PRESS RELEASE FROM UNC ASHEVILLE:
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNC Asheville presents the Appalachian Summer Theater Series at the Reuter Center on campus, with 2 p.m. Sunday performances on June 19, July 31 and Aug. 7.
June 19 – Barbara Bates Smith begins the series with her monodrama Ivy Rowe, adapted by Smith and Mark Hunter from the novel Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith (no relation). Ivy Rowe, told in the voice of the woman for whom the show is named, is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains between World War I and the Vietnam War. “Though you make your own bed, you do not have to sleep in it forever,” says Rowe, who makes a life of “livin’ on love.”
Ivy Rowe has received more than 700 performances including shows in New York City off-Broadway and in Edinburgh, Scotland. The OLLI performance will feature original music played by Jeff Sebens on banjo, dulcimer and hammered dulcimer. This 2 p.m. June 19 performance is free and open to the public.
The series continues with:
July 31 – Outlander, written by storyteller Gary Carden of Sylva, N.C., performed as readers theater by The Autumn Players, with music by Joe Penland. Outlander tells the story of Horace Kephart, a key figure in the creation of Great Smoky Mountain National Park and a controversial interpreter of Appalachian culture. A discussion with playwright Gary Carden will follow the performance. Presented in partnership with Asheville Community Theater; admission is $6 at the door.
August 7 – Patchwork Perspectives, adapted and acted by Barbara Bates Smith. Based on characters from Lee Smith’s books, The Devil’s Dream, Saving Grace and Cakewalk, this will be the premiere of Barbara Smith’s newest monodrama featuring the lives of Appalachian women. Free and open to the public.
All shows will be presented in the Reuter Center’s Manheimer Room, located on the campus of UNC Asheville. For more information, visit olliasheville.com or call OLLI at 828.251.6140.
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