In “Sins of the Mother,’’ actors (foreground, from left) Robert Walsh and Christopher Whalen fight as (background, from left) Francisco Solorzano and David Nail watch.
(Photos By Shawn G. Henry)
Globe North Arts
Horovitz returns
In “Sins of the Mother,’’ actors (foreground, from left) Robert Walsh and Christopher Whalen fight as (background, from left) Francisco Solorzano and David Nail watch.
(Photos By Shawn G. Henry)
Israel Horovitz, founding artistic director of Gloucester Stage, returns to direct the New England premiere of his play, “Sins of the Mother,’’ through Sept. 13.
The play is set on the Gloucester waterfront and intertwines events of the past with personal and economic politics of the present.
The work was presented as a one-act at Gloucester Stage in 2003, and Horovitz later developed it into a full-length play to bring back to Gloucester.
The cast features Boston actor Robert Walsh and New York actors Christopher Whalen, David Nail, and Francisco Solorzano.
The show is part of the 70/70 Horovitz Project, a yearlong event created by Barefoot Theatre Company in New York to celebrate Horovitz’s 70th birthday. It includes readings or productions of 70 of his plays by theater companies around the world.
Horovitz’s plays have been translated and performed in as many as 30 languages worldwide. He was artistic director of Gloucester Stage for 27 years, retiring in 2006.
While in Gloucester, Horovitz also directs a special reading of his latest play, “The P Word,’’ on Tuesday at 8 p.m., making local audiences among the first to hear the new work. The reading is followed by a discussion with Horovitz and the cast. Suggested donation is $20.
Performances of “Sins of the Mother’’ are Wednesdays through Sundays. Tickets are $37; $32 for senior citizens and students. Call 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.org.
WAKEFIELD ALUM TO PERFORM: Joel Brennan, a 1999 graduate of Wakefield High School and principal trumpet of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra of Japan, presents a concert at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Wakefield on Wednesday.
The show is a benefit for the Center for Performing Arts Inc., an organization that is renovating a lecture hall at Wakefield High School into a 275-seat performance venue. The high school does not have an auditorium.
Brennan received his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and did graduate work at the Yale School of Music, where he is a candidate for a doctorate of musical arts.
The recipient of a Fulbright grant in 2007, Brennan has also lived in the Netherlands with the goal of promoting and performing contemporary music by Dutch and American composers.
He has a diverse career performing as an orchestral, chamber, and solo musician.
“We are delighted that Joel is taking time during his vacation in his hometown to prepare and present this delightful program to help us complete the new performance space in Wakefield High School,’’ said Peter Scott, president of the Center for Performing Arts. “We look forward to the day we can bring such a wonderful concert to our own performing arts center.’’
Accompanying Brennan is violinist Tomomi Kondo of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra.
Also joining Brennan is Christopher Nelson, a fellow 1999 graduate of Wakefield High School. Nelson is a band and jazz band teacher at North Andover Middle School and director of Wakefield High School’s jazz band II. He also is a trumpet instructor in Wakefield and at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, N.H. He has a degree in music education from the University of New Hampshire, where he performed as principal trumpet player from 2000-2003 and won the UNH Wind Symphony Concerto Competition in 2003. He is pursuing a master’s degree in music education at Boston University.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15. Call 781-245-2022.
AUTHOR’S CORNER: Roxie Zwicker, author of “Haunted Cemeteries: Stories, Stones, and Superstitions,’’ appears at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, N.H., Wednesday, 7 p.m. The book is the result of seven years of research. Zwicker is also author of “Haunted Portsmouth,’’ “Haunted Portland,’’ and “Haunted Pubs of New England’’ and owns a tour company, New England Curiosities.
IN LOCAL GALLERIES: “We are Made of Dreams and Bones,’’ a solo exhibition of paintings by Claire Burke of Arlington, is at the Willow Community Gallery at LynnArts in Lynn tomorrow through Oct. 9. An artist and art therapist, Burke explores themes of loss and renewal in her paintings. A reception with the artist is Sept. 12, 2-4 p.m. . . . “Catch of the Day,’’ an exhibit of Japanese Gyotaku art form fish prints and other work by Gail Boucher, is at the Newburyport Art Association Thursday through Sept. 16. The prints are made by rubbing real fish on rice paper, which creates a mirror image. Boucher presents a workshop of how to make the prints next Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon.
Items can be sent to wdkilleen@gmail.com. 
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