History of Drowned Town Meets Art in Quabbin Dance

Leandro Soto's stage set evokes the topsy-turvy world of a town that was flooded to create a reservoir. The play, by Robbie McCauley, is based on a real-life piece of Western Massachusetts history.

Quabbin Dance, a theater performance piece written and directed by Robbie McCauley, in collaboration with MHC students and with the testimony of former residents of the Quabbin Valley, will be performed April 8 - 11.

The production is based upon an actual event: four towns in Western Massachusetts were flooded in the late 1930s in order to provide a reservoir, the Quabbin, for Boston's water supply. Quabbin Dance features actors from the surrounding community who have grown up hearing Quabbin stories, as well as MHC and other Five College student actors who are receiving and giving voice to residents' collected memories.

One of the most vivid memories in this theater piece is a ball that was among the last public events at Enfield's Town Hall in April 1938, attended by more than a thousand people. Quabbin Dance also depicts Tuesday Teas at the Quabbin Visitor's Center as another setting for the often ironic, sometimes humorous, and usually poignant stories of the people who had to leave their homes in the Quabbin towns.

The production features set design by Cuban stage and costume designer Leandro Soto, lighting and sound design by John Howard, and costume design by K. C. Kozminski.

For more information and reservations, call 538-2406 after April 5.

Photograph by Lee Bouse