Hinges Keep a City: Neighborhood Stories

The new play Hinges Keep a City: Neighborhood Stories, written by Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge and directed by Judy Braha, ran January 14- 23, 2005 at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The play was produced by the Education and Community Outreach Department’s Storytelling for the Ages (STAGES) program.

“STAGES is an innovative community arts initiative that combines oral history with performing and visual arts,” said Huntington Education and Community Outreach Director Donna Glick. “Throughout the process of creating Hinges, we gathered the stories of young people and elders from Boston neighborhoods, and with the help of professional artists, transformed the stories into new works of art,” Glick said.

The 2005 production was the third STAGES program. This edition of the program, funded in part by The Boston Globe Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, was designed as part of the Huntington’s inaugural year-long celebration of the new Calderwood Pavilion.

Hinges wove together stories of people who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the Huntington during the 20th century, as characters from varied ethnic backgrounds recounted what life was like. “Memories, transitions, and legacies were explored throughout the play,” Glick said, “and the characters portrayed were drawn from real people who live their lives here.” The play focused on social issues facing the neighborhoods including racial and social problems arising in the midst of gentrification. Hugh Hinton’s original music set the tone for the show and Christine Bennett’s (Bennett Dance Company) choreography played a vital role in bringing the characters to life. The sets, based on paintings by Chandra Dieppa Ortiz, were inspired by the neighborhoods.

STAGES was presented by The Boston Globe Foundation, which provided major funding for the project. Additional funding was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.