July 2024 (Vol. 1) - Digital Edition

by Ryan Waller

Payomet sponsor Truro Vineyards has been a staple of Truro and Cape Cod since its opening in 1992, and has grown into one of the most popular wine and spirit producers on the Outer Cape. Their products can be seen all across the Outer Cape, with selections growing to include gin, rum, and whiskey alongside their wines. Their dedication to environmental sustainability and keeping their practices eco-friendly, as well as the excitement they have for the creation of their products make them an extremely unique and inspiring place to visit and purchase from.

Roberts, one of the co-owners of the vineyard describes her role as “running the front of house, working on the customer experience, and making sure that everything in front is happening the way that it should”. Speaking with me at the vineyard, she explains in detail the operation and history of this establishment.

The purchase of the winery, Roberts says, was not one immediately shared by the whole family. “When my father retired, he saw that this place was for sale and he thought ‘what an incredible opportunity’” she says, “So he called my whole family together. We were not as excited as he was, and we’d never done anything like this before, but he was very persuasive and one hell of a salesman — so here we are having done this for seventeen years”.

Since then, the Roberts family have put their own stamp on the Truro Vineyards name with the new products they’ve produced.“We put so much effort into making them special,” says Roberts, “We have a new Winemaker and we work to make everything better all the time whether it’s using the grapes that we grow or grapes that we import from other parts of the country. The spirits have been a really fun project for us, whether it’s choosing the bottles and the names, but even just making something that people want to be drinking. Because we keep everything small-scale, every little thing gets a lot of energy and effort into making it unique.”

DakhaBrakha

Yes, the Ukrainians are coming! Not by land, or sea, but by way of an explosion of music and outrageously bold  performance — a sight for the eyes and ears you may never have witnessed in your life. That is, unless you saw them on the Payomet stage the last two summers.

Yes, it’s happening again! There’s a reason we have Dakha Brakha headed to North Truro for the third year in a row. Come to their show on Sunday, June 30 and find out why.

At the end of every year, friends ask me, “What was your favorite concert?” Without hesitation, my answer: “Dakha Brakha!” With their national costumes and decorations, Dakha Brakha is as much a visual feast as a gorgeous two hour long unparalleled musical journey. 

This band is the real thing — coming direct to you from their hometown of Kyiv, Ukraine. They bring it all — unbelievable music, a mix of wild folk and rock, native costumes and spectacular performance. We call it Ukrainian folk-rock and the band calls it “ethno-chaos” so consider those two descriptions as bookends to nothing less than pure ecstasy. They’ve been on a non-stop international tour and we are thrilled to bring them to our intimate tent pavilion in North Truro.

by Executive Director, Kevin Rice

Few books have affected me so deeply as my reading of Allison Pugh’s latest, titled The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World. It’s so powerful that I read it before bed at night and couldn’t wait to pick it up again in the morning over a fresh cup of coffee. That’s not all. I’d get so excited that I then had to read aloud certain pages (whole sections) to my wife, Marla.

If you have wondered over the last few years what hope lies ahead for a world overwhelmed and possibly overtaken by artificial intelligence, then wonder no more. Instead, read Allison’s book. It may change your life, because it is about connecting, human to human, in ways that are happening now but not everywhere and not often enough.

by Melinda Krasting

I’ve lived on the Outer Cape for nearly 30 years now and some of the greatest joys of living here include the incredible natural beauty we’re surrounded by, a vital and caring community, and the proliferation and appreciation of all of the arts. Set on one of the most beautiful tracts of land within the National Seashore, Payomet Center for Performing Arts encompasses all of these ingredients.

It is such a privilege to be a part of an organization that does so much to vitalize and connect the people who love this place, whether they live here or are just vacationing. Since I’ve been on the board I’ve also become aware of the many ways Payomet continues to grow and strive to enlarge upon its mission, from making heartfelt and concerted efforts to expand our outreach and access to all members of the community, to adding variety to the kinds of entertainment and enrichment activities we offer.

The board itself reflects all the best aspects of the community we serve, since it represents a wide swath of the population here – from teachers and shop owners to artists and lawyers. We have fun engaging with each other and with the community in our efforts to achieve Payomet’s highest goals.

And this is a particularly exciting time to be so involved, since there are numerous possibilities for growth that have arisen in the past few years, including our Road shows, Tent Talks and so much more!

Melinda Asman Krasting is a writer/producer who moved to Truro full-time 10 years ago. Her deep love of dance and theater began while studying at Ithaca College and Cornell University, which led to her service on boards for several renowned theater and dance companies. She also worked with an organization providing medical and legal aid to artists, and her documentary film career traveled her around the globe.

By Jaiden van Bork

What does it mean to be filthy in 2024? As we prepare to welcome legendary filmmaker John Waters to Provincetown Town Hall this July, my mind is preoccupied with this question. Waters’ filmic legacy is defined by an ethos of trashiness, crudeness — filth. And while the grotesque nature of these movies is no doubt entertaining, it is also laced with sharp sociopolitical meaning.

Pink Flamingos, arguably the film that set Waters’ legacy in motion, exemplifies this notion. Divine, in the leading role, proclaims to be the “filthiest” woman in the world, and butts heads with the Marbles family, who have attempted to usurp this title. In this sense, filthiness is portrayed as a seriously desirable quality, just as alluring as sex appeal or beauty (which Divine also tauts) — if not essentially one and the same.

But the film also openly exhibits contradictions to this worship of filth. While filth is at times celebrated in a sort of revolutionary way that reverses our usual conceptions about things we find “trashy” — it is also sometimes reviled in the usual conservative manner that one might approach it. For example, Divine shames Connie and Raymond Marble for their nefarious business scheme as well as their freakish relationship with each other. Both of these, on varying levels, constitute filthiness — but in this case they are looked down upon rather than admired.

And so, we ask, what really is filth? Filmmaker and scholar Anna Breckon says that “Filth specifies less the intrinsic quality of an object than it does a structural position: namely, a negative affective relation to what is normatively defined as the social good.” For conservative bigots, filth is queer and transgender people living their lives. For some members of the political left, filth is offensive jokes told by cancel-culture-crazed comedians. Everyone, on all sides of the political aisle, is having discussions about what is morally acceptable and what is downright trashy.

For Waters (although he often denies political motivations), filth is a rejection of anything and everything normative — a revolutionary refusal to conform. This too, is co-opted for political purposes by those who wish to portray themselves as rebellious or against the status quo — whether that be the infamously non-P.C. former president Trump, or young and anarchic left-wing radicals. We all seek out filth and edginess at the same time as we reject it.

Filth is at the center of our current digital media landscape too. One search on TikTok, the strangely controversial short-form video app with billions of downloads, will introduce you to the “Clean Girl Aesthetic” — a sort of style guide for young women centered around casual minimalist clothing and makeup with a matte, muted color palette that evokes a sense of relaxed seriousness, cleanliness, and visual purity. Despite this look reportedly being pioneered by women of color, its presence on the app and beyond has become largely centered around straight cisgender white women, leading many on the platform to criticize the trend.

Commentator Eliza Brooke has written extensively for Vox about the minimalist design trends of the post-recession era and how they express visually the ideology of neoliberalism which effectively asks individuals to bear the burden of economic downturn by making more “minimalist” lifestyle choices. “It’s impossible to separate the aesthetics of consumer goods from the economic circumstances under which they were created,” says Brooke, “The ways we adorn ourselves and our homes — and the ways brands dress themselves up to get our attention — speak to our personal and national relationships with money.” The fabled Clean Girl has become a political being, a girlboss-feminist fashionista, an embodiment of the aesthetics of wealth, assimilation, and capitalist exploitation — a far cry from 1970s Divine (who Waters explains was particularly revolutionary at a time when most drag queens were “squares”).

At the same time filthy queer cinema is in its moment right now. The last two years have seen the release of a number of films that have been applauded for their loud, messy, and intimate portrayal of queerness including Emma Seligman’s Bottoms and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding. In many ways, the crude humor, occasionally-graphic imagery, and campy feel of films like these reverberate with the influence of underground LGBTQ+ filmmakers like Waters, as well as many of his contemporaries within the underground scene.

But the film climate has still changed a lot since the early seventies — heck, even the landscape of independent cinema in the late nineties feels like another world (where is the Watermelon Woman of 2024?) Bottoms for example (which, I should mention, is quite possibly my favorite film of 2023), has absolutely earned its R-rating as well as its popularity with young, queer moviegoers — but it still feels decidedly safe in both form and content in a way that is worth examining.

Nonetheless, these recent developments diverge significantly from the way queerness has been portrayed in mainstream media up until recently. Queer characters in film from the past couple decades have largely existed in narrative contexts that center nearly exclusively on their identity as a subject of oppression of one kind or another. Additionally, these characters – while complex – have seldom been allowed to be as utterly messy, flawed, and goofy as PJ and Josie in Bottoms or Lou in Love Lies Bleeding — or Divine/Babs Johnson in Pink Flamingos.

However, it’s a dangerous time to be filthy; to make people uncomfortable. I’m by no means one of these self-proclaimed “free speech warriors” who suggests that anybody should be able to say whatever offensive garbage they want without any consequences (that’s ridiculous) — but I do wonder if sometimes even the most enlightened among are made a little too nervous by the filth that courses through the arteries of contemporary art.

John Waters: Devil’s Advocate comes to Payomet on Thursday, July 25th — and I’m hoping it’ll be one trashy show.

by Charlie Prucher

Meet Sarah Blackwell, owner of Sarah Blackwell Window Treatment & Slipcovers as well as volunteer and generous sponsor of Payomet Performing Arts Center. A Cape Cod local, Sarah has been working on the Cape for over thirty years, first as a realtor and then going on to  open her own window treatment business.

Being a business owner which gets the majority of its business in the summer, she understands the difficulties that come with a company like that, which is what inspired her to volunteer with Payomet. What inspired her to be a sponsor for the theater is her love for live music, with live music theaters being hard to come by here on Cape Cod. She grew up going to live shows at the Cape Cod Coliseum throughout the 1970’s which cemented her love of live music. Working with Payomet helps her relive fond memories and create new ones by bringing live music to the Cape.

As a Volunteer, Blackwell gets to see shows she would otherwise never get to see. In fact, she even goes out of her way to seek out shows with less volunteers, “I will volunteer for shows that nobody signed up for,” she explains, hoping to experience exciting new music that she has never heard of. Sarah fondly remembers a show put on by bluegrass banjoist Béla Fleck. Although she typically isn’t a fan of the genre, she explains  that she was “blown away by him.”” I would have paid to go there,” she says, alongside many of the big acts of last year, such as Seth Meyers and David Sedaris. Blackwell has been volunteering with Payomet for four years, this being her fourth year with the theater, and she is eagerly awaiting many of our shows, including TUSK, the Fleetwood Mac tribute band, Paula Poundstone, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Payomet volunteers are all very skilled and offer a great service to Payomet, and Blackwell is no exception. An expert people person thanks to her experience as an independent business owner, she can masterfully handle conflicts that arise during shows between theater-goers, “First world problems,” she says, ”I deal with a lot of that in my business…it’s interesting dealing with all the different kinds of people and the ways that they do things”.

Her favorite part about volunteering is the community that forms around the volunteers. Blackwell says she has met so many people she never would have met if not for her support of Payomet, many who are all much more alike than she could have possibly imagined. She has made lasting relationships with fellow volunteers, locals and tourists alike, bonding over their love for live music, and the many little things they have in common without realizing it.

Sarah Blackwell’s love of live music and generous support of the Payomet performing arts center has made her a valued member of the Payomet community. Her passion for the arts and her valuable skills with people are all skills the venue couldn’t go without.

(Continued)

She puts a name to this concept, and calls it “connective labor.” You might describe connective labor as what will give us the edge over robots in the coming duel between us and machines. But it’s more than that. This book is revelatory, indeed, revolutionary, in describing how certain entities and capitalist enterprises are already hot on the trail of connective labor in the interests of increasing productivity and profit. Jeff Bezos knows connective labor. But his agenda may not be to enhance our human values, our human-ness; rather, his interest is the bottom line and exploiting the human need to connect in service to the profit motive.

So, the duel is not just future science fiction scenarios of Man v Machine. It’s happening now, in subtle ways all around us. Allison Pugh’s book holds up and celebrates the act of connecting, human-to-human relationships by giving us vivid examples by dint of a hundred or more interviews over many years. And her writing is so alive, it jumps off the page!

One human you will want to connect with, before or after you read this book, is its author and, yes, you’ll get a chance to do just that on Tuesday, July 9 at 10AM when Allison takes the stage at our Payomet tent to read from and talk about her book. Dr.  Barry Zuckerman, a renowned pediatrician and global thinker, will interview Allison. Come on over to the tent for coffee beforehand and buckle up. It’s gonna be a wild ride!

(Continued)

Hailing from a country bursting with bombs, they burst instead with passion and artistry. DakhaBrakha will take you on a musical journey to their country rich in culture via drumming, exotic stringed instruments and singing in their gorgeous Ukrainian language. 

As I’ve written in past notes about DakhaBrakha, I have to mention that it’s been my great good fortune to have had several Ukrainian professors at Boston University, the University of Leningrad, and in grad school at the University of Michigan. There, and since, I’ve developed a great respect for their unique language and literature.

Come to this show and you’ll also give some thought to another kind of theater, where a former actor-comedian has taken center stage, a real-life star by the name of Zelensky. I point out as I’m sure others have, that the root of his name comes from the word “zelen” in Ukrainian which means “green.” And, yes, Kyiv is known as the “City of Green’’ because of its many parks. Think Zelensky, green, alive. Think growing each day.  auguring a future peace we wish for that great and unique country. and he sure has grown on me — and the world. Just as Fidel’s khaki rang up a time of revolution, let’s hope Zelensky’s green becomes just as emblematic — for Ukraine and its people to continue to grow and thrive in a future of peace.

Come to Dakha Brakha. Money back guarantee! Remember, “Dakha Brakha” means “Give/Take” in Ukrainian. Come to their show on Monday, June 30 at 7PM and thrill at what they give us… and what you take home.

DakhaBrakha (Photo by Marina Karpiy)

Environmental sustainability is another extremely important part of the wine-making process to Truro Vineyards. They emphasize it strongly throughout their website, and have made a significant effort to make every facet of their production as environmentally friendly as possible. Kristen emphasizes the small details as being just as important as the more obvious things. For instance, removing the plastic capsules on the tops of wine bottles which serve no purpose except for aesthetics, or using smaller/less materially demanding bottles so that shipping is lighter.

The vineyard also uses non-toxic sprays to keep the grapes safe from pests or other “invaders”, which doesn’t affect the environment around the growing area, while still allowing them to produce a healthy product.

For those who are particularly interested in this venture, Truro Vineyards offers a Wine Club membership, which gives you access to four shipments of three special release bottles a year. These bottles are not sold regularly and often come with notes from the winemaker about the Wines. They also offer free tastings and special reservations given exclusively to members.

In addition to their retail operations,Truro Vineyards also hosts a 5 course Food & Wine pairing every Wednesday at Blackfish Restaurant alongside a live Music performance from various artists. On Sundays, they host “Sunday Funday” where they serve Oysters and Ice Cream along with various food trucks and a DJ. The vineyard also hosts the Vinegrass Bluegrass Festival every year, which will happen this year on October 6th for the 10th time.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater – what.org

Reefer Madness – July 5 – 27 (Previews July 3 & 4)
Inspired by the original 1936 film of the same name, this raucous musical parody takes a tongue- in-cheek look at the hysteria caused when clean-cut kids fall prey to marijuana, leading them on a hysterical downward spiral filled with jazz music, sex and violence.
Written by Kevin Murphy & Dan Studney
Directed by Christopher Ostrom

It Can’t Happen Here – Again (A Staged Reading)- July 19 @ 4:00pm
On July 19, 2024 WRITERS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION is planning a nationwide event, IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE – AGAIN. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis’s 1936 production that warned against the rise of fascism, this event is both an homage to that historic moment and a call to action in our present day.

The Harbor Stage Company – harborstage.org

Betrayal – June 13 – July 6
Emma and Robert are married. Robert and Jerry are best friends. Jerry and Emma are… in trouble. The classic love triangle gets turned on its head in Pinter’s searing drama. A brilliant, breathtaking look at fidelity, friendship, and the start of something real.
Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by Robert Kropf

Wellfleet Preservation Hall – wellfleetpresrvationhall.org

Jimmy Tingle Live on Stage & Screen: Why Would A Comedian Run for Office? – July 8 Dario Acosta Teich Argentine Jazz Quartet – June 27

Underneath the Lintel – July 16 & 17
A play by Glen Berger, directed by Dan Lombardo

Castle Hill Center for the Arts – castlehill.org

Charles Coe’s Cricket Symphony – July 16
A new collection of poetry & music based on the poetry of award-winning African American writer & musician Charles Coe, with music including original compositions by Ken Field

Provincetown Theater – provincetowntheater.org

The Rocky Horror Show – July 15 – September 5
Join us for the 50th Anniversary of the Queen of Cult Classic Musicals, The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O’Brien. Get ready to Time Warp again in this extended run that’s sure to entertain!

INTRODUCING... PAYOMET'S 2024 SUMMER INTERNS

Caleb Scola

Studying at University College London

Hometown: Waldwick, NJ

Excited for: Deadgrass

Wyatt Falk

Studying communications at UMass Amherst

Hometown: Eastham, MA

Excited for: John Waters and other comedy events

Charlie Prucher

Studying business economics at Penn State University

Hometown: Boston, MA

Excited for: The Wailers and Man In Black

Julia Guadagno 

Studying Film Making, Entrepreneurship and Communication at UMass Amherst

Hometown: Chatham, MA

Excited for: John Waters

Ryan Waller

Studying performance and contemporary writing/production at Berklee College of Music

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Excited for: Man in Black

A Note from the Editor

About a year ago today, our executive director Kevin Rice came to me and told me he wanted Payomet to have a newspaper. Citing the underground press of the sixties and seventies, he set me to work on what would become the Truro Tent — the one and only official publication of Payomet Performing Arts Center.

It was a complex mandate to execute. This effort would have to combine print worthy journalism, guerilla marketing, and a certain amount of aloof D.I.Y. punk-rock sensibility. In our very first issue, we began our efforts to talk about the Payomet world in a way that went deeper than our traditional print marketing. With almost zero credibility behind us we went out into the community seeking stories. I spoke to the Wellfleet Historical Society about Jamaican culture on Cape Cod, weaving its complex story into our coverage of that summer’s reggae performances. One of our interns delved into our circus performances, examining the relevant themes of sustainability and environmentalism that the cirque team was interested in. I also interviewed local radio legend John Braden of WOMR, probing the organizational intricacies of one of our closest partners in the community.

And so, a new arm of Payomet’s outreach efforts was born, and has continued throughout the past year, publishing seven (and now eight) different issues in digital and print form, covering a wide range of topics and formats. It all happens here in our Wellfleet box office where I’m sitting now. As editor and publisher, I spend my time here coordinating interviews, designing the layout of every issue, writing stories, and pestering our staff to get them to write something. It’s the strangest, most off-beat thing I’ve done for Payomet, but I think it’s pretty cool.

In this issue we have coverage of a wide variety of Payomet topics — from the Ukrainian Payomet regulars DakhaBrakha, to “Pope of Trash” John Waters, to the magic world of Truro Vineyards, our sponsor. We also hear from a member of our board and one of our core volunteers about why they love Payomet. That and more in this latest issue of the Truro Tent!!

— Jaiden van Bork

    Editor, the Truro Tent