Collected Stories, opening at Trustus, poses tough questions by Jaquelyn Mohan

Who owns your memories?  It is a strange question, and one which opens conversation about intellectual property, personal experience, ownership, and the often blurred line between what is right and what is wrong.  In Collected Stories, playwright David Margulies raises these issues, and Milena Herring further explores these issues and more in her production of the controversial play opening at Trustus Theatre this August.

Collected Stories tells the tale of the changing relationship between two women over a span of six years.  Ruth Steiner, played by Elena Martinez, takes the role of teacher and mentor to the younger Lisa Morrison, played by E. G. Heard Engle.  Ruth is a respected professor and short story writer in her mid-fifties who takes on Lisa, graduate student and aspiring writer, as her assistant.  As the years pass, they become friends and eventually adversaries as one character makes a choice that forever changes both women’s lives, careers, and futures.

A USC graduate, director Milena Herring worked in New York in the theater business for thirty years before returning to Columbia in 2010.  Her love for Collected Stories originally sparked when she saw the play performed in New York in 1997 by Uta Hagen and Debra Messing.  Herring is thrilled to finally have the opportunity to direct Collected Stories.

“What appealed to me about the play originally was the veracity of who is wrong and who is right.  There’s a point in the play where the audience gives a collective gasp and realizes a truth about ones of the characters,” Herring says, recalling when she first saw the play years ago.  “The plays that I love, both as a director and as a member of the audience, are plays that move the audience from point A to point B or even point W—they move the audience intellectually or emotionally, and this play does both.”

Collected Stories deals with numerous highly charged ideas and themes ranging from betrayal, intellectual property, the creative process, aging, lost love, and literary appropriation.  “It’s a good thinking person’s play,” Herring says.  The play deals with these heavy issues with honesty and oftentimes humor.  “It’s just very real,” Herring adds.  “In the 1960s it would have been called kitchen sink realism.  It’s a slice of life.  You’re dropping in on a conversation between Lisa and Ruth over six years.”

In this unique two-person play, both actors are equally passionate about the issues the play raises and the story it tells.  “This is a story about two women and their friendship. Friendships change and shift over time as lives change, and I love that their relationship is the root of the play,” says Engle, who takes the roll of Lisa Morrison.  Elena Martinez Vidal, who plays Ruth Steiner, said “I like this kind of show because it can engender tons of discussion…The play does not guide the audience to any conclusions: they will have to make up their own minds.  And those conclusions will probably depend a lot on their experiences and backgrounds.”  Collected Stories will leave you wondering to what extent your life is your own and how one person’s experience can become another person’s story.

Collected Stories is the celebratory closing play for the 28^th season at Trustus Theatre.  “The first play of the season was Next to Normal, and it was a really fine local production you could hold up to any New York production,” Herring recalls.  “Collected Stories is a good counter production to Next to Normal…They’re good bookends to the season.”  Raising ideas pertinent to theater itself such as intellectual property and literary appropriation, Collected Stories is a brave production that is sure to keep the audience guessing until the end and, as they exit the theater, leave them with the haunting question, Who owns your memories?

Three leading ladies work together to run this play, two on-stage and one off-, and make it an experience no one will soon forget or, for that matter, be able to stop talking about.  Sponsored by Callison Tighe with consideration by Muddy Ford Press, Collected Stories will run on the Trustus main stage from August 15^th through the 18^th.  Trustus Theatre is located at 520 Lady Street.  For tickets and more information, visit www.trustus.org or call the box office Tuesdays through Saturdays 1-6 pm at 803-254-9732.

-- Jaquelyn Mohan, Jasper intern

2nd Annual Artists for Africa benefit performance this weekend at Columbia Music Festival Association Artspace

 

This Saturday and Sunday, August 10^th and 11^th, Artists for Africa, a newly formed non-profit organization with goals to provide arts education to impoverished children in Africa, presents the 2^nd annual benefit performance at the CMFA Artspace on Pulaski Street in the Vista.

Artists for Africa Founder, dancer and teacher Cooper Rust, has recently returned from her second stint in Nairobi, Kenya, teaching ballet to young children in the area. In 2012, Rust was able to coordinate an effort that raised nearly seven thousand dollars for the cause in one weekend of performances. Thanks to the work of Artists for Africa, an additional 300 underprivileged children in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya were able to enjoy after school arts classes, giving most of them their first opportunity of this kind.

Rust initially traveled to Kenya in 2012 to work with Anno’s Africa, an organization based out of the United Kingdom promoting education resources in Africa. Artists for Africa joins Anno’s Africa and One Fine Day, based out of Germany, in the global fight for arts exposure and education for these children. A year later, Rust has again just returned home from Kenya and says, “I have all the confidence in the world that Columbia will once again come together to support me and this beautiful cause.”

The concerts include performances by members of the Columbia City Ballet, Columbia Summer Repertory Company, Trustus Theatre’s upcoming production of “Ragtime,” and Milwaukee Ballet among others. Saturday evening’s show includes a silent auction and food and beverages donated by Villa Tronco, Rosso, Gervais and Vine, Tin Roof, Blue Marlin, and Cellar on Greene. Framing of the artwork donated by The Frame Shop, City Art, Haven's, Frames and Things, Framing Plus, House of Frames, Picture Perfect, and Just Susan's Framing.

The events, sponsored by Top Hat Sweepers and the Columbia Music Festival Association, begin at 7pm on the 10^th and 3pm on the 11^th. Tickets for the 10^th are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and for the 11^th are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

For more information, please visit www.artistsforafricausa.org or to purchase tickets, call (803) 467-9004.

-- Bonnie Boiter-Jolley

Be the first to see "The Velvet Weapon" (winner of the 2013 Trustus Playwrights' Festival) on Sat. Aug.10 at 2 PM!

Love live theatre, but stymied by steep ticket prices?  Trustus has got you covered.

Love live theatre, but have commitments like jobs and children that keep you from going out at night?  Trustus has got you covered.

Love live theatre, but wish there were some way to see new shows other than traveling to New York?  Ever wish there were some way for new works of theatre to get a shot at an audience without having to worry about either being a Broadway blockbuster?  Trustus has got you covered.

Ever wish you could give feedback directly to a playwright, before the play ever even opens?  Trustus has got you covered.

Are you so tired of the famously hot August heat - punctuated by the monsoon-like August thunderstorms - that you wish you could just sit down in the dark somewhere with a cold beer or refreshing glass of wine, and watch some live theatre you've never seen before? Trustus has got you covered.

Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM - that's Saturday, August 10th - The Velvet Weapon, winner of the 2013 Trustus Playwrights' Festival, will have a one-time-only staged reading at Trustus Theatre, open and free to the public.  The Trustus bar will also be open (although not free.)  There are only some 135 seats, however, so make sure one of them is yours.

The playwright, Deborah Brevoort, was kind enough to talk with Jasper about her new work, and you can read that exclusive interview here.  The cast for this reading includes:  Paul Kaufmann (last fall's Next to Normal and  I Am My Own Wife, both at Trustus), Trey Hobbs (Albany in USC's recent King Lear, Greg in reasons to be pretty at Trustus in 2010), Mandy Applegate (The Last Five Years and Plan 9 from Outer Space, both at  Trustus, and The Producers at Workshop) Hunter Boyle (Peron in Evita at Trustus, Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Workshop) Chelsea Nicole Crook, Eric Bultman, Cindy Durrett (numerous incarnations of Nunsense at Act One Theatre), Josiah Laubenstein (Edgar in King Lear, and Mike in Pine, the previous year's Festival winner  currently running at Trustus), Raia Jane Hirsch (The Motherf*@%er With the Hat at Trustus, Pride and Prejudice with SC Shakespeare Co.), and Kayla Cahill (The Shape of Things at  Workshop.)

Press material describes The Velvet Weapon as "a hilariously smart backstage farce that will leave you laughing while also engaging you long after you've left the theatre.  At the National Theatre of an unnamed country, in an unnamed city, a matinee audience rises up in protest over what is being performed on stage, and demands something new. They begin a performance of their own of The Velvet Weapon, a play by an unproduced playwright of questionable talent. Inspired by the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia, The Velvet Weapon is a humorous exploration of populist democracy told through a battle between high-brow and low-brow art."

Director Chad Henderson shared a few thoughts with Jasper:

Jasper:   What has your involvement been in previous years with the Playwrights' Festival?

Henderson:  I directed Swing ’39 in 2011. I also acted in Copy Man under the direction of Jim Thigpen years ago.

Jasper:  Why is it important for an author to get feedback via a reading?

Henderson:  Probably the same reason I invite colleagues to come watch rehearsals of a show I’m directing before we open – its good to know what’s working and what’s not. In this particular case, Brevoort has written a farce – so pace and delivery is the name of the game it seems. The language on the page is the direct key to engaging an audience, so

Jasper:  How did you go about casting Velvet Weapon?

Henderson:  I was looking for people who are quick, humorous, and who have good timing.

Jasper:  For audience members who have never attended a reading before, what can they expect?

Henderson:  The actors (and it’s a great cast) will be reading without staging. Therefore, they will be acting while reading – but not walking around the stage. We would have loved to have staged this reading, however with farces there’s so much action that simplistic blocking would get in the way of the words being said. And since this is a celebration of a new work – we’re keeping it simple. But the script is certainly funny enough and endearing enough to entertain on a Saturday afternoon.

Jasper:  What sort of themes are addressed in this play?

Henderson:  “What is art?” is a question that strings through the narrative. Should art entertain? Should art explore the human condition? If it doesn’t explore the human condition – is it still art?

Be the first to see The Velvet Weapon, which will get a full production in the summer of 2014.  Curtain is at 2 PM tomorrow (Sat. Aug. 10) at Trustus Theatre, at 520 Lady Street in the heart of the Congaree Vista.  The Facebook "event" page for the reading is here.

~ August Krickel

Lee Malerich and Glenn Saborosch -- Artist Profiles

A barn turned workshop and toy box, a collection of gliders from the 1940s, a shower mosaic based on Matisse’s The Dance, a seventeen-year-old cat named Mouse. This is the home of South Carolina artists, Lee Malerich and Glenn Saborosch. The two have been together for four years, both of them having grown up in the Midwest before ending up in the Palmetto State. Malerich and Saborosch have an interesting back story since they both went to the same high school, dated temporarily in college, and then went on to live separate lives, marry other people, and have successful art careers before meeting again years later. They found each other through their art; Saborosch, widowed, found an online profile for Malerich, then divorced, and they began a letter correspondence. Months later, they met in person in an art show in Iowa. Both recount with amazement how – even later in life – a second chance at romance turned them into twenty-somethings in love. They got married in Rome in 2009, “and not Rome, Georgia,” Malerich clarifies, laughing. They now live in Neeses, with Saborosch’s son Garrett, their cat Mouse, and a collection of art as dynamic as the couple who created it. Though they share a love for the arts and sweet green tea, their styles, the mediums they use, and the stories behind their art are unique.  

For most of Malerich’s artistic career, she has been in textiles. She learned sewing out of necessity when she was young, but loved the process. When she discovered that she could use the beauty in fabrics and thread for more than just clothes – for art – Malerich was hooked. The Midwestern grown artist received two studio art degrees from Northern Illinois University before moving to South Carolina to teach. In NIU she met Renie Breskin Adams, who Malerich says inspired many of her views regarding textiles. Adams, a professor teaching in NIU, had graduated from Indiana University with a group Malerich describes as treating a “stitch as a brushstroke.” Their cloth and thread was their art, not merely their craft, a frustrating limitation often applied to textiles. Malerich also recalls that Adam’s work was “overwhelmingly personal,” a characteristic inherent in Malerich’s textiles as well.

Holding one of her older pieces, Malerich points to one image – a person with cancer scars curled up in a circle – created by the stitching over a background of fabric, saying, “Well, it’s me.” The majority of the images in her textile works are beautiful, intricate representations of herself. However, Malerich says she is moving away from this vulnerability in her art. In fact, she is moving away from her previous style in many ways. Her newer work is not only less vulnerable; it is also fabric-less. Malerich has branched into three-dimensional art alongside Saborosch; her medium, window frames.

Her first ventures into windows are tile mosaics in simple wooden frames, with an amount of detail similar to her textiles. She explains that her prior motto had been to “build in as much detail as possible” before the piece “falls apart,” but now she is more interested in “thinly orchestrated” and simple patterns. Her most recent window frames have empty spaces, pieces of the glass panes leftover without obstructing the view of what’s through the window. The frames are often stacked on top of each other, giving a surprising depth to the thin wooden beams. Attached objects range from metal coils to seashells to painted faces, all materials that incorporate her love of the flea market into her art. Beyond living frugally, her chosen materials help convey meaning in her work; Malerich believes her art should always hold meaning or express an emotion. Ceramic figurines of red cardinals, the Illinois state bird, rest on a window frame piece she is working on now, a tribute to the place where both Malerich and Saborosch were raised.

Like Malerich, Saborosch also discovered his medium at a young age, learning to weld in a high school sculpture class and loving it. He studied for two years at Lindenwood University in St. Charles Missouri, though he says he struggled in school while he excelled in art. After receiving a critique in a show that he focus on one genre, he decided to dedicate his time to sculpture, specifically metal work. Saborosch ended up taking a twenty-year hiatus from sculpting due to family and his work; Saborosch was a truck driver. However, he would not be kept away forever, and had started entering shows again before he and Malerich reunited.

Malerich calls Saborosch’s style “describing masses out of lines.” Steel strips and wire form animals, people, scenes frozen in time. In one sculpture, a ballerina bends her head back, leg lifted, hands crossed in front of her. Saborosch notes how expressive hands are in a sculpture that lacks a face. Another sculpture, a leaping runner, is harder to identify at first glance, but the motion created by a few simple lines of metal is easily apparent.

(above by Glenn Saborosch -- currently on display at Tokyo Disney)

Recently, though, Saborosch has also found his style changing. His newer pieces are abstract, and his materials now include spare agricultural tools. Rather than plan ahead what shape the pieces will take, as he did with his representative work, Saborosch says he “plays” with the newer pieces, letting them take on a form of their own. He stops “if it starts to look like an animal,” he asserts. He wants the pieces to be abstract. Unlike Malerich, Glen doesn’t set out with a message or emotion in mind. He creates art for the aesthetic of the shape, whether in a steel representation of a leaping horse or an abstract sculpture made from tractor parts.

Both Malerich and Saborosch are quick to add that the materials chosen his more recent works do not have any bearing on the interpretation of the pieces. The repurposed tractor parts aren’t meant to be recognized as repurposed tractor parts; the positive and negative spaces they create are what speak for the piece. His use of thrown out agricultural equipment is perhaps just another way that Malerich’s love of reusing waste has rubbed off on him.

The couple agrees that both their work changed after they got married. Through the changes in their styles, mediums, and personal views on art, Malerich says living together is a of “moving toward the middle.” They celebrate the different art styles and skills each brings to the table. Malerich proudly calls Glen “the real deal” when it comes to artistic talent, while she is the one with more experience and formal training. They help each other through these strengths; Malerich writes Saborosch’s bios and Saborosch helps Malerich if one of her newer projects requires a special tool or heavy lifting. While Malerich does exclaim, “It’s not fair!” regarding needing Saborosch’s help with her own pieces, both artists appreciate living with another artistic mind. Saborosch says it’s nice having someone there to critique one’s work and provide ideas.

When asked if they ever collaborate on projects, there is some minor discussion and laughter. In short, no, they work separately. Saborosch says, “We’re in our own little worlds together,” Malerich adding that their work is like “parallel play.” They feed off of each other – inspiring, advising, learning – without crossing the line into the other’s art pieces. Both of them, however, seem happiest when discussing their significant other’s work. They are quick to praise, describe, and enthuse over the other’s art. Malerich encourages Saborosch to talk about his Cinderella sculpture, a success he takes much pride in. This piece was commissioned by Disney and is currently on display in Disney World in Tokyo, part of a series of “story beats” telling the Cinderella story though different art genres.

However, both artists are finding it difficult to show and sell their newer work. They sell from their home rather than any one established place, and have had some of their newer pieces rejected from art shows. Saborosch says that he may return to figure work to see if that sells better, but both Malerich and Saborosch are not worried about the situation. The couple is retired and don’t need to work to live comfortably. Malerich says coming to a place where you no longer need money is an interesting experience, leading her to question her motives for her art. She wants to continue to create art that makes her happy, regardless of how it is accepted.

Malerich is a part of the group, Cats on a Leash, artists who have been together for over thirty years and show periodically. Beyond that, Malerich and Saborosch will be selling and doing commissions from their Neeses home. She discusses and displays both of their artworks, as well as her love of living “on the cheap,” in her blog “Waste as a Way of Life.”

Malerich may also be showing this fall, though nothing is set in stone yet, in the Pickens County Museum exhibit “Fiber Art: Connecting Concept and Medium,” which will run from September 7 through November 14.

 -- Joanna Savold, Jasper intern

"Pine" at Trustus Explores Emotions, Loss, and Family Dynamics

Pine, the winner of the Trustus Playwrights' Festival which runs through this coming Saturday, August 10th, has a double meaning in its title:  the aroma of the trees that dominate stage right, and the prevailing cloud of mourning that has surrounded an upstate New York family since the death of middle son Colin five years previously.  Never entirely a comedy nor a sentimental drama, this new play from Eugenie Carabatsos successfully explores the complex nuances of how ordinary people interact in situations we all face: loss of a loved one, inclusion of newcomers to the family, and changing dynamics when children become adults. The twist: Colin is still around.  His spirit lingers in his family's home, and comments on all the action as it unfolds on stage.

That twist is certainly nothing new, from literature (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Topper, Wilde's Canterville Ghost) to stage (I Hate Hamlet, Coward's Blithe Spirit) to film (the Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore movie Ghost, and big-screen versions of most of the preceding.)  Following the conventions of the genre, it's therefore no plot spoiler to assume that one or more characters have unfinished business, but as in life, nothing is clearly spelled out. Are some characters still grieving, or did they never have a chance to?   Is Colin trapped in limbo as a result, or is the unfinished business his?

Advance publicity and opening scenes where Colin speaks to the audience make it clear that Colin really is a ghost, i.e. this isn't Next to Normal, and he's not the product of anyone's delusion.  As Colin, Hunter Bolton is up to the challenge of reacting to everyone's dialogue and movement without ever being acknowledged by the other characters.  He's terribly under-used in the first act, simply because there's no one with whom to interact. Still, a number of audience members commented on how skillfully his body language and facial expressions convey his presence and feelings, even when he's a passive observer.  The pace picks up significantly in the second act, when plot twists allow Colin to participate more, and the opening night audience gave the first scene of Act 2 a round of applause as a result.  Bolton takes his time with every line, and is both sympathetic and believable as a decent, ordinary guy who has found no answer to his question:  "If I'm gone, why am I still here?"

Indeed, all the characters are quite ordinary; one might almost say under-developed,except part of the point of the script is that this is a regular family, with no dysfunction beyond what would be expected.  Becky Hunter as sharp-tongued mother Rita, Rachel Kuhnle as independent sister Julie, and Cory Alpert as troubled younger brother Teddy all look like they and Bolton could be related.   Jennifer Moody Sanchez plays Rachel, Colin's fiancée (not his ex- fiancée, Colin is quick to assert, since they never broke up) who is still considered part of the family, but also is finally ready to move on with her life.  Josiah Laubenstein as in-law Mike has some nice moments of comedy with Kuhnle; I enjoyed his portrayal of Edgar in USC's King Lear a few months back, but the manic tone that worked for Edgar's feigned madness is a little distracting here, and there's no line that couldn't benefit from being delivered an octave lower.  He gets some of the show's biggest laughs, however, rejoicing when Rachel's new boyfriend supplants him as the barely-accepted outsider.  In one of the show's many relatable and accessible themes, boyfriend Miles (Harrison Saunders) has to compete with the persisting presence of Colin, and how many of us have had to compete with the metaphoric ghost of a significant other's ex?  Which is especially ironic, given that Bolton and Saunders fought for the hand of Juliet as Romeo and Paris in a memorable production in Finlay Park a few years ago.

I was prepared to say that Alpert's maturity makes him a little old for his role, but program notes reveal he is exactly the same age as his character, the teen who survived the car crash that killed Colin, and who states what I'm told is sadly all too common in such scenarios: "it should have been me."  His scenes with Bolton are genuinely moving, as each wrestles their circumstances, the former pleading "I'd rather have this than nothing," while the latter despairs "I'd rather have nothing than this."   Alpert and Bolton do nice work together as they reveal how family conflict can persist long after one of them is gone.  Carabatsos excels in natural dialogue that captures the quirks of everyday life, as when wine is spilled on Rita's best pair of slacks, and she gripes that even a new pair won't be that same "best" pair.  A culminating and cathartic scene allows each character to grieve in a different way, and to explain differing but understandable rationales.

Guest designer Chet Longley's set is more detailed than we have seen recently at Trustus, and includes a very believable patch of forest, and a simple recreation of the wooden-siding-covered exterior and interior of a home in the Catskills. I might have enjoyed a little more set decoration - mirrors or pictures on the wall, the occasional lamp or dresser - but as much space for movement needs to be opened up, in order for the cast to be able to move about freely with ever bumping into the invisible Colin. A nice touch is the way an upstairs bedroom is located directly above the kitchen, allowing Bolton to move easily from one to the other, perching on top of a refrigerator as a ghost might.

Director Dewey Scott-Wiley handles the challenges of blocking around an unseen and non-corporeal main character well, and takes full advantage of her cast's ability to wring emotion and meaning from pauses and silences as well as from lines.  Her sound design might need a little tweaking, however, as audibility and clarity decreases the farther a character goes toward stage right.  There is also a whooshing sound effect hat signifies Colin's presence that I never entirely "bought," although at the same time I can't think what, if anything, might work better.

Playwright Carabatsos graduated from college only three years ago, and is to be commended for her mastery of realistic dialogue and the ability to focus on and portray idiosyncratic character traits that we all possess.  Her skill not only derives from what must surely have been an excellent education at Wesleyan University, but also, I suspect, from good genes:  I discovered at opening night that her father, James Carabatsos, is the screenwriter of such films as Hamburger Hill, Sally Field's Heroes, and Clint Eastwood's Heartbreak Ridge. While completely unrelated to Pine, I must note that as recently as three weeks ago a group of baby boomers in a 5 Points bar paused while channel-surfing to chant "Swede, Swede, Swede!" along with Clint's platoon, that at least once a month for the last couple of decades I have quoted the "permission to speak freely?" line, and that also within this past month I quoted the immigrant soldier from Lost Battalion who proudly asserted that he was indeed an American: "I took the test!"

Pine is not the greatest play ever written, but it's certainly a good one.  It could probably stand another re-write or two, to tighten up the story and perhaps drop about 30 minutes of chit-chat.   The characters too could be more fully developed - we could see Teddy as more fragile, more lost, and more at risk, and Rita could be meaner and feistier, a la Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment (and everything she's done since.) Pine's tone is very much like that film, or the play and film Steel Magnolias, both full of memorable laugh lines but ultimately dealing with death.  It would be very easy to say the ending is all too predictable, but in the last half hour, I found myself desperately wanting just that ending and no other.  Which makes me think that the characters became people that I cared about. A friend and colleague noted that he felt his emotions were a little manipulated, and I can certainly see that.  My reaction, however, is excitement and joy that such a young writer has mastered the skill of manipulating emotions!   Either way, I don't think there was a dry eye in the sold-out opening night house by the show's end, and I rarely cry at live theatre.

Pine may not go on to win any Tony Awards - although it would be extremely cool if it did - but could certainly make for a decent Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.  What's much more important is this chance to nurture and encourage the growth of a new, talented author, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if one day Pine is seen as a promising early work from an acclaimed playwright.  But make those reservations now - there are only three more chances to be part of theatre history, with shows this coming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 PM.  Contact the Trustus box office at (803) 254-9732 or visit www.trustus.org for more information.

~ August Krickel

Deborah Brevoort's "The Velvet Weapon" Wins 2013 Trustus Playwrights' Festival - Chad Henderson Directs Staged Reading Saturday, August 10th

The Velvet Weapon, by Deborah Brevoort, is the winner of the 2013 Trustus Playwrights' Festival, and will receive a full production in the summer of 2014, preceded by a staged reading  this coming Saturday, August 10th, at 2 PM on the Thigpen Main Stage at 520 Lady Street in the Vista.  As sponsor of one of the nation's longest-running play festivals, Trustus has nurtured and fostered the growth of new playwrights such as David Lindsay-Abaire, who later went on to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Over the following year, each winning playwright has the chance to develop the script for production, with the opportunity for input from and consultation with members of the Trustus staff and company, based on feedback at the initial staged reading.  This year's reading will be directed by Chad Henderson, chosen by Jasper readers as the 2012 Theatre Artist of the Year.  Included in the cast are Paul Kaufmann (Next to Normal and I Am My Own Wife at Trustus) Raia Jane Hirsch (The Motherf*@%er With the Hat at Trustus, Pride and Prejudice with SC Shakespeare Co.) Kayla Cayhill (The Shape of Things at Workshop) Trustus Managing Director Larry Hembree, Eric Bultman, and Chelsea Crook.

The reading is free and open to the public, but seating is limited; the bar will be open, with liquid refreshments for sale.

Deborah Brevoort holds an MFA in Playwriting from Brown University and an MFA in Musical Theatre writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she currently teaches. She also teaches in the MFA playwriting programs at Columbia University and Goddard College. Her web site is www.DeborahBrevoort.com.  She is perhaps best known for her work The Women of Lockerbie, which won the Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays Award, and the silver medal in the Onassis International Playwriting Competition. It has been produced across the U.S., as well as in Scotland, Japan, Greece, Spain, Belarus, Poland, Australia and England, and has been translated into seven languages.

The Velvet Weapon was inspired by the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia, and is described as "a hilariously smart backstage farce that will leave you laughing while also engaging you long after you've left the theatre," and "a humorous exploration of populist democracy told through a battle between high-brow and low-brow art.  At the National Theatre of an unnamed country, a matinee audience rises up in protest over what is being performed on stage, and demands something new. They begin a performance of their own of The Velvet Weapon, a play by an unproduced playwright of questionable talent."

 The author kindly agreed to share some thoughts with Jasper via e-mail in this exclusive interview!

Jasper:  You have written drama, comedy, and the books for musicals.  Is The Velvet Weapon your first venture into farce?

Brevoort:   Velvet Weapon is my first farce, although one of my previous plays, The Poetry of Pizza, an Arab/American comedy about love, used elements of farce here and there. Albert Bermel, who wrote the definitive critical study on farce, said that it was “an older dramatist’s medium, because the techniques involved are so formidable.”   That surprised me; farces tend to feel so slight. They are like meringues that melt the minute they hit your mouth.   So, I wanted to try my hand at the form to see what was so difficult.  I was greatly humbled by it, I have to say.   These “slight” little plays are built like Swiss watches!

Jasper:  Do you find it challenging or difficult to move from one form to another, or does that give you a sort of freedom, to work in whatever form suits the material?

Brevoort:  I love writing in multiple forms.  I always find it difficult to move back and forth between them, but that is also the pleasure of it. As a writer, I have a couple of rules for myself. One is that I don’t ever repeat myself.  Another is that in every project I do, there must be something that I don’t know how to do. These rules help to ensure that I am always stretching myself as an artist, and that I don’t stagnate, or get too comfy.

Jasper:   Your theatrical career began at Alaska's Perseverance Theatre, and from there you moved into writing - how did that transition take place?

Brevoort:  I was the Producing Director of Perseverance Theatre, which means I was the person who raised all the money, and was the public administrative face of the theatre.  But Perseverance was an unusual company, because we were basically a group of artists who administered ourselves and the company. I started out as an actor, and worked in the acting company for the better part of 13 years.  I had always wanted to be a writer, so when we started offering playwriting classes at the theatre, led by Paula Vogel and Darrah Cloud, I took them. Paula snatched me out of the class, told me I was writer, and gave me a fellowship to come to Brown University to make the switch from theatre producing and acting to writing. I accepted the fellowship, and moved to NYC, where I’ve been ever since, working as a playwright, lyricist and librettist.

Jasper: I gather that contemporary themes, especially relating to political and social topics, recur in your work, although perhaps sometimes not overtly. Do you have a particular goal in your work?

Brevoort:  I am not aware that I have a political agenda or even that I have political themes - I just write what interests me.  And I am committed to writing each project truthfully, whatever that may entail.

Jasper:  How easy or difficult is it to make the audience think while still entertaining them?

Brevoort:  There are plenty of techniques you can use as a playwright to make an audience think or feel.  To me it’s simply a matter of craft.  It’s no harder to make an audience think than feel—it just requires different tools.  I do have to say, however, that the hardest thing to do is to make an audience laugh. That is 100 times harder than to make them cry.

Jasper:  Why did the "velvet revolution" in Czechoslovakia appeal to you as source material?

Brevoort:  I was very good friends with Pavel Dobrusky, a Czech scenographer who defected from the former Czechoslovakia and came to work with us at Perseverance Theatre in the mid-1980’s.  When the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989, Pavel worked with us on production called Wonderland, a sort of Alice-in-Wonderland take on the events taking place in Eastern Europe.  It was one of my favorite productions at Perseverance Theatre.

Fast forward 15 years:  Pavel and I both now live in NYC and got to talking one night about The Velvet Revolution and how we’d love to make a theatre piece about it.  Pavel knew all the theatre artists who had been involved—they were his old friends.  We put together a grant request to CEC Arts Link, which gave money to theatre artists to do projects in Eastern Europe.  We got the grant, which enabled the two of us to go to both the Czech and Slovak Republics and to interview all the artists who collaborated with Vaclav Havel to bring down the Soviet regime.  We spent about a month conducting intense, in-depth interviews with 43 of the ringleaders.

After the interviews, I remarked to Pavel that the Velvet Revolution was like one, great big back stage farce. Literally.   So, I wrote the play as a farce.

The goal was for Pavel to eventually direct the play.  But unfortunately, Pavel passed away.

Jasper:   Once you finished the play, you had readings at La Mama and the NJ Playwright’s Theatre?  How did that process work?   

Brevoort:  In addition to getting a CEC Arts Link grant to do the interviews, I got a playwriting fellowship from the NJ Council on the Arts, to write the play. The reading at the NJ Playwright’s Theatre was part of that fellowship.  Pavel directed the reading, which was done for about 30 NJ senior citizens, all of whom thought I was writing a satire about Obama.

The La Mama reading was part of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts “Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe” festival, a citywide, 5-month event to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.  Pavel was no longer in NYC at that point, so he didn’t direct the reading. Many audience members at the reading were from Eastern Europe, so they got all the references in the play and recognized it as the story about Vaclav Havel.  The other half knew nothing about the Velvet Revolution and thought I was parodying populist democratic movements taking place around the world.

In February of this year I had a reading of the play at William Patterson University in NJ, and this time the audience thought I was writing about Occupy Wall Street.

This of course tickles me to no end; it was my goal that this play be about populist democracy not about the Velvet Revolution—and it appears to be working on that level because people are seeing references to American politics or world politics in it.  But I have also loaded the play with lots of inside jokes and references that only Eastern Europeans would “get”—and they seem to be “getting” them.

Each reading helped me to CUT the script. Speed of delivery is necessary for farce. If you have one syllable too many in a line, you won’t get a laugh.  So these readings have helped me to pare each line down so they work like darts.

Jasper:  How did you discover Trustus and the Playwrights' Festival?

Brevoort: I have heard about Trustus for many years,  most recently when I was the playwright-in-residence at Center Stage in Greenville, SC.  I’m delighted to get a chance to work with them!  I’ve never been to Columbia, so I don’t know anything about the community, and am looking forward to coming down and being there next year for rehearsals.

~ August Krickel

Tapp’s Art Center and Hidden Wounds Present “The Art of Healing” -- byKarla Turner, Jasper intern

“Not everything around me can hurt me now,” says Jim Dukes.

He has a powerful weapon.

A survivor of 12 concussions and two suicide attempts who is living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, he learned to “turn the world around and see it through the lens of [his] camera,” and then he began to heal.

He is sharing his healing journey with the community in collaboration with Tapp's Art Center and Hidden Wounds, a non-profit dedicated to providing creative and artistic healing therapy for military personnel battling postwar challenges.

“The Art of Healing,” at Tapp’s Art Center is a unique exhibit which will feature Dukes’ work and include art by Columbia artists Heidi Darr-Hope, Lyssa Harvey, Sandra Carr, Mary How and others who have “found the benefit in using art to heal in their lives,” says Dukes.

As Tapp’s artist-in-residence from July through September, Dukes will assist ongoing efforts to promote healing arts programs by working with local organizations and individuals who utilize art-healing techniques.

Steven Diaz, a USMC veteran, and the Director of Strategic Partnership for Hidden Wounds explains, “Not everyone responds to psychotherapy. Everyone is different with their healing process.”

The exhibit is not limited to individuals with PTSD or TBI. “People use art to heal from a variety of things. There is a wide range of people who are actually putting work in the exhibit,” says Diaz.  They are living with cancer, depression and other life-changing conditions. Work will represent a variety of mediums; including photography, mixed media, drawing, writing, and painting.

The exhibit opens Thursday, August 1st as part of First Thursdays on Main. It runs through the 31st.

Selected artwork from the exhibit will be complied into a book of photos to be released and sold at a fundraiser that closes the show on August 30 at 7 p.m.  The photo book will include the participants’ experiences, as told by area writers.

Proceeds from admissions and artwork sales will benefit both Hidden Wounds and the Friends of the Tapp’s Arts Center, to advance healing through art.

“We see Tapp’s as a community center and we’re excited about the possibility to serve those individuals who seek and lead recovery through art and share examples of these proven technique with our community,” says Brenda Schwarz, executive director of Tapp’s Arts Center.

Those interested in healing through art and participating in the program should contact Steven Diaz at Hidden Wounds at (803) 873-6540 or steven@hiddenwounds.org or Jim Dukes at (704) 840-9008.

-- Karla Turner, Jasper intern

Eugenie Carabatsos discusses her play "Pine," premiering at Trustus Friday August 2nd

Pine, the new play by Eugenie Carabatsos and winner of the  Trustus Playwrights’ Festival will open on the Thigpen Main Stage at Trustus Theatre this Friday, August 2, at 8 PM, and will run through the following Saturday, August 10.  The author graciously agreed to share a few thoughts with Jasper, prior to her first visit to Columbia this weekend to see the world professional premiere of her new play.

Jasper:   What inspired you to become involved in theatre?  Is that your main focus as a writer?

Carabatsos:   My primary interest and passion is drama, though I would love to also be a novelist and perhaps create my own television show someday. As far back as I can remember, I have loved theater. My parents are theater-lovers, so they would take me to see plays and musicals frequently as a child. I remember I made my parents take me to see a community theater production of Annie Get Your Gun three times in one weekend. I always loved going to plays and telling stories, but it wasn't until my senior year of high school when I combined my love of storytelling and my love of plays and wrote my first play for my senior project. After seeing my play read aloud by actors, I was hooked.  I have not done any acting, but I have self-produced a few of my plays in festivals, which is a fun, challenging experience that I like very much.

Jasper:  Where did you grow up? 

Carabatsos:   I am from Bridgehampton, NY, which is a small town on the eastern end of Long Island. The area I live in is not unlike New England, so it was a very nice, easy transition to living in Middletown, CT for college.

Jasper:   Your alma mater, Wesleyan, is a very distinguished liberal arts college.  Did you study theatre or writing there?     

Carabatsos:  Wesleyan does have a wonderful theater and film program, but I actually was an English major, so I didn't get involved in the theater scene at all in college. For me, the best way to learn how to write well is to read well-written books, plays, and essays, so I definitely feel as though I gleaned a lot from my education creatively, even though I wasn't involved in the theater program there.

Jasper:  You wrote the first draft of Pine while attending an artist-in-residence program in the Catskills.   Was there anything in particular that inspired this story?

Carabatsos:   The play isn't based on personal experience. I was thinking about what it would be like for a young widow, and what her relationship would be with her "ex's" family.   I thought that relationship might be an interesting idea for a play. Then I thought, well what if the dead spouse was still around, but no one knew it? And that was the jumping off point. Then when I was in the Catskills, I thought that would be a perfect setting for the play.

Jasper:  Is there a significance to the title?

Carabatsos:   The title refers both to the idea of longing, and also to the smell that connects the family to each other and especially to the father.

Jasper: Is comedy a new medium for you?  And do you like to work with any recurring themes in your work?

Carabatsos:   Yes - when I wrote Pine, I hadn't dabbled in comedy at all.   I think the most recurring themes in my work are death, memory, and love. In terms of writing style, I am very interested in trying out different structures. Pine has a pretty straightforward structure, but most of my other work plays a lot with structure.

Jasper: Are you a full-time author? 

Carabatsos:  Making a living off of writing has been a goal since I decided I wanted to be a writer. I hope to one day reach it!  I work both as a private tutor and academic tutor for a tutoring company that specializes in clinically informed tutoring. I have also previously worked for an online university as an adjunct teacher. I actually really enjoy my tutoring work, and I am passionate about education, but being a writer full-time is definitely the end goal.

Jasper:   Part of the Trustus Playwrights' Festival includes a staged reading the year before the actual premiere, allowing for feedback.  What was that process like?

Carabatsos:  I did not attend the reading, but I had a wonderful conversation with the director afterwards, and we discussed the feedback the play received. It was a really helpful conversation. The play has been revised since that first reading. The core of the play is the same, but there are some things that I expanded upon or made stronger connections to. For example, I gave a lot more information about the father, so that the ending had more weight. I also included a scene with Rita in the trees and allowed her to have a moment with her daughter, Julie.

Jasper: How did you discover Trustus, and are you familiar with the Midlands area?

Carabatsos:   I learned about Trustus through a posting on pwcenter.org, which is the website I use to find all of my play submission opportunities. I have driven through South Carolina on a roadtrip, but haven't spent any significant time there (or in the South in general). I am really looking forward to it!

............................

From press material:

Eugenie Carabatsos has written eight plays, all of which have been produced in professional or festival settings.  After Eternity (Winner of the Venus Theatre Festival), The Brink, and Stalled have been produced in festivals including the Alumnae Theatre New Ideas Festival (Toronto, ON), the Midwinter Madness Festival (New York, NY), the Venus Theatre Festival (New York, NY), and Manhattan Repertory Theatre Festival (New York, NY). Her ten-minute plays have been produced by the Playwrights' Round Table (Orlando, FL), the Short + Sweet Festival (Sydney, Australia), the Edward Hopper House (Nyack, NY), Manhattan Repertory Theatre, The Secret Theatre (Queens, NY), Silver Spring Stage (Silver Spring, MD), the Pan Theater (Oakland, CA), the Complete Theatre (New York, NY), and Love Creek Productions (New York, NY). In Their Glory has received staged readings as part of Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival in Toronto, and, by the Truffle Theatre Company in Brooklyn. A one-act version of the play won the Scholastic Arts and Writing Award for Best Play in 2006. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2010 with a BA in English.

The Trustus Playwrights’ Festival is considered by various publications to be one of the best in the nation. Not only do winning scripts garner a professional reading, but they also receive a full production on the Trustus Thigpen Main Stage. Past winners of this festival including  Jon Tuttle, Stephen Belber, and Andrea Lepico have gone on to have their scripts published and performed all over the nation. Past winner David Lindsay-Abaire was even awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award later in his career. Now NYC playwright Eugenie Carabatsos joins the fine company of Playwrights’ Festival winners as her play Pine makes its professional debut right here in the Capital City.

Pine, under the direction of Trustus Artistic Director Dewey Scott-Wiley, is a ghost story – with humor and a tremendous amount of heart. As the lights come up, audiences are introduced to the White family. Gathering for the Christmas holidays, we realize that older son Colin White seems to go throughout the house unnoticed. Further exposition reveals that Colin is actually a ghost following a fatal car accident years earlier. Colin constantly tries to avoid his overbearing mother and to communicate with his younger brother Teddy, but Teddy can’t see him…or can he? The plot thickens as Colin’s ex-girlfriend shows up to the White home for a holiday visit with her new boyfriend. The Whites' Christmas takes many turns as Colin’s memory and spectral presence make us wonder if Colin’s family is beyond his reach.

Sarah Hammond, a Columbia native who is now a successful playwright in NYC, is the Trustus Literary Manager and oversees the festival submissions. “We went electronic with our competition last year,” said Hammond. “This year, for the first time ever, we also eliminated the submission fee for playwrights, which increased the number of submissions substantially. We got 400 submissions this year from all over the country.” Submissions consist of playwright bios, a play synopsis, and a 10-page script sample  which Hammond has to peruse thoroughly. She then asks for full plays from 25-40 of the playwrights submitting. “When asking for those full scripts, we look first for voices that leap off the page,” says Hammond “Is it theater? Does it feel live? Some dialogue just sings, and that's apparent in a ten-page sample. There's a rhythm - an energy - that comes from a playwright's gut. While we don't have one aesthetic for the new work at Trustus, we do tend to favor scripts with a very strong current of personal truth.” After the full scripts have been read, the top five make their way to Columbia, SC where the Trustus Artistic Director chooses the winner. Obviously, Ms. Carabatsos’ Pine found itself in the winner’s circle in 2012.

Director Dewey Scott-Wiley has assembled a talented cast to bring Carabatsos’ characters to life for the first time. Long-time Trustus Company member Becky Hunter (Palace of the Moorish Kings) takes the stage as Rita, the matriarch of the White family. Hunter Bolton (Love! Valour! Compassion!) makes his Trustus debut as Colin, the ghost. Playing Teddy and Julie, Colin’s siblings, are Cory Alpert and Rachel Kuhnle respectively. Playing Julie’s husband is USC MFA in Acting candidate Josiah Lauberstein (Boeing Boeing). Portraying Colin’s ex-girlfriend Rachel is Jennifer Moody Sanchez (My First Time), and with her is Harrison Saunders (Red) as Rachel’s new boyfriend and soon-to-be fiancé.

Pine makes its premiere on the Trustus Thigpen Main Stage on Friday, August 2nd at 8:00pm and runs through August 10th, 2013. Main Stage shows start at 8:00 pm Thursdays through Saturdays, and Sunday matinees are at 3:00pm. Tickets are $22.00 for adults, $20.00 for military and seniors, and $15.00 for students. Half-price Student Rush-Tickets are available 15 minutes prior to curtain.

Trustus Theatre is located at 520 Lady Street, behind the Gervais St. Publix. Parking isavailable on Lady St. and on Pulaski St. The Main Stage entrance is located on the Publix side of the building.   For more information or reservations call the box office Tuesdays through Saturdays 1-6 PM at 803-254-9732, visit www.trustus.org .

~ August Krickel

Calling all local artists!

Calling all local artists!

The Devine Street Association is holding its annual Art Stroll and Sidewalk Sale on Saturday August 3^rd from 10am – 6pm. The cost is $25 per art vendor, and table and tent must be provided by the artist.

Be sure to bring proper paper work approved by the City of Columbia allowing you to sell your merchandise and be prepared for exposure to thousands of people!

This opportunity is especially lucrative for local artists as the retailers along Devine Street will be having sales and bringing in a large amount of foot traffic and interested buyers.

Registration must be completed before August 1^st. Contact Jennifer Suber at Jennifer@youreventstaff.com or 803-608-6161 for details and registration information.

-- Sarah McNabb, Jasper Intern

Book Review -- Hating the Goddamn Peas: Angela Kelly’s Voodoo for the Other Woman by Jonathan Butler

 

There are no happily-ever-after endings in Angela Kelly’s Voodoo for the Other Woman (Hub City Press, 2013). This is a book of bad women, bad accidents, and bad news. Kelly has a gift for understatement and a voice that can speak unpleasant truths convincingly, in part because she lets the images speak for themselves:

A week later, Mother was white blonde again,

she came home with somebody named Pastor Arthur Ray,

he’d prayed with her, she said, though they smelled

of whiskey, his auburn toupee, crooked, tilted left.

And while its poems deal with such personal matters as heartbreak, infidelity, disease, childhood trauma, and substance abuse, Voodoo for the Other Woman doesn’t seem confessional, in part because Kelly spreads the book’s meditations on disillusion and desire across decades and personae, and in part because these poems maintain a cutting sense of humor. Kelly has a skill for sketching characters in a few details, as in “The Swannanoa Juvenile Detention Center for Girls”:

Next week, the Home Economics class will turn to cooking.

They are going to make chicken pot pie

with a fine golden crust. Jayne Ann says no green peas

are going in her pot pie. She hates goddamn peas.

In spite of the pain stitched through this book, the characters are handled with compassion, rather than venom, and the few moments of tenderness the book offers are more poignant for the destruction around them, gleaming like the broken glass at the conclusion of “Char’s Crossing”:

In the rearview mirror, the three-legged dog

wagged his entire body in farewell.

The acres of broken bottles winked out.

These poems are a requiem for the reckless passions of youth as well as an acknowledgement that childhood’s terrors and injustices persist into adulthood, as in “Dear Boys & Girls of the Playground,” where

Touching your thigh, you look around

for the rubber dodge ball, red and bouncy;

it could tear down the hall at any time.

Destruction often follows in desire’s wake in this poems. After the ecstatic groping there is always a vicious comedown, a severe hangover, sometimes paired with a literal hangover, as in “To Take a Vacation Alone”:

The hung-over mornings, when I wake at dawn,

panicked at the anonymous room, finally recognizing

the roll of surf, the open balcony doors, how the sea air

has seduced my sheets, reducing them to damp rags.

Gauze, perhaps, for a wound I have not even felt.

Cancer and life-threatening pregnancy loom in poems like “How to Prepare for Invasive Surgery” (“I would like to slip inside your jacket and be / the extra button stitched in the silk lining”). Kelly has a gift for striking juxtapositions, as in “Fear Comes Like  a Whistle, a Depot, the Train Itself”:

In the waiting room, I had thumbed through Cosmo-

“The Secret Parts of Your Body Which He Really Wants.”

Womb full of baseball tumors was not on the list.

The inanity of commercial culture in the face of profound personal suffering and loss is a recurring theme. Many of the topics covered are not the kind of thing advertisers want potential customers reading about next to their sales pitches, and Kelly’s book makes an argument for poetry as a place where they can be discussed honestly, with no concern for the sensibilities of advertisers. Like the “The Swannanoa Juvenile Detention Center for Girls,” poetry is a place where you can admit to hating “the goddamn peas.”And since many of the book’s topics, like uterine cancer and ectopic pregnancy, are “women’s issues,” Kelly could be said to be carving out a space for frank discussion of these topics ignored by the media at large. But Kelly’s book isn’t a feel-good celebration of mutual womanhood, either: when we meet the persona of the title poem, she’s putting a hex on a romantic rival, so that

When she steps off the curb,

her ankle may snap, or better yet,

the city bus rounding the curve …

The wisdom of Voodoo for the Other Woman seems hard won. These poems remind us of the uncertainty of our destinations and the unquantifiable value of tenderness in the midst of a collapsing world. In simple language, Kelly has achieved a complex tone that mixes humor, sadness, hope, rage, and resignation. It is a potent brew.

-- Jonathan Butler

Quality or Quantity: Choose Your Poison by Chris Robinson

 

It’s summer. The heat has finally hit, kids are home, and everybody feels just a little bit lazy. There have been several good events – hope you had the opportunity to see Philip Mullen’s exhibit at 701 CCA and hear his thoughts about the work. David Furchgott juried 701’s SC Biennial 2013 competitive exhibition and gave a talk, “Swimming Against the Current,” about the difficulties and complexity of being and succeeding as an artist today.

There are some good and interesting shows at the Columbia Museum of Art, and it is very encouraging that the museum seems to be embracing a responsibility to exhibit, educate, and inform the public about contemporary art. There is a wonderful, intimate exhibit of Pablo Picasso’s prints from the Weatherspoon Art Museum collection in Greensboro, North Carolina. The exhibit overview describes Picasso as the most influential artist of the twentieth century. I guess it is a function of who is being influenced and have to admit Picasso for a broader public but would certainly choose Duchamp for the development of the visual arts in general. Duchamp at the beginning of the twentieth century exemplified and predicted every major movement that would follow in the next sixty years, and most successful artists revere his role in contemporary art.

The Steven Naifeh exhibit has a great, powerful, and decorative feel to it but recapitulates concepts of sixty years (Al Held, Sol LeWitt, Frank Stella) and a few millennia (the latter influences noted in the exhibit) past. The work is clean, carefully crafted, geometrically appealing, and exemplifies another popular South Carolina star. After preparation, money and luck play a big role in artistic success.

I continue to lament how few people really look at art. The First Thursday on Main continues to be an attractive social event but begs for both some innovation and artistic refinement. One of the first things I look for in a good show is some element of consistency, both in the content and quality of the work. So many are either ill-advised or hard-pressed to mount an exhibition with a critical mass of those two things.

When I first joined the University of South Carolina, I was encouraged to exhibit frequently – publish or perish – and we seem to have assigned an asset to the idea of production and frequency, often to the detriment of quality and idea. Marcia Tucker of the Whitney and New Museum once advised me to be careful what and how frequently one exhibits – naive or poor quality work can never be retracted. It seems we are at a time when some good, careful, and creative thought – as opposed to continued cluttering – would benefit all. Picasso was unusually prolific, Duchamp just the opposite. Choose your poison.

Confessions of a Good Man Opens at Harbison, Tarzan + Doctor Dolittle Continue at Town and Workshop

Walking on Water (WOW) Productions playwrights Tangie Beaty and Donna Johnson have teamed up with author Kevin A. Rasberry to present their brand new production, Confessions of a Good Man.  The show is a prelude of sorts to Rasberry’s book, Evolution of a Good Man, which will be released in 2013 as well. WOW will be returning to the Harbison Theater at Midlands Technical College to bring this show to life for FOUR  nights only! Run  dates are Thursday July 25 - Sunday July 28, and tickets range in price from $20 - $30 (with group rates available.)

Confessions of a Good Man is an inspirational stage play that gives a glance into the mind and struggles of one man. The production tells the tale of three brothers who grew up in the same household, but ended up with three vastly different lives. Each of the brothers takes his own path to try and become like their father, the epitome of a good man. Although the goal seems to elude them all, each of their paths lead to the same place...home. Family secrets, lies and love both bind this family together and keeps them bound. Will a confession free or destroy them?

National Gospel recording artist Blanche McAllister-Dykes, a South Carolina native, will join cast members Kayla Baker, Dana Bufford, Deon Generette, Rod Lorick, Regina Skeeters, and Will Young, IV.   WOW Productions' mission is to inspire, educate, encourage and empower artists and audiences to make communities more conscious and compassionate places. WOW believes in utilizing local and upcoming artists who also share the desire to utilize the performing arts in making a difference in not only their surrounding communities, but nationwide.  For more information about WOW Productions and Confessions of a Good Man please visit www.wowproduction.org or call 803.807.2969.

Town Theatre meanwhile continues its run of Tarzan the Stage Musical, based on the animated Disney film, which was in turn based on the classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Tarzan’s adventure begins when a shipwreck leaves him orphaned on the shores of West Africa. This helpless baby is taken under the protection of a gorilla tribe and becomes part of their family. Growing into a great hunter and leader, Tarzan is much-loved by his ape mother, Kala, but yearns for acceptance from his ape father, Kerchak. When he eventually encounters his first human – Jane Porter, a curious young explorer – both of their worlds are transformed forever. Despite challenges, foes and differences, Jane and Tarzan find that together they can overcome all odds. This unlikely love story, full of adventure and songs by Grammy winner and rock icon Phil Collins promises touch your heart, while thrilling you as Tarzan literally swings over the heads of the audience and onto the stage.

Alternating in the role of Young Tarzan is Luke Melnyk (The Music Man) and Jadon Stanek (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) with newcomer Liberty Broussard and Caroline Quinn (Annie) alternating as Young Terk. Parker Byun (Miss Saigon, The Music Man) plays the grown Tarzan, with Town newcomer Celeste Morris as his leading lady, Jane Porter. The influence of parental guidance pervades the show in ape form with Kala, portrayed by Laurel Posey (Guys & Dolls) and Kerchak, taken by Scott Stepp (Annie Get Your Gun, The Odd Couple), and in human form with Professor Porter, played by Frank Thompson (White Christmas, Harvey). And what is a Disney tale without a scoundrel or two? Creating strife from the-get go is Kristy O’Keefe (Joseph…) as the leopard and Chad Forrister (The 39 Steps) as the conniving Clayton, a nefarious hunter. On the opposite end of the mischief spectrum is the feisty adult Terk played by Jackie Rowe (Peter Pan.)

Director/Choreographer for this production is Shannon Willis Scruggs; the Scenic Designer/Technical Director is Danny Harrington; and the Costumer is Lori Stepp. Don’t miss this opportunity to see Tarzan come to life on Town's stage, with only four shows remaining: Thursday July 25- Sunday, July 28. Curtain is at 7:30 pm, and 3 pm on the fimal Sunday matinee. Tickets are $15-25. Call the box office at 803-799-2510, or for more information visit www.towntheatre.com.

Workshop Theatre meanwhile continues its production of the family-friendly musical Doctor Dolittle , with book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, and based on the classic film.  This is a tale about the adventures of a doctor who learns to speak to animals, and who takes a journey from the small English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh to the far corners of the world. In the beginning, Doctor Dolittle is wrongly accused of murder and the animals and his friends rally together to prove his innocence. Once Dolittle is pronounced innocent, he continues with his search for the Great Pink Sea Snail -- the oldest and wisest of the creatures on earth. This is the classic tale of kindness to animals based on the stories of Hugh Lofting.

Lee O. Smith (Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka) plays Doctor Dolittle, the wacky, but kind doctor who can talk to animals. He is joined by Kate Huggins (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella) as Emma, Hans Boeschen (Legally Blonde the Musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella) as Matthew Mugg, Liza Hunter (Disney Camp Rock) and Marra Edwards (The Color Purple, Disney Camp Rock) as Polynesia, Doctor Dolittle's parrot, and Workshop newcomer Ben Connelly as Tommy. along with a host of youth actors.

E.G. Heard Engle (Disney's Camp Rock, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella) directs a talented cast of veteran actors and up-and-coming youth. Music director Daniel Gainey (Disney's Camp Rock, Songs for a New World) helps create a harmonious sound, and choreographer Katie Hilliger (Disney's Camp Rock, Hairspray) brings her energetic style to the dances.  For ticket information, call the box office at 803-799-6551 from noon to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or visit www.workshoptheatre.com.  Only three performances remain:  Thursday July 25 - Saturday. July 27.

You can read reviews by August Krickel for both Tarzan the Stage Musical and Doctor Dolittle at Onstage Columbia.

Why You Should Go to Shows Vol. 2: B.B. King @ The Township Auditorium 7/18/13

There’s something distinct about music as an art form. While in its breeziest and most disposable incarnations it can be written off as one the cheapest entertainments for the masses, at its best it’s also a ritual, a sacrament, something with the power to form communities and make peace with ourselves. It’s not that other art forms can’t or don’t perform this same function, it’s just that music seems to do it the most often and most universally. I often think about this when I hear the blues. It's become almost a cliche to say it, but their is something so personal and lonely about the blues that it ultimately becomes a celebration of the human condition, in all its rotten, glorious imperfection and ineffability. Sad music, for some reason, is also the music that gives us hope, joy, and affirmation. It's a funny thing.

Anyway, shallow musings aside, what I really want to talk about is the show last week at the Township Auditorium, where 87-year-old blues legend B.B. King took the stage once again. Let’s get to the highlights.

1)      It’s B.B. freakin’ King. King of the Blues. No. 6 on the Rolling Stone’s Greatest Guitarists of All-Time. Arguably nobody has done more to popularize the blues genre. This was a chance for Columbians, whether for the first or hundredth time, to pay homage to a musical giant of the 20^th century.

2)      King is old. Like, great-grandfather old. He has handlers who help him to and from his chair on the stage. He rambles on stage, talks about his kids, misses punch lines, tries to (jokingly?) flirt with Chris Rock’s mother (? – haven’t really been able to fact check this women’s identity, but she was sitting on the edge of the stage watching the show with two other women), and, most of the time, it hardly matters. There’s something joyful about just spending some time with a legend, almost as if we got to sit with him for an hour or two as he held court and casually rambled through a number or two just for our enjoyment. While leaning on extended low-key jam sessions on “You Are My Sunshine” and “When The Saints Go Marching” is a little weak, you still got to spend the evening with the King. Although I could have done without the awkward show end where King sat surrounded by handlers as he tossed guitar picks and necklaces into the audience and acquiesced to a few autograph requests. It was pretty puzzling.

3)      King’s band can play. For the first thirty minutes or so of the show, it was nothing but various members vamping and soloing, showing off an electric virtuosity on saxophones, trumpets, flute, keyboards, and electric guitar. While you are definitely coming to hear King’s voice and guitar, it’s worth noting that the B.B. King experience is still in full effect, even before he walks on stage.

4)      Even though the band seemed to almost rush through such King standards as “The Thrill is Gone” and “Every Day I Have The Blues,” there were moments where King still seemed in peak condition vocally, alternating his gritty growl with a wonderfully evocative falsetto that showed remarkably little wear. He didn’t stretch himself very far of course, but it was a far cry from the disappointments one might encounter at, say, a Bob Dylan concert. You just really haven't lived until you've heard an 87-year-old blues legend sing "Rock Me Baby" and mean it.

5)      And although he didn’t seem terribly interested in playing that much, we still got to hear King play “Lucille.” He didn’t go crazy, but he still stretched out enough a couple of times for the audience to experience one of the most influential guitar-playing styles of all-time. Cross that one off the bucket list.

6) It was also really cool to see King at such a venerable institution as the Township, likely one of only a few venues that's been around the entire length of the bluesman's career that's still on his current set of tour dates. The auditorium's old-school vibe (even with the stylish polish of the recent renovation) felt startlingly appropriate for an artist who really got his start in the 1950s.

7) Last week's audience was also treated to a set by the youthful local duo The Mobros, who likely wowed tons of new fans with an electrifying set that veered from old-school country and soul to hip-shaking R&B and ramshackle garage rock. The two young men, ages 19 and 22, got to share the stage with a hero and legend of theirs for a couple of gigs. On the chance that The Mobros become famous (it's not entirely out of the question), another moment in the increasingly long musical history of the blues might have been witnessed.

I leave you with one of my favorite YouTube clips of King as he slides through "Three O'Clock Blues" in his own inimitable way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ozjCQkqZs

-Kyle Petersen

Why You Should Go to Shows is a projected blog series that describes the specific joys of certain live performances rather than providing a strict review of the show in question or speaking of the joy of patronage in the abstract.

Italy, Spain, and a Hat Shop in Charleston -- Tim Floyd's new show at City Art by Sam Smith

 

“Italy, Spain, and a Hat Shop in Charleston” is Columbia’s first gallery show to feature only encaustic painting. The artist, Tim Floyd, is using it as an opportunity to benefit the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. The show will be starting on August 1, and it goes until August 31 at City Art (1224 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC 29201). On August 17 at noon, Floyd will host a gallery talk at City Art.

Encaustic art is made by using hot beeswax, resin, and pigment. This mixture becomes a liquid paste which is then applied to wood, canvas, or another medium on which to paint. Because of the beeswax element of the painting, the painting can also become a sort of sculpture, and the artist may use metal tools to sculpt the paint into the desired form or, after it cools, they may use heated metal tools. There are also heat lamps or various other heated tools one may use to extend the time they have to word on it. Encaustic art has been around since it was used in Fayum mummy portraits from Egypt around 100-300 AD. While an older technique, encaustic painting remains an interesting medium, and is still not as well-known as other mediums such as oils or charcoal.

Tim Floyd, while he hasn’t being doing encaustic painting for quite as long, worked on the majority of the paintings featured in this show during the five weeks he spend touring Italy with his wife, Carol, in 2012. Other pieces in the show are from Barcelona, Charleston, Columbia, Houston, and the Bahamas. While traveling, Floyd would sketch out images to later use as a basis for his encaustic painting; he would also take unusual objects he found to later work into his paintings.

In June 2013, Floyd and his daughter, Felicia, won the “Best in 3D” award at the Greenwood Festival of Flowers Juried Art Show for a collaborative portrait. Felicia has Muscular Dystrophy, which is a group of muscle diseases that affect different sets of muscles based on what exact disease one has. In all cases, the muscles weaken, sometimes involving muscle degeneration or atrophy. A percentage of sales during the opening reception on August 1 will go to Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital, where Floyd’s daughter was treated. While the idea is to buy his artwork, enjoy it, and help a worthy cause, Floyd hopes that everyone will consider supporting the Children’s Hospital no matter what.

His love of art and his travels may have inspired his paintings, but his personal connection to the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital inspired the donation of a percentage of sales. Without the Children’s Hospital, his daughter likely would have died.

The show is at City Art, and everyone and anyone is encouraged to venture out to see “Italy, Spain, and a Hat Shop in Charleston.” To inquire about purchasing artwork from Tim Floyd, contact City Art at (803)252-3613.

-- Sam Smith, Jasper intern

Grapes & Gallery Showcases Artists at Open House + Wine Tasting on First Thursday

Grapes & Gallery, located at 1113 Taylor Street (just around the corner from Mast General Store and the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, between Main and Assembly Streets) will spotlight three artists who will be leading classes/sessions at their popular downtown location.  Featured at the open house (and wine tasting!) are works by Allison Fowler, Channing Powers Anderson, and David Robbins. Drop in any time between 5 PM and 9 PM, during the monthly First Thursday gallery crawl (on Thursday, August 1st) and meet the artists, browse the artwork, taste some wine, and enjoy some music. All artwork will be for sale.

Grapes & Gallery combines the chance to paint with the opportunity for fun and socializing.  Arrive at the gallery with your wine or beverage of choice. With the paint and canvas that is provided, the presenting artist will demonstrate stroke by stroke the painting selected for the session. In this relaxed social atmosphere, you will enjoy the exploration of your inner artist, meet new friends, and leave with a work of art that is all your own.  For more information, call (803) 728-1278, e-mail  social@grapesandgallery.com, or visit http://www.grapesandgallery.com/.

 

“BlueGlass” Music via Mr. B -- a guest blog by Meredith Almond

It’s Chicago in the 1950s. Cadillacs are cruising down Maxwell Street with their windows down, letting in the Sunday afternoon breeze. On the sidewalk, street musicians line the curb, sharing their talents with passersby and hoping to be signed by one of the many record labels just doors away.

There’s one musician in particular that draws people in. Every day, he props himself onto a trash can on the sidewalk and plays his guitar for Chicagoans. Slipped onto the pinky of his left hand is an emerald green glass cylinder, which he slides up and down the fretboard. With each slide of his hand rings a new sound of urban blues that will make him into the guitar legend that is Muddy Waters.

Except this time, we’re not actually watching Muddy Waters. We’re watching actor Jeffrey Wright, playing Muddy Waters, on the set of Cadillac Records. Though the star-studded film boasted such names as Beyoncé Knowles, Adrien Brody, Cedric the Entertainer and Mos Def, it was the tie back to Columbia, S.C. that made the movie significant to a local artist.

Brenton Sadreameli was only 19 years old when made his first bottleneck guitar slide. It began as a hobby. As a sophomore at the Citadel, Sadreameli just needed something to fill the time he wasn’t spending fighting his way through the ranks to avoid getting in trouble. A lover of blues guitar, it just seemed logical to try making his own slide. His buddies were immediately impressed and encouraged him to make more.

Known as “Mr. B” to the Columbia arts community and beyond, Sadreameli has come a long way since his Citadel days and now runs a full-scale sustainable glassworks business off of State Street in Columbia, S.C.

An open-aired garage is home to crates of empty bottles, glass-transforming machines and hand-built wooden shelves overstuffed with Mr. B original designs. When starting Mr.B’s Sustainable Glassworks, Sadreameli had no idea his once-hobby would spark a business that would become his life.

It’s the passion for the music, as well as the art, that fueled Sadreameli to experiment with different types of glass that produce their own unique sounds. The glass he uses comes from wine and liquor bottles and Sadreameli relies on donations to continue growing. Slides made out of wine bottle necks from local restaurants, such as State Street neighbor Terra, make for a true, localized Columbia sound.

Even though he recycled the bottles for their necks, Sadreameli realized there was still a lot of the glass going to waste. He decided to see what else he could make, instead of throwing out perfectly good glass. “I’m always experimenting, always finding new ways to make recyclable glass into something new.” He pulls out his newest creation from one of the many shelves - coasters made from the bottom of wine bottles. He kept the bottle’s original texture from the bottom and smoothed and cut the edges to make it into a square. “I know it still needs something to polish it off, I’m just not sure what, yet.”  Sadreameli’s wheels never stop turning when it comes to improving his pieces to make them the most original.

From his experimentation, he created what is now one of his most popular items. Sadreameli started cutting the bottles straight across the body to make highball-sized or tumbler-sized glasses. Mr. B also learned to sand-etch monograms and logos into the glass to make them more personalized. “People call to order them for wedding favors all the time,” says Sadreameli. “We get a lot of corporate gift requests, too.” The Oak Table in Columbia and Husk restaurant in Charleston serve signature cocktails in some of Mr. B’s original pieces.

The glass comes from donations - bottles that would otherwise be dropped off at recycling facilities. “It’s expensive for restaurants and businesses to get recycling pick-up, so I make it easier for them.” Local restaurants bring wine, champagne and liquor bottles in truckloads to the Mr. B workshop to turn their waste into a piece of recycled art.

Blue glass, however, is difficult to recycle. Blue glass has to be recycled with like colors and because it’s a rare commodity and Sadreameli says, “many recycling plants just throw them away.” The glass, because of its rarity and vibrancy, makes for beautiful pieces in high demand.

Now, his company has expanded to making almost anything out of glass - cheese plates, coasters, carafes, bottle-serving tray, spoon rests and more. And, if any indication by the overwhelming amount of wine bottles piling at the entrance of his workshop, Sadreameli has more ideas and resources than he knows what to do with.

----

Sadreameli picked up the phone one afternoon, not expecting to speak with the property master for the upcoming film Cadillac Records. “She’d found my slides in Rudy’s Music Store in New York and bought [the store] out,” Sadreameli says proudly. “She was calling to get more for the actors.”

Sadreameli never anticipated he’d see one of his slides on the big screen. “They were looking for the slide that would look most authentic on Muddy Waters’ hand, and mine did the trick.” This was a big push for the company and fueled his passion to continue making more.

“I was really hoping the ‘Mr. B’ signature would have been visible in the shots,” says Sadreameli with a chuckle. “But their crew does a great job making sure there are no brand affiliations.” But, not many people can say they’ve been featured in a star-studded film - or, at least by affiliation. “It’s still cool to see what I made on the finger of the actor playing blues legend Muddy Waters.”

--

From Nashville to Southern California, you can find a Mr. B original across the nation. Independent music shops in more than 25 states nationwide - and, even in Japan - stock a set of the signature slides in their own glass cabinets. Sadreameli’s transition to start moving his glasses in stores nationwide is just beginning. The catalyst? A signed agreement to be an official Whole Foods vendor. This is a whole new playing field for Sadreameli, and he’ll have to test his skills as an entrepreneur and much as a glassmaker to make his art a success. The market for glasses is, as you might guess, a somewhat different target than those who play blues guitar.

Rooted in his open-aired garage and industrial workshop on State Street, Sadreameli has established his workshop in Columbia, S.C. and doesn’t have any plans to leave. “I always tell my friends how jealous I am that they can just apply for a job and move to another city,” says Sadreameli. “But they say they’re jealous of what I have going for me here.”

His break into the entertainment industry hasn’t stopped him from staying humble. The potential for artists to flourish in Columbia still exists. “The main problem with Columbia is that we cultivate a lot of awesome, talented people - then, they move elsewhere.”

So, if you see any blue glass lying around, make a trip to State Street and say hello to friendly artist, Mr. B.

-- Meredith Almond

(photos courtesy of Brenton Sadreameli)

Six Word Art Essays -- Can You Find Yours?

Back in the spring of 2012, Jasper asked you to write your own six word art essays. We gave you little prompting – just paper and pen. Here we present the best of the hundreds of entries we received.

Can you find your entry below? Congratulations! You’ve been published in Jasper Magazine!

~~~

No sir, I don’t like it! * Isla, she wolf of the 55. * Be good and you be lonesome. * Joyful art saves people, even Republicans. * Art is what you make it. * A feathered wing gave me flight. * A poem can hold the world. * Melodies in brain, blood, in veins. * Awesome you are, sayeth Master Yoda. * Where are Mona Lisa’s eye brows? * There is not a way out. * One day, this will be real. * I photographed your poem without permission. * It is only sly little worlds. * We are a work of art. * Brevity is the soul of art. * Music brought me my true love. * My art is my source code. * Life’s a mistake only art corrects. * Peace, love, happiness, joy, passion, gratitude. * Mentes abieratas llevan a puerta abieratas. * Educate, motivate, but above all create. * Always open to interpretation, never pretentious. * When in doubt, believe the best. * Art is cupcakes for dinner, yo. * Art was how we were born. * Nirvana and shadow cross the threshold. * Replete with honesty, art’s inner desires. * I lost my mind last time. * Dance like no one is watching. * Arthur, Guinevere, and Merlin in Camelot. * Dark night deep ditch cold dirt. * If I couldn’t paint, I’d faint. * Almost ready to create my art. * Art: the combustion of pain, joy. * Creative images transmitted into unimaginable beauty. * Art is an expression of us. * With the ocean, I see art.  * S’Just a matter of doing it. * My eyes feast on lush imagery. * 753273. 6253.87.9687.6463.7666. * To, fro. To, fro. Go! Go! * Poetry: the sweat of the soul.  * Break out in song with poetry. * Dot-dash-dot-dash-dot-dash. * Eth drow, no aibmuloc, stra, repast * Yes, breathe, yes, learn, yes, open. * Magic images crowd my unrelenting mind. * Learn left build beautiful, arresting, art. * What has been will never escape. * Syllables sashay dance leap, peel, away. * Renew, rejuvenate, resurrect our weary minds. * Make art you want to make. * I make my art to discover. * 16 78 33.5 45 Digital FREE. * Love life. Trust God. Work hard. *Art and fashion rule my life. * The sweet creamy center of Columbia. * Politics are personal. Art is politics. * Learning, socializing, networking, freedom, exploring love.  * Make art you want to make. * I make my art to discover. * Live in your world make art. * Art is worth every dime—spend! * Art is the best medicine, yes. * A pleasing cocoon of sound, color. * God’s refrigerator’s adorned with children’s art. * A president finally acknowledged my existence. * I write rather than sing badly. * Art can heal a broken heart. * Press play when your soul calls. * As long as it is meaningful. * Communication through someone else’s view point. * Rustling leaves, voices, floating across kaleidoscopes. * Art is good for your heart! * I am the Lord of Winterfell. * Born to boogie; boogie is art. * Clemson sucks like old, dead ducks. * My Garden of Eden is Art. *Art is all over my insides * Better on vinyl forts and music. *Orange, red, pink, teal, green, red. * Art love is not in vain. * Daisies blooming in the drizzling rain. * If I offend, it’s still beautiful. *My garden is my art project. * Wake up, look out, look in.* Art on my wall is good. * If I could I certainly would. * Create the culture you want, Columbia! * I love art, it loves me. * Jasper kicks ass for the arts! * Six words are not even enough. * Less is more, more or less. * At is good. Posers are bad. * Release day rain muses gather pearl. *There is no heart without art. * If music died, so would I. *If you’re living correctly, it’s everything. * Life distilled, enhanced, transformed, some bullshit. * It helps me breathe and live. * How I stitch my life together. * Music brings us all together. Sing! * You are what you art. Yep. * Soul, support, freedom opportunity, intelligence, sexy. * Columbia is the best city ever! * Without arts, our hearts are farts. * Words without words, but maybe some. * Musical notes floating like bright stars. * In creating, you become more alive. * Paint what you love, feel, know. * Art was art will art is. * Abandon all hope, ye who enters. * * I can’t. I have rehearsal. Damn! * See your folly! Go, go Godzilla! * Art is God’s gift to us! * Blank inspiration interface perfectly clear reflection. * Still life with shits and giggles. * Y’all don’t know me like that. * Dance now while you can today. * Painting color movement, love, music, fun! * Art inspires me to be myself. * Build it, break it, refactor it! * I can’t work without it. * Stay cool and smoke weed everyday. * Glad to be here! Woot Woot! * Artsy, artsy, artsy, art, art, art. * Choose to make it way better. * Poop can be art too, dude. * Making awesome shit all the time. * Fuck yes! This is really cool. * I hope my images outlive me. * I will never be the same. * Why you do it is why. * B-b-b-burn it down! * I believe in you, Robert Pearle. * Born. Lived South. Lived Well. Died. * Intro theory data, methods, analysis, conclusion. * The art of seduction? Yes, please! * Learning the rules to BREAK them! * Art, art, art, art, art, art. * Don’t explain your art to me. * See scene 24. FPS. Observe. Live. * Five, four, three, two, one, blastoff! * Pfft. My kid could draw that. * To COE or not to COE. * Expressions allow me to be free. * Rain, drip, drop, puddle, flow flood. * What can I say here but…. * Brewing is art. Art is beer. * A desperate soul imagines much chaos. * Art, art, good for your heart! * Is that art? Oh. Fuck me! * On angels’ wings lifting my soul! * Rain dampens spirit, then feeds life. * Two artists both alike in dignity… * Pictures and people who make them. * Imagination/ Unreality rendered/ Alive and gritty. * My soul mate—7, 3, 1! * Pouring emotions my soul is exposed. * Not Pete’s, but 4 art’s sake! Dreams that arrive keeping us awake. * I am the art, you see! *Art, schmart, heart, hurt, flirt words. * I came. I saw. I composed. * What’s life without art inside me. * Artists: Yell for art they nurture. * Life becomes nothing when art dies. * Moe! Larry! The cheese! Nyuk, Nyuk!  * Lather, rinse, repeat; Lather, rinse, repeat!  Question, my love is your answer. * I do what I want whenever. * Max, Shannon, Sara, Leslie, Phil, Shige! * Dream your dreams, wish your wishes * This is when we dance, yo! * I like other’s art; mine sucks. * Just art. Star, place either run. * Affirmation beauty hope fleeting stillness pain. * Happy, sad, good, bad, and fabulous. * To thine own art be true! * Fancy pants prance dance underpants glance. * Six word art essay, Jasper Magazine. * Tune out, turn off, jump in. * Push and pull tug of war. * Don’t text and drive, you dick! * GCSPS. Laying down the beats, daily. * Art is sometimes bad, it’s okay. * Art is the food of life. * I think, “I could’ve done that.” * Without art, my life would suck! * Breathe in the sound of creation. * A line becomes water becomes word. * Words are only observing the answer. * Yes! Marlon Brandon gave good face! * Hidden behind the veil no longer. * Colors, expression, people, place, things, sex. * This shit is just getting started. * Join art supporters, present energy Rovefied. * I’m glad y’all can do THIS. * Up, up, down, down, left, right. * A soul, a body, a mind. * Seeing “yes” in the word “no.” *

S&S Art Supply Pays It Forward with 3rd Annual Silent Auction & Fundraiser

Continuing to pay it forward, S&S Art Supply on Main Street is hosting its 3rd annual fundraiser this coming Sat.urday, July 13th, benefiting Palmetto Place Children's Shelter.   Free and open to the public, there will be a silent auction of over 100 works of local art and other items from local businesses to bid on, all starting at just $25!

This is a family friendly event, so bring the kids.   Preach Jacobs will be DJ'ing, plus  The Plowboys will be playing live outside.    With an open bar and catered hors d'oeuvres  provided courtesy of The Whig and Rosso,  the motto for the day is Eat, Drink, Bid!

Since 1977, Palmetto Place has been a safe haven for children of all ages in need of a place to call home.  Whether the child was abandoned,  abused, or neglected, Palmetto Place has been there for them.  The mission of Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for these abused and neglected children, offering them a broad range of services that encourage and promote healing through positive and healthy choices. The shelter is open 24 hours each day of the year and provides medical and mental health care, crisis adjustment/transitional counseling, after-school tutoring and recreational and social activities in addition to food, clothing and shelter. Visit http://palmettoplaceshelter.org/ for more information.

Sponsors for this event include: Ladybug Art Studios, Jasper - The Word on Columbia Arts, The Columbia Star, The Whig, Rosso, and Professional Printers.  Currently over 50 different artists are participating; also up for grabs are donated tickets from Nickelodeon Theatre, Trustus Theatre, Columbia City Ballet, and other goodies from local businesses. Best of all, the event is free and open to the public!

For more information, e-mail Amanda at lily581@hotmail.com.  The "event" page on Facebook is here.  S&S Art Supply is located at 1633 Main Street, just down from Mast General Store and the Nickelodeon. The event runs from 2-6 PM this Saturday, July 13th.

Welcome Wade Sellers -- Jasper's New Film Editor

It was about this time two years ago when a small group of us gathered in my living room out at Muddy Ford and discussed what we wanted out of the new Columbia arts magazine we were building, Jasper. Having written for national magazines for years, I felt comfortable on the writing side of things. But having always been peevish about people talking -- or worse, writing -- about things they know little about, it was important from the start that we only bring in staff members who know a great deal about their subject matter. Experts in the field, if you will. Folks who have the vocabulary and are proficient in the theory and methods about which they would write.

It was a pretty small group of us at first. Ed Madden took on the literary arts and Kyle Petersen, music. Thankfully, Heyward Sims agreed to be our design editor -- a huge task and a huge load off of my mind to know that our words and photography would be handled by someone who would respect them, as well as enjoy and experiment with the process of putting them on paper. And Kristine Hartvigsen was and continues to be a great source of advice and encouragement.

It didn't take long for the magazine family to grow with long-time theatre aficionado August Krickel joining the staff as theatre editor,  Bonnie Boiter-Jolley as dance editor (it seemed only natural), and Forrest Clonts as photography editor -- another huge job given that Forrest is responsible for arranging for all the photographs to be taken, and then editing them and preparing them for publication. Last summer, Annie Boiter-Jolley signed on as our operations manager -- a tremendous underuse of her skill set, but we're thrilled to have her. Just before Christmas this year, Chris Robinson from USC joined us as our visual arts editor -- a position I had been wanting to fill with the right person since the inception of the magazine. And now, finally, local filmmaker and documentarian Wade Sellers has come on board as our film editor.

Wade is the owner and executive director of Coal Powered Filmworks and, among many other things, the person who brings you the excellent SC ETV series on South Carolinians and their involvement in WWII. Wade is always hopping on a plan and heading for all points exciting so I'm practically over-the-moon that he has agreed to share his wisdom with us. And when I say that he has wisdom and experience, I'm not kidding -- in all aspects of filmmaking. He has served as the director of four films, cinematographer on seven, writer on three, and editor and producer on two, not to mention working as camera, gaffer or grip on nine more. And he's been nominated for two Emmys.

Wade came to work ready to make things happen in the Columbia film community. You'll see the product of his work in the next issue of Jasper coming out on Friday night, July 12th. And you'll also hear him announce some exciting news about an additional film festival in Columbia (organized with the blessing of our friends at the Nickelodeon.)

So please help us welcome Wade to the Jasper family. He fits in so well - it feels like he's been here forever.

Off the Top of my Head -- Kevin Bush Takes the Stage Again -- by Sam Smith, Jasper intern

Did you miss the first showing of Off the Top of my Head? Don’t worry, you have one more chance on July 12 when the Last Call Series at Trustus ends its season. After Ain’t Misbehavin’, Kevin Bush will perform an original show with special guests Terrance Henderson, Vicky Saye Henderson, Jason Stokes, and his brother Eddie Bush. Doors open at 10:45, and the show will start at 11:15. Tickets are sold at the door for $15.

The word ‘cabaret’ was first used in 1655 as a variation of the word tavern, and taverns are where cabarets began. The sun would go down and people would head to the local tavern for a night of drinking, laughter, and music. Eventually, cabarets moved out of taverns and into strip clubs, night clubs, restaurants, and finally to the stage. In America, cabarets became popular in the roaring twenties during Prohibition, where it was a fixture, just as much as a light would be, in speakeasies. After the rising popularity of concerts, variety shows, and comedy houses in the sixties, cabaret saw a slow decline until there were very few places left in America that still did cabaret. Luckily, cabaret is starting to see a revival with new artists interpreting it in new ways.

Off the Top of my Head starts with music where cabaret left off. It pulls heavily from music of the sixties, and Kevin Bush describes it as a sort of “Great American Songbook, Volume 2.” The night will be filled with songs by Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Marvin Gaye, Freddie Mercury and Queen, Ben Folds, Stephen Sondheim and a few others. Off the Top of my Head will focus on songs that Kevin Bush finds inspirational due to their lyrics, music, or artists, and he intends to make the show, in his own words, “a sort of "mix tape" that's intended to share the brilliance of these songs, and their songwriters, with an audience.”

This promises to be an entertaining and enjoyable evening. The resurgence of cabaret as a medium of entertainment is unique to particular areas of the United States, and Columbia, South Carolina usually wouldn’t be among that list. The chance to see a cabaret without traveling is something you don’t want to miss in the end of the Last Call season. Off the Top of my Head gives its audience a chance to hang out, have fun, and enjoy the performance art that is a cabaret show without them needing a time machine, and it’d be a shame to miss it.

Trustus Theatre is at 520 Lady Street, behind the Gervais Street Publix. For information or reservations call the box office Tuesdays through Saturdays 1-6 pm at 803-254-9732. Visit www.trustus.org for all show information and season information.

- Sam Smith, Jasper intern