March 24, 2025: Toils for troubles

This is about making big efforts in small places. We head to Pittsfield for one such endeavor. March 31 is Trans Day of Visibility, and Wander Berkshires is hosting a series of events to celebrate transgender and non-binary folx in a time when community members increasingly face endangerment and anti-trans legislation. We chat with founder Jay Santangello about the things he’s got planned for us all to enjoy and to make our neighborhoods inclusive. In Montague, the Bard comes alive all over town, bringing folx from all the way across the pond to breathe life into his words. The Montague Shakespeare Festival is in full swing with performances this weekend and the next, and we speak with artistic director Nia Lynn, artistic director; Kenny Butler, executive director; and Fiona Ross, director and lead practitioner, about what the second year of the festival has to offer. And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, remembers our eclipse fever from last year and tells us about 2 more eclipses, one of which you can see here in western Massachusetts, and dark energy in space (somehow those aren’t directly related).