And then there were none...

By DOROTHY HARTZ

We’re looking at the last offerings of the traditional summer vacation, those scintillating 10 weeks snuffed one by precious one in time’s relentless onslaught — sort of like the sitting duck victims of the Agatha Christie classic, “Ten Little Indians.” It opens on Wednesday, August 21, at Forestburgh Playhouse. If you’re one of the few people on the planet unfamiliar with the Dame at her most prolifically homicidal, there’s no time like the present to join in the fun. Even if you’re familiar with the play and one or all of its film incarnations, it bears repeating as the quintessential twisted—yet, genteel—murder mystery, which manages to raise serious questions about justice and human limitations in administering it. Information, up to but not including the identity of the killer, can be found at 845/794-1194.

Another dramatic presentation, one more appropriate for the younger set, takes place at Fallsburg High School when Oliver King and Teagas Faronii reprise “Three Pence a Pow’nd,” a fantasy featuring poetry and music. The dates are Saturday, August 18 and Thursday, August 23. Call 845/434-5750, ext. 4303, for reservations and information.

The final performances of “Piano 2001,” The Shandelee Music Festival, on August 16 and 18, feature award-winning young pianists from around the world. Call 845/439-3277 for more on this project made possible with funds from the Sullivan County Decentralization Program, administered by Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA).

The Delaware Valley Opera stages “Orpheus in the Underworld” again this weekend, August 18 and 19, the final weekend of its successful 2001 season. The story of Orpheus was featured in one of the first operas ever written, by Montiverdi; this version is Offenbach’s, comic and irreverent. Can it still shock? Find out at the Tusten Theater. Call 845/252-7576 for reservations.

The Summer 2001 Art Exhibition at the Nutshell Arts Center in Lake Huntington continues on weekends through September 2. Thirty-four artists share the space, including an annex, in a group show of colorful abstracts, soft, intimate paintings and fanciful three dimensional work.

The Indians may all be at Forestburgh, but “Colonial Days” will still return to Fort Delaware in Narrowsburg on August 18 and 19, when butter making, spinning and weaving demonstrations present us with the prospect of our own fall chores, just around the corner. Call 845/ 252-6660.