Nonprofit Center Adds Associate Director

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires (NPC) has hired McCaela Donovan to fill a new position of associate director. 
 
Reporting directly to founder Liana Toscanini, Donovan will share the leadership and administrative workload as the NPC engages in succession planning throughout 2025.
 
Said Toscanini, "We're excited to have found such an enthusiastic and experienced leader at a time when our services are really in demand."
 
Donovan has spent the majority of her career in the nonprofit sector, most recently in a consulting role. Multiple leadership roles include managing director of White Heron Theatre Company on Nantucket and Assistant Director of the Boston University School of Theatre. Donavan is an Eliot Norton and IRNE award-winning actress, having worked in theatre, film, and television for over 25 years in both NYC and Boston. She holds a BFA from Ithaca College, an MA from Emerson College and an MFA from Brandeis University. She currently serves on the Affordable Housing Trust in Stockbridge.
 
"It's an honor to join the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires at a crucial and potent moment for the sector," said Donovan. "Nonprofit organizations highlight the best of us, are essential for the health of our communities, and serve as a reminder of our shared humanity. I look forward to supporting the many nonprofits in the Berkshires."
 
Founded in 2016, the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires serves as a support and infrastructure organization for a large sector of more than 1200 registered charities. Visit npcberkshires.org for more information.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
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