Adams Theater: 'Baye and Asa Presents: Suck it Up, Second Seed'

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ADAMS, Mass. —The Adams Theater presents movement art and dance company Baye and Asa on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m. 
 
The company, directed by Amadi 'Baye' Washington and Sam 'Asa' Pratt, will perform two of its most thought-provoking and impactful pieces, "Suck it Up" and "Second Seed." 
 
"Suck it Up" is a duet confronting the violent fallout of male insecurity and entitlement; "Second Seed" responds to D.W. Griffith's 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation, based on Thomas Dixon's novel The Clansman. It confronts the myth of Griffith's "helpless white minority," and the cult of white-victimhood's enduring impact on American polity. 
 
Tickets can be found here or can be purchased at the box office the day of the show (availability is limited). 
 
Amadi and Sam are in Adams as part of a residency at the theater's Incubator, which invites artists from the Berkshires and beyond to use our physical space to develop bold, original works that foster cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary collaborations. 
 
Amadi and Sam will spend a week in residency at the Adams Theater working on a new commission before presenting work on September 7. The presentations will be followed by Q&A.
 
"We met when we were 6 years old. The physical aggression in our choreography is a symptom of our political rage, and a yearning to personally implicate ourselves," they said. "We use our choreography to create political metaphors, interrogate systemic inequities, and contemporize ancient allegories; we build theatrical contexts that celebrate, implicate, and condemn the characters onstage."
 
Reserve tickets at www.adamstheater.org/present. Adams Incubator residency programs are funded via Berkshire Taconic Foundation's Arts Build Community Incubation Grants.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Adams Couple Found Guilty in Foster Child's Death

Staff Reports
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An Adams couple have been found guilty in the 2020 death of their 10-month-old foster child.
 
Matthew Tucker and Cassandra Barlow-Tucker were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and reckless child endangerment in the death of Kristoff Zenopolous on Feb. 18, 2020.
 
A Berkshire County Superior Court jury returned the verdict on Monday. Assistant District Attorneys Andrew Covington and Stephanie Jimenez prosecuted the case as special prosecutors from the Northwestern District Attorney's Office because of a conflict of interest with the Berkshire DA's Office. 
 
Evidence presented at trial showed that the child died after the defendants failed to seek medical treatment despite clear and obvious signs that he required care, according to the DA. The medical examiner determined that the child died from complications of a strep infection, bronchopneumonia, and empyema, a condition in which pus accumulates in the lungs and chest wall. 
 
Medical experts testified at trial that these conditions are routinely treatable with timely medical care. The six-day trial included testimony from 14 witnesses. After approximately 2 1/2 hours of deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts against both defendants on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless child endangerment. 
 
Kellie Beaulieu served as the victim-witness advocate. 
 
The Tuckers were indicted by then District Attorney Andrea Harrington in 2021 but the charges were dismissed the following year by Superior Court Judge John Agostini, who found the evidence too circumstantial. His findings were overruled by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2023. Current Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue recused himself because he had consulted with the Tuckers as a defense attorney. 
 
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