"We Hold These Truths" Fourth of July Community Celebration and Reading of the Declaration of Independence

Thursday, July 4, 2019
(Lenox, MA) - In special partnership with BRIDGE, Shakespeare & Company host its annual Fourth of July Community Celebration “We Hold These Truths” from 1:30-5:00pm. This yearly event is an Independence Day celebration, held on Shakespeare & Company's Campus, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA 01240, with music, children's crafts and activities, and a public reading of one of the most stirring and influential documents in our country's history, The Declaration of Independence. This event is free, and an all-American barbeque will be available for purchase.
 
"We are thrilled to be partnering with BRIDGE for our Fourth of July Celebration," said Company Artistic Director, Allyn Burrows. "We find it vital to broaden the conversation around the values on which this country was founded in order for us all to evolve together."

The event will run from 1:30-5:00pm on Thursday, July 4 with ongoing activities for the whole family including free children's activities including: crafts table, face painting, and a photo booth. The Amy Ryan Band returns to perform a unique mix of country/rock blues. Shakespeare & Company artists and special guests Representative William "Smitty" Pignatelli, Senator Adam Hinds, and District Attorney Andrea Harrington will read the Declaration of Independence beginning at 3:00pm. In celebration of our country’s diverse heritage and to inspire us to reflect on the multiple identities we hold as Americans, the day will also feature readings from Frederick Douglas, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, The 1848 Women’s Declaration of Sentiments, Harriet Tubman, and others. The event will also feature an independent community based group of dancers performing a Colombian folkloric piece in celebration of preserving their history and culture through performance.
 
"As we focus on multiple truths, independence and liberation are something we as US residents and citizens are all still striving for," says Gwendolyn VanSant of BRIDGE. “I have been honored to be invited to collaborate on integrating diverse voices and stories that make up our US history in the annual program. Through this honoring of our collective history, the BRIDGE and Shakespeare & Company communities have intentionally united to demonstrate the incomparable value of relationship-building within our Berkshire home."

Throughout the course of the event, food will available for purchase (credit cards will be accepted) on site from SoMa Catering. The Fourth of July Community Celebration will happen rain or shine, and is generously sponsored by David and Natalie Johnsonius Neubert.
 
The celebration will be followed by a preview performance of Twelfth Night at 6pm in the Tina Packer Playhouse. This classic showcases a rich, affecting, and deeply funny story of longing, love, and laughter which paints Shakespeare at his peak. Twelfth Night is directed by Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director, Allyn Burrows. Tickets are available online at shakespeare.org, or by calling Shakespeare & Company’s box office at (413) 637-3353. The Company’s 2019 Summer Season also includes two outdoor Shakespeare productions, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merry Wives of Windsor, and a special workshop production of Coriolanus; plus Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, The Children by Tony nominee Lucy Kirkwood, The Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, and Tony Award nominee Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies.

Schedule
1:30pm-5:00pm
Food from SOMA Catering is available for purchase; Selections from Amy Ryan Band

1:30pm - 3:00pm
Children's crafts, face painting and photo booth are open to the public for free; Colombian folkloric dance performance

3:00pm - 4:00pm
Speeches, readings and the Declaration

5:00pm
Fourth of July Community Celebration ends

6:00pm
Special Twelfth Night Preview Performance

About BRIDGE
Founded in 2007, BRIDGE (dba Multicultural BRIDGE) is a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing equity and justice by promoting cultural competence, positive psychology, and mutual understanding and acceptance. The organization acts as a catalyst for change through collaboration, education, training, dialogue, fellowship and advocacy. BRIDGE is a minority and women run non-profit certified by the Office of Supplier Diversity of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (SDP). Their certified competencies are training, education, language access, and multicultural awareness. More information about BRIDGE can be found at https://www.multiculturalbridge.org.
 
About the Amy Ryan Band
Witnessing Amy’s solo performances at open mic sessions in New York’s Capital Region, guitarist Richard Green saw an opportunity to combine his own blues guitar chops with a gutsy female singer with the potential to lead a great blues band. The Amy Ryan Band was soon born. Melding together Amy’s country blues mojo and Richard’s urban blues and rock sensibilities, this musical partnership is rounded out by bassist Steve Dietemann and new drummer Al Bauman. With a repertoire that includes band adaptations of Amy’s self-penned solo tunes, newly minted originals, and select covers, the Amy Ryan Band rocks the blues.
 
About SoMa Catering
Providing the Berkshires, Connecticut, and upstate New York with full service catered events, SoMa believes in thoughtful and custom menus inspired by seasonality and locally grown and sourced foods. From boxed picnic lunches to dinner parties and elegant large scale events, they are driven by enhancing celebrations through professional service and simply delicious food. All avenues of SoMa from service to their chefs stand behind their core values of integrity, honesty, sustainability and going above & beyond to make a mark on their events. For more information on SoMa, visit http://www.somacatering.com.
 
About Shakespeare & Company
Located in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the leading Shakespeare festivals of the world. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts over 40,000 patrons annually. The Company is also home to an internationally renowned Center for Actor Training and award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.