Thursdays-Sundays, Sept. 13-29: Whether you know him as the Emmy-winning star of The Newsroom, one of the two title characters in the Dumb and Dumber movie franchise or the latest incarnation of Atticus Finch in the current hit Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird, there’s no denying that Jeff Daniels is a versatile and talented actor. What fewer people know about him is the fact that he’s also a gifted playwright.
Saturday, Sept. 21: See Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s award-winning one-woman show that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series Fleabag, broadcast live from the West End.
Thursday, September 12: Upstate Films in Woodstock offers a sneak preview of the eagerly anticipated Downton Abbey feature-length film. Writer Julian Fellowes, director Michael Engler and the original cast return to tell the continuing story of the Crawley family, picking up the plotline in late 1927.
Friday-Monday, Sept. 6-9: The Ridgefest lineup features music, dance and theater, including evening performances and family-oriented shows, all taking place at three venues on the New Paltz campus: Studley Theatre, Parker Theatre and McKenna Theatre.
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Long, long after his brilliant modernist masterpiece The Satanic Verses made him newsworthy and transformed his public and private life in unfortunate ways, the British Indian novelist continues to be prolific and expansive. His 13th novel, Quichotte, is a Don Quixote for the modern age.
The upcoming September events include a performance by Vermont’s legendary Bread and Puppet Theater (September 7, 3 p.m.), the retro Latin band Los Hacheros (September 14, 3 p.m.) and blues and soul singer Martha Redbone, as well and two film screenings under the stars: The Goonies (September 13, 7:30 p.m.) and Taking Woodstock (September 20, 7:30 p.m.).
There is so much to love about The Peanut Butter Falcon that it’s tough to know where to begin praising it. Prepare yourself to fall head-over-heels in love with a lead character with Down syndrome on the big screen, portrayed by Zack Gottsagen, an actor who has genuinely walked the walk.
Lee Tannen, who lives near Hudson, wrote a memoir about his friendship with Lucille Ball during the last ten years of her life. When the theatrical version of the memoir, which has had success onstage in London, comes to the Woodstock Playhouse on Saturday, August 31, at 7:30 p.m., Tannen will be playing himself for the first time, in his two-person play I Loved Lucy.
After the Wedding is an emotional rollercoaster, its rapid-fire plot twists accelerating the closer it draws to its climax.
Tuesday-Monday, Aug. 27-Sept. 2: All the film entries are independently produced, and most advance progressive or countercultural points of view. Participating filmmakers, many of them multiple award-winners, come from all over the world; some will be in attendance for talkbacks with the audience.