May 25, 2023
“The Celestials,” adapted from Williamstown author Karen Shepard's mesmerizing novel, shines a light on the history of North Adams and Chinese laborers. The play, by Peter Glazer, debuts at MASS MoCA’s Club B10 on June 8 at 7 p.m.
“The Celestials” is set in North Adams in the 1870s when 75 young Chinese men and boys were brought from San Francisco to break a strike in a local shoe factory. It explores how the lives of residents and immigrants alike were affected by the experience. Calvin T. Sampson’s shoe factory, once located across the street from MASS MoCA, and the beauty of the surrounding Berkshires, provide the setting for this unusual love story, both historical saga and social commentary.
This play reading is a collaboration between MCLA Arts & Culture (MAC) and MASS MoCA.
Admission is $10 and tickets can be purchased online: massmoca.org/event/the-celestials/
About MAC
MCLA Arts & Culture (MAC) is MCLA’s newly expanded arts programming arm. MAC serves as the nexus for internal and external partnerships to create engaging and equity-focused projects that encourage public arts participation, as well as the investigation of arts-based pedagogy that can reshape institutional practices. MAC (formerly known as BCRC, the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center) functions as a hub that supports interdisciplinary approaches to education, social justice, and academic research across MCLA’s campus. MAC supports the expansion of MCLA programming to include: faculty opportunities for interdisciplinary curriculum development; interdisciplinary faculty and student social justice research; arts and culture symposia and workshops; internships for underrepresented student communities; and the development of an open-access archive that includes documented community arts projects and support tools that other college campuses and communities can use and apply to fit their needs.
About MCLA
At MCLA, we’re here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive on every level of their lives. In nearly every way possible, the experience at MCLA is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 128-year commitment to public education, we have fortified our commitment to equitable academic excellence. For 10 of the last 12 years, MCLA has been named a Top Ten College by U.S. News and World Report. MCLA also appears on the organization’s list of top National Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Since the list was created, MCLA has risen to #33 as a Top Performer on Social Mobility and ranks first among all Massachusetts liberal arts schools, which measures how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants. Learn more at www.mcla.edu.
About MCLA
At MCLA, we’re here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught
by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive
on every level of their lives. In nearly every way possible, the experience at MCLA
is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully
empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 128-year commitment
to public education, we have fortified our commitment to equitable academic excellence.
For 10 of the last 12 years, MCLA has been named a Top Ten College by U.S. News and
World Report. MCLA also appears on the organization’s list of top National Public
Liberal Arts Colleges. Since the list was created, MCLA has risen to #33 as a Top
Performer on Social Mobility and ranks first among allMassachusetts liberal arts schools,
which measures how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants.
Learn more at www.mcla.edu.
