Phantom Theater film, music celebrate rural Vermont April 7 at the Big Picture

April 3, 2024  |  By Lucas Bates

Early 20th century Vermont hill farmer Riley Bostwock. Photo courtesy of Phantom Theater

As the first total eclipse in 100 years appears in Vermont skies, it’s clear what everyone will be doing on Monday, April 8. But what about the night before? Phantom Theater fills the gap with a lively celebration of rural Vermont featuring film, staged readings, and live music. 

“A Hill Farmer’s Story and Other Vermont Tales” is the last installment in Phantom’s winter collaboration with the Big Picture Theater and Cafe in Waitsfield, set for 7 p.m. Sunday, April 7.

A highlight of the evening is a screening of a short documentary written and directed by longtime Granville resident and recently retired Harwood English teacher Kate Youngdahl-Stauss. “A Hill Farmer’s Story” is based on the 100-year-old journals of Granville farmer and legendary woodsman Riley Bostwick. The film explores the history of Granville at the turn of the 20th century, drawing similarities between Bostwick’s accounts and the director’s own experience as a farmer, living and raising her family in the area.

The journals had been in the care of Sandy Pierce, an artist in Rochester, Vermont, who felt they rightfully belonged in Granville. Pierce reached out to Youngdahl-Stauss and asked if she would be interested in caring for them. A veteran filmmaker with dozens of credits to her name, Youngdahl-Stauss was thrilled.   

“As a hill farmer myself and someone who is deeply interested in how rural spaces shape people and how people shape the land, I was eager to see them,” she said.  “Each time I dipped into the diaries, I found something incredibly relevant to my own life. A focus began to form in my mind – how the past maps onto the present.”

Live theater is another element of the program. Longtime Phantom actor Rob Donaldson teams up with Ethan Bowen of Bald Mountain Theater to perform original poignant and comic sketches about changing times in Vermont.

Singer-songwriter Kris Gruen. Courtesy photo

Singer-songwriter Kris Gruen of Worcester completes the program for the evening. His live performance will be backed by a band of players from Vermont and New York City.  Gruen, who has regularly performed internationally as well as on both coasts, recently finished recording his sixth studio album, “In Bloom,” which fully displays his melodic guitar riffs and absorbing lyricism.

Many of the people involved in the event are farmers or come from Vermont farming families. The presenters and organizers see it as a unique opportunity to celebrate the place they and their audience call home, and to acknowledge the trials, tribulations, and joys of those who came before us.

A family-friendly show, “A Hill Farmer’s Story and Other Vermont Tales” is down-to-earth entertainment the night before Vermont’s biggest celestial event.  

See a trailer for the film here.

Tickets: $15 available online in advance at Seven Days tickets and at the door. More information online at phantomtheater.org and bigpicturetheater.info.