Humans have difficulty dealing with death. Canadian auteur David Cronenberg is not immune to this affliction. His wife of nearly 40 years passed away in 2017. Cronenberg said on record that “The Shrouds” is one measure of his grieving process. We all handle grief differently. Maybe not quite as different as Cronenberg or his protagonist,…

July 1 and 2—CASTLETON and SOUTH POMFRET—The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) will return to Castleton and South Pomfret this July as part of its popular Summer Festival Tour, offering a warm-weather celebration of music, community, and connection with this year’s theme: “Summer of Love.” The 2025 tour opens Tuesday, July 1, at the Vermont State…

Friday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m.—RUTLAND—Two of Americana’s most celebrated voices—Shawn Colvin and Rodney Crowell—will share the stage at the Paramount Theatre as part of their “Together On Stage” tour. The evening promises an unforgettable blend of storytelling, stripped-down arrangements, and the kind of musical chemistry that only decades of artistry can create. For both…

“The Phoenician Scheme” marks the 12th feature film in writer/director Wes Anderson’s near 30-year career. Anderson, working from a script co-written with frequent screenwriting collaborator Roman Coppola, channels his innermost self to produce another exacting artifact of precise framing, intricate set design, stitch-perfect costumes, and a caravan of his favorite stock actors, plus a few…

By James Kent Just 10 minutes north of Rutland, tucked into the hills of Pittsford, Camp Sangamon offers a summer camp experience that feels like it stepped out of a storybook—treehouses, blacksmithing, sailboats on a shared pond, and cabins dating back to the 1950s. Since 1922, boys from across the country have spent their summers…

Don’t let the headline excite you or fool you. An IMAX theater is not coming to Rutland, or anywhere else in Vermont for that matter, any time soon. And if I know Vermont like I have over the past decade, it’s never coming, so don’t hold your breath. Anytime the request for a new movie…

By James Kent MENDON — A new yoga studio has quietly opened its doors along Route 4 in Mendon, already creating waves of calm and community. Grounded Yoga Studio, founded by longtime local Meg Budusky, officially opened May 5 and offers a welcoming alternative to the more intense fitness-driven yoga environments. Grounded Studio is located…

Forming a new friendship with someone in your 40s is challenging enough; try doing it if you’re an introvert. Writer/director Andrew DeYoung’s comedy “Friendship” is a hilariously dark look at male bonding with a leading performance from Tim Robinson that audiences won’t soon forget.  Where to begin with this movie? I guess, for starters, a…

By James Kent CASTLETON—On a cold May 20 morning, school bus after school bus began to pull into the Castleton University parking lot after 9 a.m. More than 2,200 registered high-school students and other attendees arrived for the inaugural Bring Back the Trades event in Vermont. Bring Back the Trades, a New Hampshire organization recognizes…

By James Kent Thursday, May 29 at 4 p.m.—KILLINGTON — The senior class of Killington Mountain School (KMS) will trade their ski gear for menus as they take over The Foundry at Summit Pond for a special fundraising event. In a unique partnership between KMS and the Karr Group, the evening will feature the 2025…

‘Presence’ is available to stream on-demand After director Steven Soderbergh’s planned 2013 theatrical film, “Behind the Candelabra,” ran into funding difficulties and eventually landed on HBO for a cable release, the prolific director announced his retirement. In what is, perhaps, the shortest retirement in filmmaking history, Soderbergh was back with his short-lived, though compelling, two-season…

Director Jeremy Workman’s documentary, “Secret Mall Apartment,” spins a crazy yarn about a group of Rhode Island street artists who, in a brazen and ingenious-level piece of establishment corporate defiance, fooled the Providence Place security for four years by building a secret apartment within a hidden nook of the mall structure. Artist Michael Townsend is…

By James Kent If you’ve driven past the corner of West Street and Main in Rutland around lunchtime in the past few months, chances are you’ve recognized the food truck with the big pig chef logo on the side and large letters spelling out "Hangry Hogg" with the tagline, “Put some South in your mouth.”…

By James Kent Wednesday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m.—WOODSTOCK —The curtain rises on a heartwarming production this spring as Zack’s Place presents its annual community play at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre. Admission is free, though donations are gratefully accepted to support the nonprofit’s enriching programs for adults with developmental disabilities. The Zack’s Place theater…

By James Kent BORING, or the Bureau of Regional Inter-existential Non-Governmental Goings-on (at least I think that’s what the acronym stands for), is the waiting queue you don’t want to find yourself in unless you are the seven talented women in Circus Springboard’s “Thank You For Waiting,” who know how to manage a Kafka-esque crisis—through…