World premiere of Shakespeare’s Sister at Blackfriars Playhouse

The untold story of Judith Shakespeare, a young woman challenged to reconcile her dreams with the social constructs of Elizabethan London, will come to life at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

Relishing its fresh commitment to produce new work using Shakespeare’s staging conditions, the American Shakespeare Center has chosen the new play Shakespeare’s Sister by Emma Whipday to be a part of the upcoming, revamped Actors’ Renaissance Season. The playwright, Emma Whipday of King’s College London, will be joining the ASC actors and director Jim Warren in the rehearsal room.

Judith Shakespeare has one ambition: to be a playwright, just like her famous brother Will. When her debt-ridden father forces her into an engagement, she runs away with the help of dashing actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother in London. But when Judith arrives in the plague-stricken capital, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another, and her play refused. Judith befriends the women in a local brothel, and together, they decide to stage her play in secret. But Elizabethan London is a dangerous place to perform an unlicensed play.Shakespeare’s Sister is full of ideas and events as relevant to Shakespeare’s London as they are to today’s Virginia: the challenges of making a living, religious extremism, and the conflict between social expectations and individual dreams. “On top of all that drama, this play is darn funny,” says Warren.

The Actors’ Renaissance Season has been a unique theatrical venture in which the ASC dives deeper into Shakespeare’s staging conditions (leaving the lights on, utilizing a troupe of about a dozen actors, incorporating music before and during the show) by also re-creating some of Shakespeare’s rehearsal conditions: the troupe of actors direct themselves with very few group rehearsals, no outside directors, no formal costume designers, and often with just their cue scripts in hand, like scholars believe Shakespeare’s troupe worked. This year the ASC is shaking things up by mounting two Shakespeare plays and one Restoration play in their typical “Ren Season” style while also adding the new play directed by ASC co-founder and Artistic Director Jim Warren and the first professional revival in centuries of The Fair Maid of the Exchange by Shakespeare’s contemporary Thomas Heywood.

“We’ve been doing a Ren Season since 2005,” explains Warren, “and we’ve continued to experiment with the best ways to combine Shakespeare’s rehearsal conditions with many modern conventions like running a show for three months, which Shakespeare didn’t do. Presenting new plays written for Shakespeare’s staging conditions has been a goal of mine since we built the Blackfriars in 2001. So this year we’re taking the Ren Season experiment to new levels by bringing in a new play to explore with its playwright. Even though we’ve been playing in our Ren Season creative laboratory for over ten years, we’re still searching for new ways to shake things up and delight our audiences.”

Playwright Emma Whipday’s academic interest in Shakespeare’s staging conditions has primed her to fit in perfectly at the American Shakespeare Center. She is a teaching fellow at King’s College London and has published academic research on contemporary performance of early modern drama, staging closet drama, and early modern popular culture, as well as directing two productions of early modern plays as part of her research. Whipday borrows the character Judith Shakespeare from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, but re-imagines her story to reveal the “familial, societal, economic, and political pressures that shaped her world. We know that some women did perform in Shakespeare’s England,” Whipday says, “but the details of their performances are, for the most part, lost. Shakespeare’s Sister brings to life the early modern theatrical world that fostered Shakespeare’s talent – and in doing so, it imagines the stories of some of the women lost to history.”

Act fast, because you’ve only got 10 chances to catch this exciting and whimsical new play.  You can guarantee your seat for Shakespeare’s Sister by calling 1.877.Much.Ado (540.682.4236), by logging online to AmericanShakespeareCenter.com, or by visiting the Blackfriars Playhouse Box Office on 10 South Market Street in Staunton. Ticket prices start at $26.  Residents of Staunton, Waynesboro or Augusta County can take advantage of $18 local rush tickets on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Student, Senior, Military and AAA discounts also are available.

National Park Service announces Shenandoah Valley history programs

Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park and its partners will offer a series of special National Park Service ranger programs and other events this August to highlight various stories related to the history of the Shenandoah Valley.

“These programs will give visitors a chance to explore important events of the Valley,” said Eric Campbell, the park’s chief of interpretation. “We will cover a numerous subjects and offer a wide variety of events, including  a Star Gazing Party, special programs for Civil War Weekend, programs on critical moments of the Battle of Cedar Creek and a celebration of the National Park Service’s 100^thBirthday.”

These special presentations include both the popular “History at Sunset” programs and also the new “Battlefield Series” programs.  All of these programs are free and last between 90 minutes to two hours.

* August 19-21  Civil War Weekend   A series of special events and programs at historic and Civil War related sites in Frederick, Shenandoah and Clarke counties, including Winchester.  Activities typically include special tours, children’s activities, book signings, living history demonstrations, and more.  For more information and a complete schedule of events see: www.visitwinchesterva.org or www.shenandoahatwar.org or call: (877) 871-1326.

* August 19 —History at Sunset: “Attention – Company!”  Civil War Soldier for an Evening (7:00) Have you ever attended a Civil War “living history” event or re-enactment and wondered about all those strange movements, battle formations and commands?  Or the details of the various steps in loading and firing a rifled-musket?  Join Ranger Jeff Driscoll for a hands-on interactive experience on the basics of Civil War drill.  For adults and kids alike!  Meet at Belle Grove Plantation Manor House (336 Belle Grove Road, Middletown, VA).

* August 20—“I will guarantee that my line will stand” Ramseur’s Attack Against Hayes and Kitching(9:00 am)

Join Ranger Jeff Driscoll as he explores the attack of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur’s Division on the Union line held by Col. (and future President) Rutherford B. Hayes and Col. J. Howard Kitching’s troops.  Meet at the National Park Service Visitor Contact Station (7712 Main Street, Middletown, VA).

* August 20—National Regiment Living History Encampment and Firing Demonstrations  (10:00–5:00)  Members of the National Regiment will set up an encampment and discuss the life of the common Civil War soldier.  Firing demonstrations at 11:30 am, 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm.  Meet at the 8^th Vermont Monument.  Parking is located at the Claytor Farm parking area (2262 Claven Lane, Middletown, VA).  The location will be marked by NPS signage.

* August 25—National Park Service Centennial Celebration (9:00–4:30).  Stop by the Visitor Contact Station (7712 Main Street, Middletown, VA) to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service with cake and light refreshments.  Free.

* August 27—Belle Grove Wine Festival (11:00 – 6:00) An annual favorite at Belle Grove that will feature tastings of regional vineyards, music, chef demonstrations, vendors, and more. Fee. For more information call(540) 869-2028.

* August 27—Battlefield Series: “Don’t run until the Vermonters do!”  The Vermont Brigade at Cedar Creek  (2:00)One of the most well-known units to fight at Cedar Creek was the Vermont Brigade, which saw action both during the critical morning defensive stand on Cemetery Hill, and also during the Union counterattack in the afternoon.  Join Park Ranger Jeff Driscoll as he explains the role of these soldiers from the Green Mountain State.  Meet at the Visitor Contact Station (7712 Main Street, Middletown). Visitors will then car caravan to various locations on the battlefield.

For details and updates, call (540) 869-3051 or see: www.nps.gov/cebe.

National Park Soundscapes focus of Oct. 2 concert in Waynesboro

Composer Jill Haley and guitarist David Cullen will perform songs from the CD National Park Soundscapes at the Historic Wayne Theatre/Ross Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 3 p.m.

Admission is pay what you will.

National Park Soundscapes was inspired by a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, which produced the first song on the CD, “Glacier Soundscapes.”

She wrote several more pieces while spending a month at Badlands National Park in South Dakota, then hit on the idea that became the CD.

Parks represented in National Park Soundscapes also include Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Cuyahoga Valley, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Shenandoah, Yosemite, Valley Forge and Zion.

The Oct. 2 concert at the Wayne Theatre will include selections that feature Shenandoah National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and Badlands National Park.

The Wayne Theatre/Ross Performing Arts Center is located at 521 West Main Street in downtown Waynesboro.

For more information, call (540) 943-9999 or go online at WayneTheatre.org.

Busy Kickoff Weekend at Wayne Theatre

The opening of an art exhibit, the debut of LIVE @ the WAYNE and a concert with the Chairmen of the Board highlight the Kickoff Weekend at the Historic Wayne Theatre/Ross Performing Arts Center in September.

“This is the big opening weekend for the Wayne Theatre that we’ve been working toward for the past 15 years,” said Tracy Straight, the executive director of the Wayne Theatre, which re-opened in March after a lengthy, multimillion-dollar renovation.

The Kickoff Weekend begins on Thursday, Sept. 8, with the opening of an art exhibit celebrating the cultural legacy of the Wayne Theatre in the 21st century. The exhibit features the work of an array of well-regarded Virginia photographers, including Kevin Blackburn, Deb Booth, Mark Miller, Conrad Matiuk and Alison Thomas.

The Sept. 8 art opening will begin at 5 p.m. Admission is free.

On Friday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m., the Wayne Theatre marks the debut of a new monthly variety show, LIVE @ the WAYNE, on Friday, Sept. 9.

The debut of LIVE @ the WAYNE will feature Americana music artist Bryan Elijah Smith, who will join host Tracy Straight and house band The Boogie Kings at the 7:30 p.m. show.

Admission to LIVE @ the WAYNE is $15.

The Kickoff Weekend finale is Saturday, Sept. 10, at 8 p.m., with Chairmen of the Board, one of soul music’s most consistent hit makers.

Tickets for the Chairmen of the Board show are $20/$25.

The Wayne Theatre/Ross Performing Arts Center is located at 521 West Main Street in downtown Waynesboro.

For more information, call (540) 943-9999 or go online at WayneTheatre.org.

Lime Kiln Theater presents Furnace Mountain in concert

Lime Kiln Theater’s Summer 2016 concert series continues on Saturday, Aug. 13, as Furnace Mountain will perform with opener Jordan Tice and Horse County. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7:30.

Advance tickets are $15 and are on sale now at www.limekilntheater.org. Tickets will be $20 at the door, with cash, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover all accepted.

Lime Kiln Theater’s summer concert series is sponsored by Devils Backbone Brewing Company and Charles W. Barger & Son Construction. Devils Backbone beer, Kind Roots Café food and Rockbridge Vineyard wine are available for purchase at all shows. The Furnace Mountain show is presented by CornerStone Bank.

Though often overshadowed by Southwest Virginia and its famed Crooked Road, the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia’s northwestern counties have always been fertile ground for traditional music, and they continue to be home to many of its finest practitioners. Named for a mountain near where all of its members grew up, Furnace Mountain consists of some of the most innovative and gifted young musicians in Virginia. With Aimee Curl on bass and vocals, Danny Knicely on mandolin and fiddle, Dave Van Deventer on fiddle, and Morgan Morrison on guitar, bouzouki, and vocals, the band creates music that is at times lively and raucous, with spirited fiddle melodies weaving in and around the powerful rhythms of the bass and bouzouki, and other times poignant and poetic, with sublime vocal harmonies beautifully interpreting some of the oldest songs ever written.

Jordan Tice is an accomplished guitarist and prolific composer of instrumental acoustic music and songs. He is well-versed in bluegrass flat-picking, blues and ragtime finger-picking, classical composition, and jazz-inspired improvisation, and his original music reflects these diverse interests in a cohesive and musical way. He has released three records of original music to rave reviews and performed or recorded with The Dave Rawlings Machine, Tony Trischka, Mark Schatz and friends, Steve Martin, and the Duhks.

Lime Kiln Arts, Inc. is a non-profit (501c3), operating at Lime Kiln Theater in Lexington. It opened in 1984 and is rooted in and inspired by the magic of a natural, outdoor theater. After a brief hiatus that started in 2012, Lime Kiln Theater is thrilled to present its third straight summer season of live music and theater featuring local, regional and national acts.

For more information, visit Lime Kiln on the web at www.limekilntheater.org, or check out the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LimeKilnTheater.

Shenandoah National Park celebrates National Park Service history

Stephen T. Mather was a successful businessman, brilliant promoter, and a visionary who became the first director of the National Park Service (NPS) in 1916, setting the standard for all who followed.

To honor Director Mather and celebrate the NPS Centennial, a special one-hour, costumed, living history interpretive program will be presented twice this season. “An Interview with Stephen Mather” features Shenandoah National Park Superintendent Jim Northup portraying Stephen Mather in 1929, near the end of his stellar career.

Interpretive Park Ranger Michael Punches will portray a newspaper reporter asking questions about the many challenging issues regarding the formation and development of the National Park Service.

The events are set for 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 10^th at the Skyland Amphitheater and at 8:30 p.m. on Founders Day, August 25^th at the Big Meadows Amphitheater for this entertaining glimpse into the creation, development, and early history of the National Park Service.

American Craft Week returns to Crozet

The Crozet Fall Arts and Crafts Festival joins with retailers and art institutions nationwide in celebration of American Craft Week.

Open to the general public on Saturday and Sunday, October 8 & 9, at Claudius Crozet Park in Crozet VA, this American Craft Week event will feature over 100 juried fine art and craft Exhibitors showing and selling their handcrafted work. Craft demonstrations in blacksmithing, woodcarving, plein aire painting, and more will be ongoing throughout the weekend. The Festival also features live music in a variety of genres and styles, a special Children’s Area, great food, and Virginia wine and draft beer by the glass.

American Craft Week began as a small, grassroots effort to enhance the knowledge and appreciation of handmade craft. Now celebrating its seventh anniversary, American Craft Week is a well-established, national event celebrating the tradition of American craft in artists’ studios, galleries museums, schools, and festivals. This year’s official celebration will be held Oct. 1 – 16, and for the first time all 50 states are participating, including the District of Columbia, and three foreign countries (US Army bases in Germany, Japan and South Korea).

“American Craft Week has caught the imagination of so many supporters,” said Diane Sulg, founder and co-chair of the event. “With the growing appreciation of both artisan products and American-made goods, craft is highly regarded for its strong design, quality materials, expert workmanship and enduring value.”Since its inception in 2010, American Craft Week has grown from 240 to more than 1000 participating events, all inviting the general public to enjoy a wide variety of educational, commercial, charitable and festive ways to celebrate craft.

The Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival is a bi-annual juried fine art event supporting the community owned and operated, non-profit Claudius Crozet Park. For more information about the Festival and American Craft Week, visitwww.crozetfestival.com. For a complete list of American Craft Week public events taking place locally and nationwide, go to www.americancraftweek.com.

Quilts inspired by the National Parks arrive at Virginia Quilt Museum

To borrow from Trey Amos, “The Art of the Natural” finally arrived this week at the Virginia Quilt Museum in the form of 177 small quilts.  These are not your grandmother’s quilts – they are art quilts, an art form born of the 1960s return to the earth and old ways, when people realized a new-found respect for a craftsman’s creative skills.  These 177 art quilts are collectively known as “Inspired by the National Parks”.

“Inspired” here does not mean a decorated copy.  Nor are art quilts created from a pattern.  They are fiber art built upon an original experience, idea, or imagery, using quilting techniques.  The collection developed from a 2014 challenge put out to quilters by Donna DeSoto, a member of the Fairfax, VA chapter of Quilters Unlimited.  Since her previous “Inspired by the Beatles” challenge had been so successful, she asked participants to select a National Park and make a quilt to honor either its flora, fauna, or landscape.  The response exceeded her hopes and dreams!

The resulting exhibit debuted at the Houston International Quilt Festival in Fall 2015 and has shown at a few venues since.  The quilts traveled safely here from Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area at Coulee Dam, WA, where they had spent the July 4th weekend on display.  Now they are expertly installed in their new space by Gloria Comstock, the Virginia Quilt Museum’s curator.  She had carefully trained a crew of Museum volunteers in the care and handling of such a precious commodity.  “On Thursday, the last few, in the bay window, were fitted together like pieces of a puzzle,” she explained, “but we got it!”  The collection will now receive visitors in Harrisonburg through September 10.

Some of this exhibit’s quilters are internationally known, others are novice quilters, but they all share “a passion for American’s Best Idea:  The National Parks,” according to its website.  If you’ve been to that park, you can reminisce.  If you haven’t, you can dream of going.  Barbara Roadcap, the Museum’s events coordinator commented, “The Parks exhibit is fantastic – I wish the world could see this!”  And, as they say, seeing is believing!

“Inspired by the National Parks” national tour schedule can be found at its websitewww.npscentennialquilts.com.

For information or details about the exhibit, visit www.vaquiltmuseum.org.

Virginia Quilt Museum was founded in 1995 and exists to celebrate quilting in Virginia.  The Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit funded solely through private donations, memberships, and revenue from admissions and museum shop sales.  The Virginia Quilt Museum receives no federal or state funding.