Twenty Summers

Recorded at the Hawthorne barn on May 18, 2019 by Twenty Summers. All Rights Reserved.

Recorded at the Hawthorne barn on May 17, 2019 by Twenty Summers. All Rights Reserved.

Recorded on May 24, 2019 by Twenty Summers. All Rights Reserved.

Investigative reporter Jodi Kantor and provocative political commentator Andrew Sullivan united for a tête-à-tête on the rapidly changing cultural landscape in the wake of Kantor’s momentous, Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 New York Times story exposing Harvey Weinstein’s decades of alleged abuse toward women. That story set off a worldwide reckoning that empowered victims to come forward with the truth about men who had been abusing their power in a wide range of fields for years. Sullivan, whom we are honored to welcome for a third appearance on the Barn stage, has spoken out fearlessly as well, at times challenging the most far-reaching effects of the #MeToo movement on privacy and sexuality. We anticipate a timely and riveting conversation. Sponsored by Sharon Fay, Maxine Schaffer, Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte

Seasoned singer-songwriter, performing artist, and author, Dar Williams, joined us for a solo concert in the Hawthorne Barn on May 26, 2018, where she shared her music from her extensive collection of folk tunes, along with stories from her many journeys and experiences.

Tony Award–winning playwright J.T. Rogers (Oslo) and seasoned foreign correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran (National Book Award finalist for Imperial Life in the Emerald City) sat together on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn to discuss the intersection of politics, war, journalism, and art. J.T. Rogers’s plays include Oslo, Blood and Gifts, The Overwhelming, White People, and Madagascar. For Oslo he won the Tony, New York Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lortel, and Obie awards. As one of the playwrights for the Tricycle Theatre of London’s The Great Game: Afghanistan he was nominated for an Olivier Award. His works have been staged throughout the United States and in Germany, Canada, Australia, and Israel. He is a Guggenheim fellow and has received three NYFA fellowships in playwriting. Rogers is a member of the Dramatist Guild, where he is a founding board member of the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund. He is an alum of New Dramatists and holds an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the Un

Syrian-born, Los Angeles-based songstress Azniv Korkejian, known onstage as Bedouine, performed in the Hawthorne Barn on June 15, 2018, sharing her modernized take on sixties folk and an arsenal of beautiful songs.

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky joined poet Monica Youn to share recent work and exchange ideas, along with moderator Elizabeth Bradfield, local poet and naturalist on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn. Robert Pinsky‘s recent book is At the Foundling Hospital, nominated for the Nation Book Critics Award in poetry. As Poet Laureate of the United States (1997-2000), he founded the Favorite Poem Project, featuring the videos at www.favoritepoem.org. His best-selling translation The Inferno of Dante received the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Harold Morton Landon translation prize. His other awards include the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Korean Manhae Prize, the Italian Premio Capri and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pen American Center. He performs with pianist Laurence Hobgood on CDs PoemJazz and House Hour, from Circumstantial Productions. Monica Youn is the author of Blackacre (Graywolf Press 2016), which was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kingsley Tufts Aw

Pollock: A Staged Reading featuring Jim Fletcher and Birgit Huppuch We were pleased to present a theatrical reading of Pollock on June 16, 2018, featuring the original actors, Jim Fletcher and Birgit Huppuch, in Provincetown’s Hawthorne Barn as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. French playwright Fabrice Melquiot's drama, translated into English by Kenneth Casler and Miriam Heard, and directed by Paul Desvaux, illuminates the profound connection between the brilliant madness of Jackson Pollock and his marriage to artist Lee Krasner, exploring the charged space between his genius and her spirit, his inhibitions and her frustrations. It was our honor to shine a spotlight on these two important artists, both of whom spent time in the Hawthorne Barn. This performance was made possible through the support of The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, which promotes the best of French arts, literature, cinema, digital innovation, language, and higher education across the U.S.

Iconic singer-songwriter John Gorka raised the rafters on May 18, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn with his spirited acoustic guitar playing, insightful lyrics, and wry, witty storytelling. Veteran of countless world tours and collaborations with the likes of Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Ani DiFranco, Gorka released his fifteenth album, True in Time, in January 2018. We were proud to be a stop on his album release tour, where he performed a solo set of songs that, according to the Huffington Post, “reconnect us with what really matters most in music: honesty.” This concert was part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival.

On Sunday, June 10, 2018 Overcoats joined us for an intimate concert. The New York-based female electronic-pop duo of Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell, performed in the historic Hofmann Studio in Provincetown, the former West End home and studio of artist Hans Hofmann, as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. The talented best friends’ debut, Young, released in 2017, was praised as a “memorable album” in a rave review by critic Bob Boilen. In a vocal style that is minimalist yet rich in melody, they deliver songs of connection and tension, on the depths of love and the challenges of family.

Singer-songwriter Kevin Morby performed solo in the Hawthorne Barn in Provincetown, Mass. as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. Morby rose to prominence as bassist in the band Woods; he also formed The Babies with Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls. He describes his latest album, City Music, as "a mix-tape, a fever dream, a love letter dedicated to those cities that I cannot get rid of, to those cities that are all inside of me.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham and the internationally best-selling essayist, critic, and translator Daniel Mendelsohn discussed how writers turn consciously to literature itself as a way of broadening their own horizons on Sunday, May 27, 2018 in Provincetown’s Hawthorne Barn as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize), The Snow Queen, Specimen Days, and By Nightfall, as well as the nonfiction book Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown. His most recent book is A Wild Swan and Other Tales (illustrated by Yuko Shimizu). He is a senior lecturer at Yale and lives in New York. Daniel Mendelsohn is an internationally bestselling author, critic, essayist, and translator. His books include An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic (2017), shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize (U.K.) and named a Best Book of the Year by

We were delighted to host award-winning performer and author Alan Cumming interviewing the outrageously versatile Isaac Mizrahi, fashion legend turned actor–director–TV host on Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Provincetown’s Hawthorne Barn. Their conversation featured tales from the upbringing and prolific careers of both men, each a unique persona in his field, focusing on Mizrahi's second-act success in the entertainment industry. Some two decades after his autobiographical documentary Unzipped won him countless fans and a prize or two, Mizrahi has since hosted his eponymous TV show, is working on his third book, has directed two operas, and performs cabaret in venues as prestigious as Café Carlyle and Joe's Pub. Alan Cumming is a Tony Award–winning actor whose own highly versatile talents have landed him in films with everyone from Stanley Kubrick to the Spice Girls, onstage with Jay Z and Liza, as host of the Tony Awards, and even at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List for his memoir, Not My Father's S

On Saturday, May 19, 2018, performer and songwriter Martha Wainwright shared her distinctive voice and arsenal of powerful songs in the Hawthorne Barn in Provincetown, Mass. The solo performance featured her on an acoustic guitar, performing new and old material, including fan favorites "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" and "Proserpina," and telling intimate stories along the way. Martha, who is the daughter of folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, is currently finishing up a book titled Stories I Might Regret Telling You, which, like her songs, is a window into her life without artifice, pretension, or fakery. You can watch the full video of this event and more at https://www.20summers.org/videos.

Grammy and Tony award-winning singer-songwriter and Broadway composer Duncan Sheik joined us in the Hawthorne Barn as a resident artist during the week leading up to his performance. On the final night of his stay, he shared music from his compositions for Spring Awakening, American Psycho, and off his many albums (including his hit 'Barely Breathing'). Sheik shared the stage with special guest Micky Blue, who collaborated with him during his week-long residency in the Barn. This event took place on June 10, 2017.

Iconic poets Sharon Olds and Mark Doty read from their influential collections, and discuss the secrets behind their fearless craft. This event took place on June 10, 2017, and was moderated by Provincetown poet Kelle Groom.

Blending country, folk, and rock styles, vocalist Lucy Kaplansky performed in the Hawthorne Barn, sharing original songs as well as covers of June Carter Cash, Gram Parsons, Lennon-McCartney, and Nick Lowe. This event took place on June 3, 2017.

As the latest installment of our ongoing tribute to the painters who worked and taught in the Hawthorne Barn when it was an art school, Marcelle Polednik, a museum director and curator, and Karen Wilkin, experienced art critic and curator, discussed and presented images from Hans Hofmann: Works on Paper, an exhibit they curated for MOCA Jacksonville in Florida, demonstrating the ever-evolving work of Hofmann and the inspiration he drew from Provincetown itself. This event and video were made possible by generous support from the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust.

Twenty Summers welcomed authors Alysia Abbott (Fairyland) and Joan Wickersham (The Suicide Index) to the Barn, who have both written critically acclaimed memoirs about the fathers they loved and lost too soon. The two authors discussed their memoirs, their writing lives, and their other work in this deeply personal and fascinating conversation. WCAI was a media sponsor for this event. This event took place on May 13, 2017.