SPOLETO REVIEW: The Importance of Being Earnest

When I first learned that Spoleto would be presenting one of my favorite fun plays, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at this year's festival, and that it was being produced by The Gate Theatre, one of the most distinguished theatre companies in the world, I felt an amalgam of emotion. Having seen Earnest several times on stage and screen, the prospect of the opportunity to see Gate Theatre regulars Alex Felton and Michael Ford-Fitzgerald as Algernon Moncrief and Jack Worthing, respectively, certainly presented a thrill. After all, it's difficult to find a season at The Gate in which the company does not present a Wilde performance --and he only wrote a thrifty handful of plays. If you only get to see one Wilde play in your life you should make sure it's the Gate Theatre putting it on.

However, The Gate Theatre has come to perform almost as regularly in Charleston as it does in Dublin. Well, that's not entirely true, but the company has become a regular presenter over the past few decades bringing us such plays as Present Laughter, Pride and Prejudice, Two Plays After, Hay Fever, I'll Go On, The Constant Wife (which though written by Maugham is still quite Wildesque), as well as Salome back in 1990 and Lady Windermere's Fan in 98.

So if the caliber of The Gate's work is undeniable and the company arguably offers the quintessential Wilde experience, why doesn't the equation result in a win/win situation?

It's because as much as there are few things as fun and clever as Wilde's playful play, there are also few things as boring. Despite the fact that I knew in my heart that The Gate would bring period costumes and perfectly chintzy and doillied  sets to the Dock Street Theatre, in my heart of hearts I had hoped they would shake things up a bit. Why not use the duplicity and social satire of the characters to set the action in LA or DC? Why not embrace the allusion to homosexuality in the play that even Wilde admitted he may have inadvertently included in its writing to expand upon the trivial role gender binaries and heteronormativity play in culture these days? Or even go blue with it? (Wilde writes about Bunburying for Christ sake!) Of course, we can take the lessons of Woolton's Manor House and apply them to contemporary society, but how much fun would it be to cast Lorna Quinn's Cecily as a Tri-Delt and Aoibhin Garrihy's Gwendolyn as a fallen cheerleader kicked off the squad?

Alas, Marion O'Dwyer's Miss Prism and Deirdre Donnelly's Lady Bracknell are just as prim and proper as if you'd picked them from a Victorian Garden and Mark Lambert's Reverend Chasuble is just as bumbly as he would have been when the play was first written in 1895.

Two bits of innovation mark the play in the form of the butlers, played by Des Keogh and Bosco Hogan, who add the odd Red Skelton hop to their walking about the stage, and their interactions with the set which is far less Victorian than one would imagine. A large and lovely silk screen of Wilde himself transforms into cabinets and shelves that open to display the countryside and cityscape as the scenes change.

Clever, innovative, and of the 21st century. Something I'd like to see more of at Dock Street Theatre. //cb

REVIEW: Trustus Theatre's The Flick

By: Kyle Petersen

I can still smell the warm, slightly musty aroma of the Nick right now.

Not the new, wonderfully renovated Fox Theatre that The Nickelodeon occupies now, of course, but that old, worn-out room hiding behind the State House. Where there were maybe 60 seats and a small screen. Where you could buy a bucket of beers that would furtively clink together over the course of a film. Where the smell of popcorn mingled with the smell of the underground, and watching an independent film felt like it might still be a subversive act in this sleepy Southern town.

The Flick, Trustus Theatre’s latest production and the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for playwright Annie Baker, isn’t about a theatre exactly like the old Nick, but it’s close enough to make me misty. In part because the play itself grapples with nostalgia and sentiment in the confines of a theatre that’s not too different from that old black box, and one that goes through tangentially similar growing pains over the course of the narrative (right down to the shift from film reels to digital projectors).

The story takes place in a small, rundown movie theatre that’s clearly on its last legs. The three main characters are all employees there, and the action takes place almost entirely between screenings as they clean the floors over and over again, something that should make the action feel repetitive but somehow doesn’t, mostly through Baker’s deft ability to write a kind of comedic realism that is always sharp but never showy. Most of the early action centers on Sam (Ben Blazer), the thirtysomething experienced hand who gripes about not being promoted to projectionist, and Avery (Kendrick Marion), a young, bespectacled black nerd who is taking some time off from college to work in a movie theatre. A third character, the free-spirited and gregarious Rose, is the projectionist, and is gradually woven in as the trio gets to know each other slowly and awkwardly, the way people do in real life.

There is drama and tension here, but Baker opts for an anti-sensational approach to the action as she “holds a mirror up” to the reality of tedious, behind-the-scenes minimum wage jobs that are often occupied by people whose dreams have been thwarted or never really blossomed to begin with.  But the narrative pace also allows so many different themes and reflections to emerge over the course of the lengthy run time—the subtle, nuanced ways race and class affect how we approach the world, the often confusing and conflicting ways workplace relationships evolve, and the impact of movies on how we understand and bond with one another.

Much of the buzz around this play has billed it as a “love letter to the cinema,” but that doesn’t seem quite right to me. That’s not to say that the love of movies doesn’t play a prominent role, but to me the play seemed to be more curious about how places and things become imbued with the people we connect them with, that this rundown movie theatre became a place where Rose, Avery, and Sam learned from and about each other. The trio is thrown together through the odd happenstance of needing work and loving film, and little else, yet they forge a very specific kind of friendship through the hours and hours of menial work they do together in the confines of that single-screen theatre.

As usual, Trustus produced an ace production for this relatively austere play. The set features beat-up old movie theatre seats that were pulled up from Spotlight Cinema on St. Andrews that had to be a bear to install on the tilted floor that gave the set just the right verisimilitude, as did the real film projector on loan to the theatre. For a play with the potential to sprawl with literal untidy messes, director Dewey Scott-Wiley kept the blocking and pacing fairly tight, with only a few dramatic pauses of work to drive home the sense of endless cleaning that dominates these characters' lives. All of the performances are quite strong—Marion’s performance particular is astounding, in large part because his previous roles have emphasized his powerhouse singing voice and required flamboyant performances, whereas here he shrinks up into a succession of halting pauses, facial tics, and frowns as Avery, worlds away from R&B frontman Jimmy Thunder in Dreamgirls. Both Ben Blazer as Sam and Christine Hellman as Rose had to put on tough Boston brogues and embody individuals that can bounce from stereotypically dead-end types to puzzlingly complex in a heartbeat. Each brings their character to life with a deceptive sense of ease that would have left this production gasping without them. Trustus Apprentice Company member Colin Milligan also performs admirably in his debut with the small role he plays as the cast's fourth member.

Sandwiched between two productions which seem to guarantee a much more boisterous and fun night of entertainment on the Trustus schedule—Peter and the Star Catcher before this and Green Day’s American Idiot following the run—there might be a sense that this is an eat-your-vegetables play, something too self-involved and navel-gazing in its commitment to contemporary realism and the role of storytelling and theatrics. I can’t guarantee you won’t leave the theatre feeling that way, but for my money The Flick is an example of how singularly powerful theatre can actually be. This is a story that requires you to think about people, stories and lives that can exist—that can be imaginatively projected—in a confined space, and how we are still asking old questions and searching for new answers in those spaces. More power to Trustus for continuing, commenting, and expanding that powerful and time-honored tradition with The Flick.

The Flick runs through Saturday, June 4. Go to trustus.org for ticket information.

Welcome Jasper's New Summer Interns

 

My name is Mary Catherine Ballou and I am from Columbia, SC. I received a BA in English and French from Emory University and I enjoy drawing, painting, and making music. My art experience includes a Visual Arts magnet program in high school, art classes in college, and singing and listening to music as much as possible. I admire many artists but some of my favorites include Mark Rothko, Salvador Dali, and Frida Kahlo. I love the colors in Rothko’s pieces, and I admire the freethinking and confidence embodied in both Dali’s and Kahlo’s artwork. One of my favorite musicians is Patti Smith because I think she channels raw musical emotion through her work, and I admire her combination of poetry and rock and roll. I look forward to writing about visual art and music for Jasper.

My name's Ony Ratsimbaharison and I grew up here in Columbia, and studied Writing for Print and Digital Media at Columbia College, where I graduated in 2014. I play bass in a band called fk mt. and have been playing guitar for almost 10 years. My favorite band is Unwound because they made me think of music in a totally new way when I first started playing electric guitar. Their music still resonates with me today, and they continue to be a big influence on my songwriting. One of my favorite writers is Haruki Murakami because his writing makes me notice the surreal and unreal in everyday life. I look forward to writing about music, films and books for Jasper.

My name is Olivia Morris, I grew up in North Augusta, South Carolina, and I'm majoring in International Studies at the University of South Carolina. I have written for The Yellow Jacket newspaper, The Daily Gamecock newspaper, and the SIR Journal. My favorite artist is poet Barbara Guest because of her piercing wit, musicality, and resourceful abstractions. My favorite film is Synecdoche, New York because it is both magically inventive and realistically human.

A big welcome to our new interns who you'll be seeing around town at various arts events this summer. We think they're pretty awesome & think you will, too.

Line Up of Fun for Jasper Release Party Monday Night

Big Art Fun at GUESSWORK Studio

We've seen this happen before.

Jasper starts out planning to celebrate the release of the newest issue of the magazine with an informal gathering of artists and arts lovers at a local studio or gallery. Keeping it simple. No big deal.

Then someone has an idea for a cool performance or activity. A band or two is interested in playing. What if we did this? Or this? Damn Y'all, let's just do this!

The next thing we know a big old hairy artball is rolling down the hill and, this time, it's landing with a splat at Billy Guess's very cool new studio space GUESSWORK on Avondale Road.

(You know you don't want to miss this thing.)

Here's what to expect Monday night, starting about 7, at the release celebration of the 29th issue of Jasper Magazine.

Hold on tight.

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Music by Tyler Godon

Music by the Mustache Brothers

Art by Billy Guess, Khris Coolidge, and (fingers crossed) Jasper's own visual arts editor, Kara Gunter

Michael Krajewski will be channeling Dave Chappell channeling Prince and making Prince symbol-shaped pancakes - Billy will be providing a pancake toppings bar

On a big blow-up outdoor screen, Wade Sellers will be sharing his film 25 Artists, which features - you guessed it - 25 Artists from Columbia

Barry Wheeler will be creating a video of you and 100 of your closest friends playing a One Columbia kazoo in a weird blend of the arts and patriotism as we create the Columbia Arts Community's Memorial Day Message to the Universe

Bier Doc will be grilling up cheap hot dogs and supper will only cost you a dollar (Or you can wrap those dogs in a pancake to make pan dogs/hot cakes)

Annie will be selling you bottomless cups of good beer and decent wine

And last but not least, you'll get your hands on a fresh hot copy of the 29th issue of

Jasper Magazine!

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When was the last time you had this much fun on a Monday night?

See  you about 7 at 955 Avondale Drive, a couple blocks off North Main right after the intersection at Sunset

Bring a lawn chair and be ready to have a big old time!

Love,

Jasper

May Release Party Live Music Preview

Originally a musical outlet for Columbia songwriter Tyler Gordon, Barnwell has emerged as a rock band worthy of attention and close listening. 2014’s The First Ghost was the soundtrack to a young man’s attempt at reconciling his spirituality with the harmless banality of secular life. Though musically Spartan, the album reintroduced Columbia to Gordon’s songcraft after years of separation. Motel Art, released last March, represents the realization of Ghost’s promises. Themes are revisited and excavated further, now against bigger hooks and a sense of joy its predecessor artfully dodged. Listen to the tunes here and here.

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The Mustache Brothers seem superhumanly immune to the self-doubt that hangs precariously over the heads of many of their peers. Their reverence for traditional Americana stylings – from backwoods balladeering to ragtime stompers – is just as obvious as their penchant for jammy digression. Through it all, their harmonies are among the tightest in the Midlands and their burly confidence makes every decision appear preordained. Check out the music here.

Gallery West Presents Captured 2: The Photography of Seven -- June 3 - July 23, 2015

 

Gallery West, located at 134 State Street in West Columbia, will host an exhibition of seven photographers whose work covers a diverse range of subject matter.  The original 2015 exhibition was cut short due to flood damage in the prior gallery space. This new version of the exhibition will run from June 3 through July 23, 2015. All are welcome to attend a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception in the gallery on Friday, June 3, 5:00-8:00 PM.

The subject matter in Captured 2: The Photography of Seven is in fact so diverse that it feels as if there are seven separate exhibitions under one roof. Each photographer has their own distinct vision and focus, yet share the common goal of asking the viewer to observe and enter the world through their eyes and lens.

Participating photographers include Frank Baker, Jim Hoyle, Russell Jeffcoat, Katie Purnell, Dalvin Spann, Francis Schanberger, and Olaf Wegner.

Frank Baker, a Columbia native, though long intrigued, only turned seriously to photography four years ago. He became fascinated with the Great Blue Heron and other fantastic birds who live near to and depend on coastal and lake water. His intimate shots capture these birds when they reveal themselves only to those who have the utmost patience to wait for the moment.

Jim Hoyle, based in Greensboro, NC, uses the camera as a means of self-expression. His work "exists solely for the joy of creating it." His stunning exhibition series brings together the three subjects he is most inspired by - the outdoors, still-life, and the nude.

Katie Purnell of Columbia SC is an internationally published portrait, lifestyle, and fine art photographer. Her current work explores the presence of color and light and the surprising weight of small experiences.

Russell Jeffcoat's subject matter ranges from classical portraits to luminous nudes. Based in Columbia, SC, his art is renowned, appearing in museums and galleries both in the US and around the world. The richness of his work reflects his expert use of vintage cameras and film, an art form lost to many today.

Francis Schanberger began collecting parts of native trees upon his move to Dayton, OH from the California coast. This past-time became the focus of a photographic project. Nineteenth century naturalists recorded their researches in photogenic drawings. Some 170 years later Schanberger returned to their photographic investigations using his gatherings, scanning the specimens and creating images from them using the historic Vandyke Brown Print process.

Born and raised in Columbia, SC, Dalvin "Mustafa" Spann has been exploring the world of art from an early age, graduating with honors from the Governor's School for the Arts and later from the Savannah College of Art and Design. As a founding member of the artists' collective, Izms of Art (IOA), Spann has participated in the tri-state area with other members and was recently part of a featured exhibition at the Columbia Museum of Art. His exhibition series "Enlightenment" explores his subjects' physical expression of a deeper search for their own spirituality.

W. Olaf Weger of Columbia, local "artisan/creative," is best known for his work in sets and props for TV, short films, and theater and dance. His craftsmanship in copper bar and counter tops, tables, and ceilings can be seen in many familiar and popular restaurants in the area. A byproduct of his work with copper became the "Macro Copper Patina" series, photographs of the unseen world of color and texture within a small area of the oxidized copper. Though the configurations were "accidental," each natural design is expertly captured and offered to us from thousands of images in what appears as both abstract and repetitive design.

It's Jasper Intern Time! Summer & Season!

Jasper is looking for interns for Summer 2016 and Season 2016-17!

Jasper is looking for interns for both Summer and Fall, Winter, Spring 2016 - 17.

Summer interns - we need two!

May 23 - August, 2016

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Season interns - we need four!

August 2016 - May 2017

WANTED: Summer and Season interns for Jasper Magazine.

Requirements:

• Must be 18 or older and enrolled in or a recent college graduate.
• Must have excellent writing skills.
• Must be interested in improving these skills and see correction as an oppotunity for growth.
• Design skills are not required but they make you look very pretty to us. The greater the skills, the cuter you become.
• Must -- MUST -- be a self-starter. This is the time when you get to try out your ideas and see if they fly. (Read - you will be expected to come up with your own ideas and follow through on them with our guidance. While we will not be holding your hand, we will be whispering in your ear, patting you on the back, and giving you both dirty looks and nods of approval. This HAS to work for you or  you won't be happy working for us.)
• Must be able to work at home in your PJs but still get the job done and get it done on time. This may sound easy, but it's not -- some people are suited for this, other very talented, well-meaning people suck at this. Know thyself.
• Must believe in the ability of the arts to both document and change the world.
• Must have a love/hate relationship with deadlines.
• You may be suited for this job if you like art, artists, smart people, talented people, irreverence, silliness, people who act like they never work but work all the time, talking to strangers, ignoring assholes, cursing, learning a lot about something you didn't know you were even interested in, and being paid with hugs and beer.
• You may not be suited for this job if you are lazy, afraid or disrespectful of nerds, money-hungry, are looking for the traditional office/work situation, if you don't believe in your own ability to create something other people may or may not value, or if you have no respect for the Oxford comma.

To apply, send an email explaining why you want to be and think you would be an excellent Jasper intern to editor@Jaspercolumbia.com. Tell us

1. Where you are in school.
2. What your major is.
3. What your art proclivities are or have been. (Have you ever taken dance or piano or written poetry or for your school paper? Did you know what "proclivities" meant without looking it up or did you look it up or ignore it?)
4. The last three books you REALLY read.
5. Who you support in the 2016 presidential election and why.

Summer deadline = May 16, 2016

Season deadline = June 15, 2016

Artfields 2016 Winners Announced

On April 22nd, Artfields opened its doors and storefronts and abandoned buildings and fields of grass. Eight days, thousands of visitors, and almost 400 pieces of original art from 12 Southeastern states later, the 4 year old competitive art festival announces its 2016 winners, with Elgin's Tyrone Geter being awarded a $1000 Judges' Award of Merit for his installation "Mother Nature's Last In-House Domestic Worker."

$50,000 Top Prize Winner Charles Clary—Be Kind, Rewind

$25,000 Juried Prize Winner Brent Pafford—Remember This As a Time of Day

$12,500 3-D People’s Choice Winner Jocelyn Chateuavert—Invasive Species

$12,500 2-D People’s Choice Winner Aron Belka—Contact Tracings

Judges’ Award of Merit Sponsored by The Citizens Bank

Susie Ganch—Drag (Diptych)

Heather Mae Erickson—American Values/Handmade in America

Brad Williams—Of the Earth

Colin Quashie—French Toile, Negro Toil

Michael Logan Woodle—Clabber Ladle

Wanbli Hamilton Gamache—Excavations

Logan Tanner—Hog

Ken Hamilton—E-Z Rest Motel

Tyrone Geter—Mother Nature’s Last In-House Domestic Worker

Stacy Rexrode—Quasi-Delft Bequest

Jasper congratulates all the winners and participants in this year's festival! 

Q & A with filmmaker Lauren Greenwald By: Alivia Seely

  As an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and professor, Lauren Greenwald has led a busy life thus far.

Greenwald put her many skills to the test with a video project instalment called Waterway that was showcased at Indie Grits this year. This was her first artist appearance at the festival. Indie Grits is an annual film festival hosted by The Nickelodeon Theatre. The four-day festival showcases film, music and visual artists in the southeast region.

As a South Carolina native, how did the flood affect your video installment for Indie Grits?

Greenwald: I recently returned to South Carolina after almost 20 years. I was originally planning on creating a video about the river for Indie Grits, but the flood and the history-making aspect of it prompted me to turn my focus towards the river and South Carolina waterways in general in history and documentation. I’m using a lot of found footage to create a video piece.

What type of preparation and background research did you have to do for this video?

G: This video piece was not a document, but a collection of imagery, historical and contemporary, of the rivers and waterways, both natural and manmade. I’m interested in the various paths water takes through the state and in representing it in a non-narrative manner.

How do you think this year’s festival theme Waterlines will effect the city of Columbia, given the flood back in October?

G: It’s was very timely, and I feel was a great response to the events of this past fall. Many natural disasters arrive and then disappear quite quickly from public consciousness, while the reality, especially for those who were directly affected, is much different. Just as Columbia is still working to repair the damage to the dam and other elements of infrastructure, just as people are still recovering from displacement and loss of property and life, this is an event that should still be present in our consciousness. I think the festival was a good commemoration and celebration of recovery and renewal.

In what ways did you see the Indie Grits festival increase art awareness for the city and people of Columbia?

G: I think it brings Columbia into the national and international arena. Indie Grits is a world-class film festival, and brings talent from well outside South Carolina. This year’s celebration of its 10^th anniversary, with all of the programming available for free, hopefully encouraged the people of Columbia to engage in this amazing cultural event and to recognize that they should support such events in the future.

What advice have you been given that inspires your work, and what advice do you give your students?

G: I was told once not to worry about what I should do, but to pay attention to what I love and am attracted to. The rest will find a way of working out.

I advise my students to stay curious and to read about everything and look at everything. Learn another language, live abroad, be engaged, and keep trying new things. Art can’t be made without learning and investigation.

In between getting her bachelor’s from the College of Charleston in 1997 and her masters of fine arts from the University of New Mexico in 2011, Greenwald worked in the field of architecture and production. She even took her skills across the pond and owned her own project management business in France. Since 2011, she has taught photography at a college level, and in 2014, she joined the visual art and design faculty at the University of South Carolina.

REVIEW: Kimi Maeda's Ephemera Trilogy at the Trustus Side Door Theatre

By: Kyle Petersen

Ephemera (noun):

1. things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time.
2. items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity.

"The year the law of gravity was abolished the moon wandered away. In the excitement we didn't notice that the Nakashimas disappeared. You had to hold on tight or things floated off. I suppose they never really put down solid roots."  –Kimi Maeda

It’s difficult to leave a performance of Kimi Maeda’s Ephemera Trilogy, which runs through May 7th in the Trustus Side Door Theatre, without your head buzzing with questions. What is the relationship between storytelling and art, art and memory, memory and identity, identity and truth?

Maeda is not offering up answers, of course, but is certainly providing provocative new ways of tackling these questions. Her work is deeply invested in interrogating the act of storytelling itself, of how we come to know ourselves through creative expression, with all of its messy contours and murky revelations. Using stories of her parents (and, perhaps more to the point, the stories they have told her) as logical guideposts to understanding herself, Maeda’s work is grounded in sorting through the thorny reality that the telling of a story is an ephemeral act and, yet, also the fundamental way we come to make sense of our memories and ourselves as people. Each section of Ephemera, which was developed over a period of six years, employs a different stunning and innovative method of telling a story, each of which foregrounds its storytelling artifice while at the same time reaching for something that feels true, that feels real, in the process.

In the first part of Ephemera, “Homecoming,” Maeda uses a flashlight to bring paper cutouts to life as she ponders questions about her parent’s homes as well as the kind of fables and myths we all tell about home, what it’s supposed to say about who we are. The idea is that how we think about home is a kind of storytelling in and of itself. Maeda is both fascinated and distrustful of these questions, and you can sense that lack of sureness in both the pre-recorded narrative and the ever-so-slight shake of the flashlight as she moves across and through the miniature tableaux and brings it to life. This story doesn’t, can’t, exist without Maeda there, providing that thin light and fragile movement necessary to make sense of this piece of visual art. This phenomenon is something that occurs in each of the sections, a kind of implicit recognition that how both viewer and artist are being swayed and prodded by a distinct viewpoint, one that only exists in precisely this way in this one particular moment in time. Each performance, then, is a reminder of both the power of storytelling and its ephemeral, magical nature.

The second section, “The Crane Wife,” has Maeda performing elegantly wrought shadow puppetry as she weaves together the story of her mom coming to America from Japan with an old Japanese folktale. Framed by (real?) historical letters that Maeda pens and reads aloud in real-time, the interpretation of the crane wife tale she tells becomes intertwined with how the artist understands her Japanese-American identity. Maeda renders it lovingly. She also ponders the story’s intrinsic message about sacrifice and feminism, testing what identifications she has with the story and the limits to which it can function as a genuine link to her Japanese heritage. That a folktale like “The Crane Wife” is endlessly told and retold, revised and reshaped, makes such tests of authenticity quite fraught. Yet this particular version will always have meaning for Maeda and her mother, will structure their identities and how they understand themselves. It’s an ancient practice of making new.

The final section, “Bend,” uses archival footage of Maeda’s father, suffering from dementia, and the famous Japanese sculptor, Isamu Noguchi, both of whom were assigned to the same Japanese internment camp in 1942 -1943. This footage and audio, which often features Maeda talking with her father about the past, is juxtaposed and blended with live sand drawings of figures and places, memories and fragments that are constantly erased, literally disappearing as Maeda draws over or sweeps them away with a broom the last image to make way for the next one. The idea of Maeda’s father, who is clearly a man of extraordinary intellect, warmth, and ambition having to grapple with his own shifting sands of memory makes this method of storytelling particularly significant and brings home the reality of the ephemeral nature of both memory and art.

These are by necessity brief and incomplete descriptions of what goes told through the incredibly innovative and evocative visual language that Maeda uses, but what’s even more difficult to translate is the sheer creativity at the heart of it all. The way she uses light and crumbled papers to conjure up a fire, the way layers of design and shadow move us through airports and palaces and soar us through the sky or into the interior of phone lines in “Homecoming.” The casual virtuosity of the shadow puppet illustrations of “The Crane Wife” that feel more keenly alive than any picture book. And perhaps most profoundly, the unusual framing and living transitions that exist over the course of one of her many sand drawings, each of which is remarkable in each distinct moment. It’s wholly distinct and different from simply watching a painter paint or an illustrator draw. I can’t help but think about a performance like this in spiritual and ritual terms, of finding some solace, some beauty, and some redemption in these symbolic and repetitive acts. Ritual is something that keeps tradition alive even as it changes, that gives us new spins on ancient questions, and that remind us all that all creative acts are storytelling ones, each with their fair share of an older narrative inextricably grafted to a new thread.  

To that end, art-as-ritual, or storytelling-as-ritual, or perhaps even storytelling-as-truth, feels at the heart of Maeda’s trilogy. Our stories are who we are. Even if there is something lost in translation, there is also something invented, something new, something you.   

And I can’t say that everything I pulled out of her Ephemera Trilogy is what Maeda necessarily intended. But I can without qualification say that such a rich, nuanced, and simply extraordinary piece of artwork is a treasure that contains multitudes and is very much worth spending your time with. 

https://vimeo.com/110097232

PREVIEW: Finlay Park welcomes back SCSC with The Merry Wives of Windsor - By Alivia Seely

 

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

The words of William Shakespeare are not always as clear in their meanings as audience members would like them to be. Yet, that does not stop the talented individuals from The South Carolina Shakespeare Company from taking that difficult language from folio, to the stage.

Sharing the beautiful, historic language with audiences across Columbia, the SC Shakespeare Company will be gracing the Finlay Park stage for a two weekend production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a story that chronicles the life of Sir John Falstaff, played by Hunter Boyle. Falstaff is an outrageous man. He is a retired bacchanal with vulgar wit and multiple schemes of seduction, as he plans to dazzle the hearts of Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, played by Libby Campbell-Turner and Becky Hunter. Yet, it does not take long before the two ladies and Ford’s husband Master Ford, to figure out why Falstaff is set on reeking havoc in Windsor.

“He is a very suspicious and jealous husband. I think that he is someone that always thinks that someone is up to something. So when all of this stuff with Falstaff starts happening, my character Master Ford very easily and rapidly buys the fact that his wife is cheating. He then sets out to discover if that is true,” says Scott Blanks, managing director for the South Carolina Shakespeare Company, and will be playing the role of Master Ford.

This production is directed by Linda Khoury, artistic director and co-founder of the company. Other notable characters are: Robert Shallow, played by Chris Cook, Dr. Caius, played by Tracy Steele, Master Page, played by Jason Sprankle, Mistress Quickly, played by Sara Blanks, Anne Page, played by Katie Mixon and Parson Evens, played by David Reed.

“It is captivating, energetic, and is a humorous take on marriage, miscommunication, and forgiveness. The wild and bawdy characters along with the fast-moving story full of mischief and trickery will keep the audience riveted,” says Khoury.

The outdoor performance environment is no stranger to these company members. Finlay Park has been home to numerous SCSC performances in the past. The only thing that will be keeping them out of the park is inclement weather.

“I really enjoy the outdoor environment. I think audiences enjoy the outdoor environment. I can tell your first hand it is a really great experience for an audience member; however, it is really rather difficult for actors and actresses,” says Blanks.

Although there are moments of scandal and humorous revenge, Khoury encourages the entire family to come out and enjoy the show.

The South Carolina Shakespeare Company is one of the most popular professional theatre companies and producers of classical theatre in South Carolina. Since its founding in 1992, the company has sought to bring language, art, and history to the community in order to foster the arts culture.

The show opens Saturday April 23 at 8:00 p.m. in Finlay Park, and will run again April 27-30 at 8:00 p.m. For more information about the show visit www.shakespeareSC.org.

On Prince. And Hunter Boyle. A Message from Cindi.

I was dreamin' when I wrote this Forgive me if it goes astray -- P.

Hunter Boyle is not a particularly good friend of mine. In fact, I don’t know much about him. I don’t know his favorite films or foods. I wouldn’t know where to find him on a Monday morning, like I would most of my friends. I don’t even know how old he is or where he grew up. That said, Hunter Boyle is one of the most important people in my life, and I love him. I genuinely love him and if we ever lost him I would be devastated.

I met Hunter a long time before he met me. I don’t remember exactly when but I know it was decades ago and he was on the stage at Trustus Theatre. I’m not a fan girl or a sycophant, but I never imagined that I’d ever meet Hunter back then, like I never imagined that I’d meet the amazing Paul Kaufmann. When I saw the Kathy and Mo Show and immediately memorized lines that still make me laugh at this very moment, I never imagined that I would meet and come to know Elena Martinez-Vidal and Dewey Scott-Wiley.

But life changed for me. Like for a lot of us, the older I got the harder it became to blow off and block out how fucked up the world is. I had to make adjustments. Apply filters and make priorities. So I made a decision that if I were going to be able to get through this thing called life, rather than calling up that shrink in Beverly Hills, Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright, I would have to prioritize what to me presented as the most essential parts of existence. For me, there are three things: love, nature, and art. Pure and unconditional love, expressed through my relationship with my spouse and family; the dependability, consistency, and resoluteness of nature; and art, some of which is only meaningful in its expression of fancy or beauty, but is nonetheless important, but most of which is the outpouring of such personal authentic resolution and reconciliation of life’s issues and events – loss, pain, frustration, emptiness, confusion, the struggle to continue, overwhelming joy and love – that there are times when it almost paralyzes the spirit with its purity of sentiment.

You know these times.

A dancer ends her performance and you realize you haven’t exhaled for far too long.

A play ends and only then are you aware that tears are dripping down your face.

You look at a photograph and feel like you’ve seen a ghost, and though nothing is evidently there, you cannot shake the feeling and return time and again to peer at and into the same photo.

Or with a painting, you stare at it and examine it from all distances and angles, and you spend moments, or sometimes a lifetime, trying to hear the story it is telling.

A band is playing and the music possesses you and it seems as if you cannot control how the bass and rhythm move through your body, so you dance. You move and shake, and you dance, disregarding any sense of humility.

Or, and this really gets me, a vocalist holds a note at the end of a song and you feel as if your heart is going to burst right out of your chest as she does it – I mean, you feel the actual sensation of your chest having expanded to such a degree that the muscles hurt with a sweet and exhilarating pain.

Along with love and nature, these feelings, these experiences and my privilege of witnessing these testimonies are my crutches. They prop me up and keep me going. And, as was just resolved at a conversation at the Whig, crutches don’t have to symbolize weakness; they can also signify humanity.

...

Prince died yesterday and he has broken our hearts in having done so.

Social media is filled with expressions of grief and exaltation; stories of songs and concerts and rites of passage. He was so many things to so many of us. For me, Prince was my instant drug—with the first notes of so many songs setting off a physical reaction that reduced (expanded?) me to a convulsing, quivering spazmoid of a middle-aged lady vomiting out the inner workings of my soul. My soul! I stopped caring what people thought about this a long time ago because, well, fuck them if they didn’t get that it was Prince and he was talking to me. When the song would end I’d go back to my slightly more decorous life and my day, my world, would always be better for having heard it, no matter how much my paroxysms embarrassed the people around me. Prince was and always will be my crutch.

His song has ended, but his songs will never end.

Very few of us ever met Prince. We didn’t know his favorite foods or films or what he might be doing on a Monday morning. But he was one of the most important people in our lives, and we loved him. Now that he is gone, we are devastated.

But we're still here.

So, I'm writing this to the artists who are still here with us, the artists like Prince who aren’t Prince, but are part of his tribe, his family of artists, the mere mortals who may never step onto the same stages from which Prince ruled our worlds but still suffer and hunger and try to make sense for the rest of us, just like Prince did – the Hunter Boyles and Paul Kaufmanns and Deweys and Elenas, and the Mariclare Mirandas and Stephen Chesleys and the Daniel Machados, and the Michaela Pilar Browns, the Bonnies and Chads and Eds. You may never know who we are, but you are our crutches, too. You prop us up and keep us going alone in a world so cold. You bring a value to our lives not unlike that of the Purple One. And for that we should all celebrate.

Thank you to Prince, and thank you to all the artists out there, unknown and known. Life is just a party - so, let's get nuts.

-CB

5 Questions w/ Kara Gunter About Artista Vista

Jasper Visual Arts Editor Kara Gunter is one of the artists showing her work at tonight's Artista Vista. We asked her to give us a little preview of what she has in the works.

JASPER:  What are we going to be seeing from you at Artista Vista this year and where and when will we be seeing it?

KARA GUNTER: I have installed a work in the Lady St. tunnel in the Vista of six hanging, cocoon-like figures.  All are a deep blue, human in form, with a light in each head that will glow brighter as the sun sets.  The pieces are cast from a live model, and layered over with paper and adhesive.  I call them Head Lamps.  Artista Vista opens Thursday the 21^st, and continues through the weekend.

JASPER:  How does this fit into your ongoing body of work?

KARA:  My work is always about Self, but specifically, I have been thinking a lot about the corporeality of the human body.  I have dealt with a lot of nebulous health problems throughout my life –nothing life-threatening, but disruptive, and at times, scary-- I come out on the other end having learned something about myself, and who I want to be in this world.  I always try to transform these times of suffering into some sort of evolution or integration of bigger feelings and ideas.  The cocoon is a recurring symbol for me and obviously speaks of rebirth, of change, and personal and spiritual growth.  I chose the tunnel to install in, as it is literally a passage from darkness into light.  Great things happen in the dark—sleep, dreaming, healing, gestation, change, but it can also be a lonely and frustrating experience, and one in which waiting is the only course of action.

I’m also turning 40 this year, and having had the experience these past months of helping my father through a cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, I feel as though I’ve “leveled up” as an adult, albeit, reluctantly.  So, that evolution has also been on my mind—what awaits my post-40 self?  I’m thinking it’s an intellectual shift that’s occurring, and that’s referenced in the glowing heads.  Even though my body may not be as hearty as I wish, I feel as though I’m operating with the clearest, strongest, most creative mind I’ve ever had, and there’s something very rewarding about that.  There’s also a bit of an inquiry posed to the viewer—will you come with me?  In an era when emotions are ruling us (as seen in our social-political stances), I wonder if it’s not time to leave those childish things behind and let our intellect guide us from darkness.  Time to grow up, in some respects!

JASPER:  Is there a relationship between your Artista Vista work and the work you're showing at Artfields next week, and can you talk briefly about the similarities or differences?

KARA:  There is definitely a similarity between the work I’m showing at Artfields and Artista Vista.  Stylistically, they are a bit different, but they both utilize the human figure, and both speak to the fragility of the human body.  Rising In Falling, the installation at Artfields is more pointedly about death and dying.  Those figures are in a freefall, but can also appear to be floating gently by paper parasols, so perhaps they are floating instead of plummeting.  I leave the interpretation up to the viewer, and the viewers’ own associations with the process of living or dying.  I wanted to depict the inevitability of the cycle of death and rebirth, and the dependency of life on death itself.  The bottom figure in the installation is holding a skull, and out of it pours flowers and fruits.

JASPER:  What are the challenges of installing art in a tunnel?

KARA:  Working out a way to hang the figures in the tunnel was a bit of a challenge, and I had to revamp my original vision several times.  There are large niches in the wall where it seems as if the mortar has crumbled away from the bricks over time, and because I didn’t want to put bolt holes in the stone or mortar, it became apparent this was the only way to hang the forms.  The overall installation was dictated by these niches, and I really had no idea what the layout was going to be until installation.

The wind blows pretty swiftly through the tunnel, and I was worried about this until I saw the figures swaying in the wind.  I really like this unexpected development as it brings life to the figures, and at the same time, a loneliness and eeriness.

I’m always a bit nervous about public installations.  There is something about art being outside of the gallery setting, that the viewer feels more inclined to interact with the work. That’s not always a bad thing, and I suppose it can be a bit confusing because some works are meant to be interacted with.  Because my work is often made of more fragile things (like paper), I sometimes find it all a bit nerve-wracking!

*

JASPER:  Finally, what else are you excited about seeing at Artista vista this year?

KARA:  Michaela Pilar Brown has curated this year’s installations, and I’m very excited to see what the other artists she’s chosen will be doing.  I’ve been so busy with my work, I have no idea what to expect from everyone else, and I really look forward to the surprise!

INTERVIEW: Kimi Maeda on her Ephemera Trilogy Opening at Trustus Friday

 

This Friday night in a departure from their typical programming, Trustus Theatre opens Kimi Maeda's Ephemera Trilogy, a piece of performance art based in puppetry, but delivering so much more than an adult puppet show. Staged in three parts and using performance art methodologies that include flashlights, sand, shadow art, and more, the performance will take place at the Trustus Side Door Theatre and will run from April 22nd through May 7th on Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and on Sundays at 3. Jasper asked artist Kimi Maeda a few brief questions to better prepare us for receiving her work. Here's what we learned: ... Jasper: Jasper has been following your work on the Ephemera project for a while, but for our readers who are just learning about this project can you please summarize what the project is about? Kimi: In The Ephemera Trilogy, I use shadows and sand to capture the strangeness of living in between two different cultures.  Japanese folktales combine with stories of my mother coming to America, and archival footage from Japanese American relocation camps are intercut with sand drawings of my father as a young boy.  The constant desire for Home and a unified Identity that always seems to be just out of reach. ... Jasper: This is a trilogy, right? How is it divided and what should viewers expect from each section? Kimi: I see The Homecoming as a short shadow puppet overture to the other two pieces, and so I have placed it at the beginning of the evening.  Themes that get introduced will be revisited and elaborated upon later. The Crane Wife provides several re-readings of a Japanese tale in which a crane transforms into a woman, combining it with my own experience growing up as a Japanese American in a white New England town and my mother’s experience immigrating to the United States.  It utilizes an overhead projector, mounted and hand-held lights, paper cut-outs, fabric collages, three-dimensional objects, and even my own body to cast shadows. Using sand, shadow, and projection Bend tells the true story of two men incarcerated in a Japanese American relocation camp during World War II: my father, an Asian Art historian who suffered from dementia at the end of his life, and the subject of his research, Isamu Noguchi, a half-Japanese-half-American sculptor. ... Jasper:  You created this completed project over six years, is that correct? Was the project fully formed when you began it or did the trilogy aspect present itself to you in the process? Kimi:  When I began working on these pieces I had no idea of the scope that the entire project would take.  Like a lot of artists, I think there are certain themes that I gravitate toward: Home, trans-cultural identity, and memory.  While The Crane Wife focuses on my mother’s story, Bend focuses on my father.  After I created Bend it seemed natural that the pieces should fit together.  I create work as a way of understanding my place in the world.  As I get older I learn new things and try to incorporate that into my work. ... Jasper:  And you've had the opportunity to tour this performance, is that correct? Can you tell us a bit about taking the project on the road -- where you've been and what that experience was like? Kimi:  There are many different themes in Bend and so I think people connect to it in different ways.  When I took it to the International Sonoran Desert Alliance in Ajo, Arizona, as well as the Crossing the Borders: Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival in Putney, Vermont, the topic of immigration was very much on people’s minds.  In Arizona it was powerful not only to be in the desert landscape that my father experienced when he was interned, but also to hear the stories related to the border. Taking Bend to Arkansas and the former site of one of the internment camps was also an amazing experience.  All that’s left of the camp is a smokestack at the edge of a cotton field.  The only Japanese American in the audience was a man who had been born in the camp.  His family was one of only seven that stayed in Arkansas when the camps were closed, and his was the only family that remained permanently.  It was moving to hear audience members talk about asking their parents why the US government had incarcerated its own citizens.  Before I began my last tour the Mayor of Roanoke, VA wrote in reference to Syrian refugees that “President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it appears that the threat of harm to America from ISIS now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then.”  As more survivors of the camps pass away, I think it becomes more vital than ever that we remember the injustice and we make sure that it never happens again. I wrote this Facebook post before I started the last tour: For the past few years my father has been slowly fading away. The illness that began as a wrong turn on a familiar drive home eventually reduced him to the shallow breathing that kept us on edge by his bedside. When he died, he left an emptiness in his wake. People ask me if it is difficult to be doing a performance about his life so soon after his death. In some ways I think it is actually comforting. I created this show during his illness as a way to cope with everything that I was feeling. Rehearsing in preparation for the tour has been similarly therapeutic. I come into the studio every day and draw my dad over and over again while I listen to recordings of his voice. I am memorizing the shape of his face and the wrinkles on his brow. He feels very present, and that is filling the emptiness. Bend is about forgetting, but it is also about memory. The New England Chapter of the JACL and I originally intended this Day of Remembrance Tour to commemorate Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066 which led to the incarceration of Japanese American families on the West Coast after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now I think it is actually a fitting memorial for my father, as well. A friend of mine whose father died recently wrote that “After the initial flurry of burial, obituary, and funeral arrangements passed, I began to think more about my dad from when he was healthy. The years of sickness have faded more, and the memories of my dad through all the years of my childhood and beyond have become stronger. It was like when my dad passed, the years of illness did too, and I was left with the times of what really mattered.” In Bend I express my fear that my father’s memory will be forgotten. However, this tour is not only allowing me to keep his memory present, it is also giving me the opportunity to share his story with so many people. Jasper:  Finally, is this it? Is this project completed and are you moving on to something else now? Or will there be another part to Ephemera? If you're moving on, do you know what your next project will be or can you give us some hints to what you're thinking of? Kimi:  I don’t know that there will be another part to ephemera, but I think the piece as a whole will continue to grow as I get older.  Even returning to The Crane Wife after six years I feel as though I’m in a very different place emotionally and intellectually, and so I’ve added a whole new section at the end to try to address this. Purchase tickets here.

LIVE REVIEW: The Mobros, Watson Village, and the Gardener and the Willow at New Brookland Tavern

  April 15, 9:16 PM EST Like Metallica, Rancid, the Dixie Chicks, and Blues Traveler, the Gardener and the Willow is one of those band names that lets listeners know in advance what they’re signing up for. Never mind that the Gardener and the Willow isn’t a ‘band’ in the traditional sense; the name can’t help but conjure images of pastoral gentility. Indeed, the music of sole member Austin Lee, presumably pulling double duty as both gardener and willow, is gentle—even elegant—in spirit. In execution, it’s gentle in the way that someone calmly categorizing all the ways you’ve ruined their life is gentle.

When Lee takes the stage with his guitar, there is only a scattering of people watching from the adjacent floor. The rest are hanging around the bar, shooting pool, or smoking cigarettes on the back patio. The first song sounds both ominous and lonesome. Over the crack of cue balls knocking 10’s into corner pockets and cans of Pabst hissing to life, Lee’s voice remains steady, undeterred, even pretty. You can tell this song means something special to him. By the second number, the headcount of those actually paying attention has increased 100%, making a solid eighteen. Dempsey’s Aaron Reece joins Lee onstage and they sound good together, both vocally and on guitar. Those about to rock are getting antsy; there’s some uncertain shuffling among their ranks. Maybe they’re put off by a confessional, flamboyantly emotional male spilling his guts before their eyes. As the set goes on, a few more people make their way to the floor, curious. But only a few. By the last song, Lee’s voice is all but drowned out by barroom chatter and he leaves the stage as he arrived, inconspicuously and to polite applause. It’s a shame and he deserves better. From the direction of the bar, someone says what is either, “I haven’t heard the Mobros in two years,” or, “I haven’t had Marlboros in two years.” Either way, another shame.

10:11 PM EST Call it the Opener’s Curse. In between the Gardener and the Willow’s last song and Watson Village’s first, the number of bodies at NBT nearly doubles. This is a crowd is clearly ready for some good old fashioned rocking out and, true to form, Watson Village does its best to deliver. Singer/guitarist Tyler Watson, drummer David Moody, keyboard player Zack Cameron, and bassist Tyler Phillips are off to a good start. The first tune—high-energy, riddled with blues—serves as a de facto antidote for the un-ecstatic soul baring that has come before. The follow-up, “Putty In Your Pocket,” means well but loses its way in an overlong jam that never quite finds its climax. Watson Village takes the misstep in stride and soldiers on. Game to cut loose, the audience is right there with them, strong in enthusiasm if not in sheer numbers. The back patio might well boast the night’s highest attendance so far and the bar never really empties.

10:58 PM EST There was a time not that long ago when the Mobros were one of the most talked-about bands in the Midlands. Not yet old enough to buy their own beer, the sibling duo was rightfully hailed as junior blues saviors, soul food you could watch ripen in real time. These claims were validated in 2013 when the late B.B. King picked them as the opening act for a handful of his Southeastern tour dates. Their buzz has died down a bit since then, as buzz tends to do, but spending a large chunk of the past two years on the road has only tightened the chops of a band already known for its proficiency. There’s no shortage of blues-rock bands slumming it in dives and selling out arenas all over the US, but a true blues band is something altogether less common, and that’s exactly what the Mobros are. For them, ‘rock’ is not a verb but, with the addition of Canaan Peeples on bass, the Mobros have evolved into a trio now more at home on a dingy stage. Kelly Morris’ singing voice carries a heft of soul usually reserved for older, wearier men. His fingers fly up and down the guitar neck with avian grace. His brother Patrick on drums is the spine, the foundation, holding the songs erect with crack timing and understated flair. The standing room is swelling to capacity now and the whole place smells like whiskey and tobacco. This is what folks have come to see. With their button-down shirts tucked neatly into their slacks and not a hair in their mini-afros out of place, the Morris Brothers look like professionals. Not showmen by nature, their live appeal rests solely in their talent and the unmasked joy they take in performing. From their opening song until the finale, there is no pretense of innovation, only two young men (and their bass player) doing what they were made to do.

April 16, 12:06 AM EST I battle the despair that comes with settling one’s tab but emerge more or less intact.

Columbia Museum of Art Wins National Medal for Museum and Library Service

Congratulations to the Columbia Museum of Art for winning the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor awarded to such an institution and, this year, awarded to none more deserving.

Those of us who have been around Columbia long enough remember when the art museum was some incommodious space where we only went on field trips if we were children and for very specific openings if we were adults. The art museum represented a type of art that didn't really have a place in our lives.

Yes, there were a few lesser-known pieces by better-known artists in which we felt a sense of municipal pride, and yes, many of us had our favorites in the museum's collection or a painting or two with which we enjoyed some special relationship. But even with the art we loved, we were bad lovers. There was nothing about the walls on which the art lived that invited us to visit. We approached the building carefully--like we were visiting the rich old lady down the street with our Ps and Qs at code yellow, careful to wipe our feet before entering, using our church voices or not speaking at all.

Let's call those The Bad Old Days. 

Few institutions experience the kind of renaissance CMA has realized over the past few years.

Where patrons once tiptoed through the galleries, today we celebrate in them. We gather there like a huge extended family and feel welcome within its walls. Rather than reverence we feel a sense of comfort and community and homeyness. We visit the spaces because it makes us feel good or we just need a fix of the art we know belongs to us. And it's not just the art currently hanging on its walls. Columbia Museum of Art has given us the art of Warhol and Leibovitz and O'Keeffe and Curran and more. By empowering our community with a working knowledge of art history and art appreciation Columbia Museum of Art has created a place in our lives for the art it exhibits and the place where it exhibits it - our museum home.

Again, congratulations to everyone at CMA for a honor so well deserved.

News from Girls Rock Columbia - and Camp Registration DEADLINE!

THESE ARE THE GIRLS WHO WILL BECOME THE WOMEN WHO WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND MAKE IT RIGHT.

If you've had your head in a sock for past few years you might not know about Girls Rock Columbia and we're sorry for you. But it's not too late to get the girls in your life involved in this wonderful opportunity to learn how strong and mighty and awesome they can be. And, glory to all the gods and goddesses, they can do it via Rock 'n' Roll!

The big news is that, this year, Girls Rock Columbia will be offering a two week teen camp!

The first week of TEEN CAMP will take place July 11 – 15 & July 18 – 22 – girls and trans* youth 13 and up will rock out in traditional GRC fashion. The second week, July 18-22, those same rad teens will be returning to camp for FREE as TEEN LEADERS! During this camp session they’ll work with GRC volunteers to carry out camp activities (facilitating workshops, troubleshooting gear, leading assemblies, mentoring younger campers, etc), while continuing to have their own band practices!

For the non-teen tweeners (ages 8 - 12) there will be the One week camp as per usual on July 18 - 22. And both camps will rock the house on July 23rd for the Girls Rock Showcase.

And here's our favorite part --

"Girls Rock Columbia exists to foster a community of girls and trans* youth, ages 8-17, through music, performance, and various workshops. The program encourages an environment that cultivates self-confidence, challenges gender stereotypes, promotes positive female relationships, creativity, and leadership.  The ultimate goal of Girls Rock Columbia is to empower everyone involved; both campers and volunteers, to take the sense of community learned from within the organization and carry that throughout the city they call home.

The Girls Rock Camp Alliance values diversity of age, race, economic status, gender expression, size, physical ability, developmental ability, musical interests, learning styles, nationality, religion, thought, citizenship status, and sexual orientation. We promote respect and do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, or other discriminatory behavior or expression."

But you should neither wait nor hesitate to enroll that young woman in your life because

REGISTRATION CLOSES APRIL 17TH!

Jasper Indie Grits Picks, Day 3: Overall and Aprons (7pm, 4/16)

First, BIG FREEDIA!!!!!!!

Now that that's out of the way, Overalls and Aprons (7pm screening 4/16) looks like a fascinating choice for tonight if for some reason you don't plan on catching the bounce queen in action. Indie Grits always prides itself on digging into the corners and crevices of Southern culture, and this feature documentary does exactly that by celebrating the farm-to-table movement while critically examining if, why, and how sustainable agriculture is viable for modern-day farmers. And, in some sense, this is really just a love letter from filmmaker Thibaut Fagonde to the thriving culinary and farming communities in Charleston. Familiar faces and places abound in the trailer, and it's hard not to get wrapped up in the obvious excitement and fervor Fagonde brings to the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rdTZ0QUKdw

Jasper Indie Grits Picks, Day 2: Paperback (4/15, 9:30pm, 4/16 2pm)

Amid a deep slate of films on Day 2 of Indie Grits, we want to highlight one of the few narrative features that dot the festival's lineup, Adam Bowers' Paperback. On spec it looks like a romantic comedy crossed with wry slacker existentialism, but one of the great things about Indie Grits curation is that they tend to pick films that subvert such expectations.

Personally, I've always a bit bowled over by truly independent narrative features. The amount of time, money, and energy which go into making them without studio backing is astounding, and it's a tremendous artistic achievement to go through all that for an uncertain screening future. It's also something that, given the overwhelming amount of movies and television we have access to, is far too easy to take for granted.

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

Words, Words, Words: Shakespeare’s First Folio comes to USC by Haley Sprankle

 

“Come in, take a seat on the couch.”

I walked into Professor Robert Richmond’s office, and saw pictures everywhere of various productions he has directed both at the university and around the country.

Most of these productions are the works of Mr. William Shakespeare himself.

From April 14-30, the University of South Carolina is hosting Shakespeare’s First Folio, and since all the world’s a stage, there will be a myriad of ways Columbians can experience these exquisite and well-known works.

“The First Folio is a book that was created seven years after Shakespeare’s death, and is really the book that gave us Shakespeare’s works. Without that compilation of his plays, we probably would have lost many of them, and he wouldn’t have been the most performed playwright in the world. So it seemed appropriate that we should program a number of events.” Richmond explained. “The Tempest, which is the Main Stage production in Drayton Hall, was seemingly fitting because it was his last play and was his farewell to the theatre in many ways.”

The Tempest isn’t the only production on campus to catch a hint of the bard though. Louis Butelli will star in the one-man production and original piece, Gravedigger’s Tale (April 21-23, Longstreet Theatre) and a group of players will perform in an outdoor production titled “Jukebox Shakespeare” (April 23, outside of Thomas Cooper Library).

“Gravedigger’s Tale is an interactive audience piece in which the audience is given a human bone and on the bone is a question. Louis Butelli, playing the gravedigger, invites the audience in a random order to ask a question, and he gives the answer back all in Shakespeare except for just a couple of little adjoining words that get in from A to B,” Richmond elaborates. “Jukebox Shakespeare will be a traveling troupe of Shakespearean players who will perform different scenes, monologues, speeches, and soliloquies on the green outside of the library. It will revolve around the crowd because it’s just really based on passers-by. People will be able to take requests from the ‘greatest hits’ of Shakespeare, so we have everything from Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet to Twelfth Night to Richard III to Henry V.”

Clearly, Richmond is no stranger to innovation. His productions often include unique takes on familiar pieces that transform the work and drop audiences into completely different worlds.

“Well, I think every generation has to redefine him [Shakespeare] in that it has to become accessible and exciting and it needs to be something that a younger generation can understand and feel a part of and complicit in the action,” Richmond says. “So The Tempest is actually a weird play because it has a reputation of being very serious, but actually there’s huge amounts of fun in it. There’s clowns, magic, and fantasy characters. I wanted to try and do a production that is sort of Pan’s Labyrinth meets Shakespeare, but it has to have a sort of an appeal to our sensibilities so that we understand the science fiction of it, the fantasy element of it. Ours is not the sandy beach, castaway version of the play. Ours is a Lord of the Rings version of the play with Celtic music that is obviously very evocative that really tells the audience and makes them think about what it would be like to be stranded on an island.”

Outside of USC’s theatrics, the Thomas Cooper Library will host classes, discussions, and speeches from people such as Shakespearean scholar Stephen Orgel, the First Folio exhibit “Much Ado About Shakespeare” will be open in Hollings Library, and the South Carolina Shakespeare Company will perform Merry Wives of Windsor in Finlay Park.

“To me, it’s less about the book and more about the humanity that is in the book,” Richmond closes. “The book itself is significant; it’s changed the way that we think, the way that we talk, the language that we use. In that book are 1,700 words that had never been spoken before. His [Shakespeare’s] influence on the language that English-speakers share across the world is huge. But the book itself is just a book; it’s about what is in the book and what the book says to each and every one of us.”

For more information about the upcoming events this month, go to http://library.sc.edu/p/FirstFolio!