Middlebury Actors Workshop’s Cutting Edge staged reading series is back with Amy Herzog’s smart, engrossing “After The Revolution” on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. in the Vermont Coffee Company Theater located at 1197 Exchange St. in Middlebury.
The play is a bold and moving portrait of an American family in an intergenerational tailspin, forced to reconcile a thorny and delicate legacy. The brilliant Emma Joseph proudly carries the torch of her family’s Marxist tradition, devoting her life to the memory of her blacklisted grandfather. But when history reveals a shocking truth about the man himself, the entire family is forced to confront questions of honesty and allegiance they thought had been resolved. “After The Revolution,” crackling with intelligence and wit is a shrewd meditation on what we do with history and how we appropriate it for our own psychological needs.
“After The Revolution” will be the eighth thought-provoking, contemporary play that The Cutting Edge has brought to the Middlebury community since the fall of 2017. With casts of talented, experienced actors the series allows audiences to focus on new, exciting texts. It’s a different way to enjoy theater and has developed a following all its own.
If you have not yet tried it why not experience the “cutting edge” of contemporary theater with a play that refuses to grant the audience easy answers?
The cast includes Jordan Gullikson, Cael Barkman, Dana Yeaton, Molly Walsh, Gary Smith, Mary Adams Smith, Haley Rice and Robert Martin. Frankie Dunleavy will read stage directions and Rebecca Strum directs.
Although the performance is free, donations are encouraged. Refreshments are available and a talkback will follow the performance. There will also be a drawing for two free tickets to MAW’s October production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” For additional information, phone 802-233-5255.

SINGER-SONGWRITER STEVE HARTMANN AT BRANDON MUSIC
Brandon Music welcomes back the compelling and enigmatic singer-songwriter Steve Hartmann from Jericho, Vt., at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7.
At the beginning of the year Hartmann stunned the Brandon Music audience with his highly accomplished and unique sound. He is a polished guitarist with amazing vocals and engaging stage presence so much so that he was invited to return.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Hartmann principally played the piano and double majored in stage performance and song writing. Hartmann is known for his unique sound, pristine vocals and engaging stage presence that draws you in. Born in Dalat, Vietnam, toward the end of the Vietnam War, Hartmann was adopted at the age of 5 months. He struggled to find a sense of belonging until he found music at the age of 12. He’s a self-taught guitar player and a classically trained pianist.
He started the journey of finding his sound when he met his best friend and bassist, Drew Breder, at age 18. Using various vocal effects and looper pedals, Hartmann’s sound has grown to be readily identifiable as his own. Having opened for major label acts like Jeffrey Gaines, Chris Carrabba and Reeve Carney, and won several singer-songwriter contests, Hartmann’s dynamic vocal range, lyrically driven tunes and captivating stage presence sets him apart.
Chris Carrabba of the bands Dashboard Confessional and Twin Forks says, “Steve’s vocals are pristine.” The incomparable Livingstone Taylor, who taught Hartmann at Berklee College, said, “I was blown away — speechless.” The powerful American singer songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Gaines says, “If you ever get a chance to see him live, take it. You won’t regret it.”
Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25. Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB. Call 802-247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Road in Brandon.

BEG, STEAL OR BORROW AT THE RIPTON COFFEE HOUSE
The Ripton Community Coffee House welcomes the bluegrass quintet Beg, Steal or Borrow at the Ripton Community House on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m.
Beg, Steal or Borrow was formed in 2013 as a tribute band to play a single concert at Higher Ground in Burlington, replicating the songs of the “Old and in the Way” album, an influential 1973 album that featured Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Vassar Clements, Peter Rowan and John Kahn. Since then, Beg, Steal or Borrow has toured from Maine to Bermuda. The band is a convergence of five veteran musicians: Jeremy Sicely, Roland Clark, Fran Forim, Luke Auriemmo and Geoff Goodhue, all residing throughout northern Vermont and New Hampshire.
Playing bluegrass and new grass with rhythmic drive, intricate instrumental arrangement and vocal harmonies, the quintet is now broadening its repertoire to showcase original material. Beg, Steal or Borrow won the title of Best Band at the 2017 Podunk and 2018 Thomas Point Beach bluegrass festivals and has been featured at Greyfox and Ossipee Valley.
“The first CD released by bluegrassers Beg, Steal or Borrow, ‘Old Mountain Time,’ could contend for best bluegrass album of 2019, it’s that good,” according to Art Edelstein in a Times Argus / Rutland Herald review.
The doors for this concert open at 7 p.m. Refreshments are available. Call ahead for a slot on the open mic list. Admission: $15 generous admission; $10 general admission; $3 for children. For more information call 388-9782.

MUSEUMLAB AT COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
Beginning this Tuesday, there will be a MuseumLab exhibit in the Overbrook Gallery at the Middlebury College Museum of Art.
For this experiment in interdisciplinary learning, professors from across Middlebury’s curriculum have selected a diverse array of pieces from the museum’s collection. Visitors are invited to observe the reactions sparked when our “teaching laboratory” displays art supporting courses in religion, neuroscience, gender studies, political science, environmental studies, art history, biochemistry and more. The ongoing MuseumLab exhibit, which runs through Sunday, December 8, is free and open to the public.
The Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Museum is located at 72 Porter Field Road off Route 30 south in Middlebury. Parking is available curbside on Route 30 or in the Mahaney Art Center parking lot. For more information, call 802-443-5007.

PIANO CONCERT IN MIDDLEBURY
There will be a piano concert on Friday, Sept. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Unitarian Universalist Society, 2 Duane Court, in Middlebury.
Faculty members of Pianos on the Point, a new program for serious adult piano students at Point CounterPoint Camp on Lake Dunmore, will perform a concert of solo and four-hand music. Featured pianists are Diana Fanning, Arielle Levioff and Michael C. Haigler. This performance is sponsored by Point CounterPoint Chamber Music Camp.
Although admission is free, donations are always appreciated.