Influential figure: While developing a play about a meeting between former president John F. Kennedy and former British prime minister Harold Macmillan, screenwriter and playwright Nick Drake came across another figure in Kennedy’s life that piqued his interest—George Thomas, who was JFK’s personal valet from his time in the Senate until his death. Drake’s research led him to the Miller Center and then to Thomas’ hometown of Berryville, Virginia, where his review of photographs, travel records, and oral histories raised the idea that Thomas had an influence on Kennedy’s landmark June 1963 address that laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Playwright and director Leslie Scott-Jones will host a discussion with Drake to distill his findings.
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maevehayden | January 17, 2024
Page numbers
Landscape photographer Karen Duncan Pape turns her lens to the page in “De-Circulated,” an exhibition of reconstructed covers of banned books on display at McGuffey Art Center through January 28. “Growing up in Southwest Virginia, books were extremely important to me, as they exposed me to other worlds and broadened my perspective,” says Pape. “I […]
maevehayden | January 17, 2024
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C-VILLE Writers | January 17, 2024
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Take a deep dive into the culture and legacy of African American violinists in director Eduardo Montes-Bradley’s Black Fiddlers. The 60-minute documentary shares the stories and sounds of Black men and women throughout American history, like the late old-time fiddler Joe Thompson (pictured) and 18th-century Richmond virtuoso Sy Gilliat, an enslaved man whose opera melodies […]
C-VILLE Writers | January 17, 2024
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C-VILLE Writers | January 17, 2024
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Boston-based fiddler Maura Shawn Scanlin is putting her own inventive twist on traditional Celtic tunes. An award-winning musician, Scanlin incorporates classical chamber music and traditional sounds from the American South, along with Irish and Scottish fiddle playing into her fluid compositions. Scanlin is touring her new self-titled record with Conor Hearn on guitar, Adam Hendey […]
C-VILLE Writers | January 17, 2024