Moving Pictures

The Stonehill Theatre Company and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts present Sharon Pollock’s Moving Pictures, directed by Patricia H. Sankus.  Moving Pictures is a theatrical tracing of the life of Nell Shipman, who as an actress sang, danced and hammed her way across North America in the early 1900s.  In silent films she was a hit, known as the girl from God’s Country from the title of her most successful film, “Back to God’s country.” She established an independent production company and made movies in which strong women played principal roles, and a holistic view of the natural environment, the animal kingdom, and humankind prevailed.  But as movie making shifted from art to industry, the precepts that guided Nell to success became threats to her life as well as her career.  Her last film script, written under a pseudonym, was produced in 1934.  Her death in 1972 went unnoticed.  Moving Pictures explores the meaning of storytelling in our lives, and the artist’s addiction to creation whatever the cost.  Show dates are November 15th, 16th, and 17th at 8:00PM in the Hemingway Theatre at Stonehill College.  Tickets are $5 for students and seniors, and $8 for general admission.  Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the Stonehill Theatre Company Box Office at (508) 565-1458 or at the door.

Raychel Wingert 2016 on behalf of the Stonehill Theatre Company

Image credit :http://www.dashe.com/

Don’t Be Afraid to do Your Civic Duty!

I recently voted in my first ever official election, and what a thrill it was! I was out for the day with my father, and before I returned to our beautiful campus, I went to North Junior High School in Brockton to cast my vote. I walked through the double doors, showed the kind elderly woman who was working the front table my license, she crossed my name off the list and handed me my very own ballot. For years I had enviously watched my parents enter those curtained booths and select their preferred candidate, and now it was my turn. As I filled in the blank dot next to my preference, I got a real adrenaline rush. I left the building feeling splendidly accomplished and proud.

My question is this: why doesn’t anyone else want to feel this great? I have been talking to many people around campus, even some of those who are registered to vote, and they are actively choosing not to vote. I do understand that many in our generation view American electoral politics with great disdain, and justifiably so due to the dirty campaigning, a lack of fulfilled promises from past candidates, or even just the inconvenience of having to head back home or get an absentee ballot to vote. Despite such deterrents, we should not allow such trivial things to stop us from doing our civic duty. There are very few things in this country that present absolutely equal opportunities to all individuals despite their backgrounds. Those who are wealthy can buy more than those who are of modest means, people with the right connections can get a particular job or position through whom they know leaving all the candidates applying in the dust, but every single person in the country can vote and every vote is equal to one another.

I will not try and say that this year’s election is any more important than others have been, every Presidential election plays a role in determining the future of our great nation, that is a pretty big deal! It does not matter what your political views are, or if you have none at all. I am merely advocating that everyone capable should vote, if you don’t like either candidate write in Mickey Mouse or Paul Newman! It is more the principle of the issue that concerns me. Millions of men and women have died for our civil liberties, particularly to vote. There are individuals dying every day in various countries across the world fighting for their own right to vote, not a privilege, but a right that they have never had the pleasure of experiencing. So all those who are capable of doing so, go vote and bask in the glory that is our civil liberties as Americans, in honor of all those who died so we may have such a right, and all those who continue to fight for such rights even now.

Brendan Monahan class of 2015
Image credit: http://www.theresolve.org/blog/archives/3071028041

Being Human: “Living Things”

Expect the unexpected, a trite saying but often true nonetheless. My first introduction to Linkin Park was a surprise concert with my best friend in Boston, which I almost did not go to because of overwhelming schoolwork. We drove through the pelting snow of February 2011 from Stonehill, and while the journey was precarious and frustrating, the concert was well worth the struggle. Linkin Park’s music style is a medley of alternative rock, rap rock, and alternative metal, and though the mix may seem odd at first, it works. Chester Bennington’s eerie yet beautiful vocals along with Mike Shinoda’s surprisingly tasteful rap encompass Linkin Park’s new album, Living Things, and its haunting tales of loss and suffering. Living Things is in my opinion Linkin Park’s most phenomenal work to date. Let’s start with the album cover: what you see are shards of human flesh breaking of a body and disintegrating into the surrounding air. This image is computer-generated and taken from a 3D scan of Chester’s, the lead singer, head. Given the title and theme for the album, the raw emotions created from living things, this artwork gives the album a personal spin, a connection not defrayed by distance. The members of Linkin Park make such a connection to their audience in their album, as if the emotions and vulnerabilities spoken in the lyrics slide next to those felt by listeners and for an instant combine with enough connectivity to make your spine tingle.

By Shalen Lowell, Class of 2014

Image credit: http://www.billboard.com/

Becoming "Human Again"

Someone destroyed Ingrid Michaelson’s heart, and she’s telling the world about it in her new album, Human Again. As in her previous four albums, Ingrid tackles such conventional pop music themes and spins them with her unusual melodies and unique (occasionally bizarre) lyrics to create music devoid of clichés. This only makes her songs that much more thought-provoking; I don’t think I’ve ever thought about how “we hate the rain when it fills up our shoes, but how we love when it washes our cars,” but it functions perfectly as the main metaphor in “How We Love” for capturing the fickle essence of love. Despite the overarching theme of heart- break, you don’t have to be in a miserable mood to appreciate the album; there are a few songs that escape her heart-broken rage, such as “Blood Brothers,” which as the name suggests, encourages human connection.

While her lyrical prowess thankfully hasn’t changed, Ingrid exhibits a musical maturity with more complex arrangements. In conjunction with producer David Kahne, Ingrid includes string instruments in many of her new songs. This is a new sound for her, as many of her older songs are driven by simpler piano, guitar and drum arrangements. A few of her songs retain this simplicity, such as “How We Love,” but most assert this fuller sound, like the single from the album, “Ghost.” She fully exhibits her flexibility as an artist with this album, demonstrating her ability to successfully explore new musical territory.

Ingrid fans old and new won’t be disappointed with this latest release, heart-broken or not.

By Carolyn Meklenburg

Bill Bryson's Newest Book

I've often been told that senior year is supposed to be spent at a slightly slower pace compared to the years before, and that one must embrace the (now less than 100) days left until graduation. Well, that sounds nice and all, but I’ve never been good at relaxing, and having too much free time gives me panic attacks. In any case, a disdain for boredom, over-enthusiasm for the English department, and perhaps a little bit of stupidity caused me to sign up for a staggering four English courses in my final Stonehill semester. Needless to say, my leisure time reading is a bit lacking currently. But not to worry—I have always found time to fit in a few pages of a new book when I can. I now spend my Sunday afternoon shift at the library almost exclusively reading Bill Bryson’s newest addition: At Home: A Short History of Private Life. I have yet to encounter a Bryson book that I do not like, and this one is no exception. Bryson takes us through his Yorkshire rectory-made-home, one room at a time, using a bit of his typical hilarity as well as fascinating historical anecdotes. Bryson writes non-fiction with a charisma that I admire. He is, perhaps, my favorite modern day writer for his ability to be insightful, witty, cutting, comical, endearing, and probably most importantly—his ability to have run-ins with the most overwhelming specimens of human beings. To quote my first Bill Bryson love (A Walk in the Woods): “I have long known that it is part of God's plan for me to spend a little time with each of the most stupid people on earth."


By Ashley Savard