Festival is particularly indebted to the extraordinary lives of Greenfield’s Dexter Marsh, a day laborer who noticed what looked like bird footprints in the flagstone from Montague he was using to lay sidewalk near Town Hall in 1835 – seven years before the word dinosaur was invented – and James Deane, the first person to treat the strange impressions as objects of scientific interest. Marsh’s keen eye and Deane’s analysis piqued the interest of Amherst College’s Professor Edward Hitchcock, who became the first scientist to study dinosaur tracks and interpret their meaning. Hitchcock died believing the tracks had been made by giant prehistoric birds, but nevertheless, Marsh, Deane, and Hitchcock played important roles in the birth of the new branch of paleontology called ichnology. This year, we continue to look at important stories from local history in addition to deep time.
DinoFest 2023 is supported in part by grants from the Greenfield and Deerfield Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency as well as a variety of local business sponsors, the Expand Mass Stories Initiative from Mass Humanities with funding from the Mass Cultural Council, The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and New England Foundation for the Arts New England States Touring Fund. Special thanks to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and the Greenfield Business Association.
About Piti Theatre Co.
Piti Theatre Company is an award-winning touring troupe based in Charlemont and Les Ponts-de-Martel Switzerland, founded in 2004 by husband and wife team Godeliève Richard and Jonathan Mirin. Piti (pronounced “pea-tea”) is an ancient Indian (Pali) word translated as “joy” or “rapture.” Piti programming plants seeds of joy, sustainability and justice in hearts, minds and communities.
About Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association
Founded in Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1870 as the first historical society in Western Massachusetts, today the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association is a vibrant regional organization, supporting the Memorial Hall Museum and Library, Deerfield Teachers’ Center, Indian House Children’s Museum, and Community Outreach projects.