“ Doubt: Noun, The   state  of  being   uncertain   about   the truth or reliability  of  something.” When doubt creeps in, it’s difficult to dismiss it. But when your doubt concerns a responsibility, a moral obligation, you must face it head on. In playwright John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt, A Parable,” the consequences of doubt are immeasurable to all involved. He was ki...

A free event on Saturday, Aug. 14 will kick off a new documentary film series at the Chatham Orpheum Theater. The doors will open at 9 a.m. for a 9:30 screening of “Let 'Em Play,” a film by Scott Marshutz, the first documentary in the Orpheum's new Amazingly DisAbled film series. The series, created and hosted by Carol Yindra of the Orpheum's Hungry Traveler film series, will consist of documentaries showcasin...

NORTH HARWICH— For years, the Family Pantry of Cape Cod has been a reliable source of help for our neighbors in need, providing healthy food, clothing, assistance with utilities and more. In spring 2020, as we all know, things got harder for a lot of Cape Cod residents as the pandemic threw day-to-day life into a chaos of uncertainty. Businesses closed their doors. People found themselves with greatly reduced o...

On a perfect sunny morning I headed for one of my favorite spots, a meadow by the sea that is a little wild but also a little looked after by a conservation organization. This means that trees have not been allowed to take over, and at the moment it is full of milkweed, Queen Anne’s lace, chicory, several kinds of thistle and goldenrod getting ready to bloom. The bluebirds that nested here earlier in the...

Looking for a night out that is different? A night of pure, unadulterated entertainment? Cape Rep’s “Rock the Bard: Midsummer” fits the bill! First of all, Cape Rep may have been ‘dark’ for over a year, but they certainly weren’t idle. The new outdoor courtyard space is lovely and opens up so many possibilities for this innovative theater. For this production audience members are seated at tables underneath the s...

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised when “Jungle Cruise,” the latest Disney period film to be based on a theme park ride (but almost certainly not the last), opened with an orchestral arrangement of a Metallica song — performed by Metallica themselves! It’s a bit of an odd choice, but the music, courtesy of James Newton Howard, continues to be wonderful throughout the entire film — thank goodness for its str...

For many lovers of theater, a performance of Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” outdoors, on a beautiful Cape Cod August evening under the stars, is about as good as it gets. What could possibly be better? Enter Cape Rep's “Rock the Bard: Midsummer,” a romantic, sexy, silly interactive rock adaptation of the lovers' stories in the Bard's comedy of fairies and romantic intrigue. “Rock the Bard” features s...

ORLEANS – Poise (noun): Easy self-possessed assurance of manner; gracious tact in coping or handling (Merriam-Webster). See also: Violet Roche, Orleans resident. For someone who just recently celebrated her 13th birthday, Violet Roche has a remarkable amount of poise, in every sense of the word. She spent her birthday on stage, dancing at the US Nationals Irish Dance Championships, and while she did very wel...

“Home Sweet Home” is something most of us take for granted. The Alden family had their troubles during the Depression, but nothing prepared Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benjamin Alden for the tragedy of losing their parents, becoming orphans, and then “a problem” for local officials. Overhearing the authorities say the children will have to be split up, the four take to the road. This adaptation of “The Boxcar Ch...

One hundred years ago, on the clear morning of Wednesday, July 27, 1921, at 10:25, a passenger train on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad derailed in Chatham, killing the engineer and fireman. Shortly afterwards, 9-year-old Eleanor Bearse bicycled up Old Queen Anne Road from her home on Main Street to observe the gruesome aftermath of Chatham’s only fatal train wreck. When Eleanor arrived, the bo...

There’s a buzz in the air and it isn’t just the bees. All over the world people are concerned about the environment, unnatural poisons in our air, water, and earth, climate change, the unprecedented decimation and loss of significant populations of birds, insects, and plants and a worldwide pandemic that continues to morph and spread. We are bombarded daily with information that is both confusing and misleadin...

On Sunday, July 25 at 4 p.m. Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre (CCTC/HJT) will host a book signing and selected reading on the new outdoor stage with Harwich authors Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and Rev. Dr. David A. Purdy and their new book “Adoption in Black and White.” The Purdys' story starts with a mixed-race family involved in the Civil Rights Movement and continues with their ever-deepening sen...