Enchanted Circle Theater

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CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE

Written by:

Priscilla Kane Hellweg, Rachel Kuhn, and Steven Angel



BETWEEN THE CANALS: The Evolution of a Mill Town is a Living Museum styled theater production, which we perform in the historic Lyman Mill. The audience is transported back in time, from present day Holyoke to the mid 1800’s, with a dramatic slide show presentation.
Five different stages wrap around the audience and become various set locations. The audiences witnesses the building of the 1000 foot dam across the Connecticut River, French-Canadian children leaving their family farm to work in the mills: Irish and Canadian children working 14 hours a day in a textile mill, a Labor Union meeting where they draft a resolution to improve working conditions, and Susan B. Anthony speaking from the steps of the new Holyoke City Hall. The play ends back in present day, as a young Puerto Rican child prepares for his first day of school in his new home. BETWEEN THE CANALS offers a message of hope for the future, based in the harsh realities and personal triumphs of the past.



BETWEEN THE CANALS addresses many curriculum topics within the Massachusetts Curriculum frameworks, specifically, Immigration, the Industrial Revolution, Unions and Child Labor, Health and Epidemics, and the Suffragist Movement. The play can act as a catalyst for discussion at the start of a curriculum unit, or the culminating event at the end.



A corresponding workshop EXPLORING CULTURAL HERITAGE is available for teachers and students. Guided tours are offered before and after the performance to several related sites including Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke Heritage State Park, and Holyoke Children’s Museum.



"I like the way you presented the feeling of immigration. We had just talked about Ellis Island in class, and for a minute I could close my eyes and picture the people there while the actors talked. You made this so authentic."