Bringing down the house : Amiri Baraka’s 1964 play The Slave takes place during a race war and ends with a deadly house collapse. As final as that sounds, local playwright and vocalist Ti Ames (right) continues the story: See About the Girls is set 14 years later, and imagines that Walker Vessel’s biracial daughters […]
A Woman with Backbone How’s this for a job description: Hike East coast mountains, drink beer, take pictures, and get paid $20,000. That’s the deal Devils Backbone Brewing Company announced this year, and unsurprisingly, outdoor enthusiasts flooded the brewery’s inbox with applications. After reviewing thousands of eager hiker-drinkers’ pitches, DBBC appointed UVA alum Kristen Musselman […]
Gilling it Former UVA basketball standout Anthony Gill didn’t make the NBA right off the bat. The forward earned 2015 and 2016 Third-Team all-ACC honors in his junior and senior seasons under Tony Bennett, but went undrafted after graduating. Gill headed abroad, and spent a season playing for Yesilgiresun Belediye in Turkey, and three years […]
Double whammy: UVA Drama doubles down on a pandemic-restricted season with Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage (translated by Christopher Hampton) and Steven Drukman’s The Death of the Author. The companion plays, which introduce the university’s new MFA Acting Company, observe chain reactions as characters argue over what is right, what is wrong, and what must […]
Getting personal: What is it about a work of art that draws us in? See for yourself during Looking Inward, the latest installment in The Fralin from Home series. Docent June Heintz hosts an hour-long exploration of Kawase Hasui’s “Pavilion with Pagoda,” complete with mindfulness practices, slow looking, and contextual information. Registration required at museumoutreach@virginia.edu […]
Smart moves: Set in 1930s Texas during the Jim Crow era, the story of The Great Debaters was brought to national attention in a 1997 American Legacy magazine article. It became a passion project for Denzel Washington, who directed and starred in the 2007 film, inspired by the experiences of the all-Black Wiley College debate […]
Look out: Terry’s running away with it It’s no surprise that Terry McAuliffe is leading the Democratic primary gubernatorial field in fundraising. The former Virginia governor and DNC chair is famous for his shameless shakedowns—in a 2007 book, he wrote about making his teary wife and newborn baby wait in the car on the way […]
Grow your own: Herbs have enhanced our culinary, medicinal, and beauty pursuits dating back to ancient times. Yet the struggle to perfect a backyard plot of lush, fragrant herbs without insect or disease interference is a real one. Learn how to grow your favorites with help from the experts during the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Virtual […]
Positively jammin’: No matter the weather, the vibes will be sunny at Springfest, an all-reggae concert featuring Mighty Joshua and Positive Collective. Hailing from Richmond and backed by Zion #5, Mighty Joshua weaves conscious lyrics with one-love energy in classic and original tunes that elevate and uplift. Charlottesville’s Positive Collective draws influence from ska, roots […]
Tracing the music: Get in your steps and a history lesson during David McCormick’s Black Fiddlers of Monticello walking tour, a tribute to the Scott and Hemings family fiddlers. McCormick, a founding performer with the Early Access Music Project, uses recent research as a fellow at the International Center for Jefferson Studies to trace the […]