Arts Scene

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Free guitar concert

Acadia University Musician-in-Residence Dale Kavanagh will give a free guitar recital Sunday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m. at Acadia’s Manning Memorial Chapel.

She will play works by Sir Lennox Berkeley, Carlo Domeniconi, Darius Milhaud and Dale Kavanagh.

Kavanagh has had a very busy summer. Her concert appearances have taken her to Beijing, New York, Prague, Vienna, Naples and all over Germany, which the Wolfville native calls home.

Admission is free and all are welcome.

Printmaker on view

A retrospective show and sale of works from 1985-2000 by printmaker David Gillespie is opening this Saturday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

A collection of framed and unframed original serigraphs by former Nova Scotian resident Gillespie, these works span 25 years and were discovered in the late Jack Sheriff's Kipawo Gallery in Wolfville.

Many of these re-discovered treasures haven't been on public display in many years, says Lynda MacDonald. “In spite of their age, or perhaps because of it, they hold a strong sense of the present and leave the viewer touched by a warming sense of nostalgia.”

Gillespie is a Canadian artist whose handmade, original works range from high realism in the form of landscapes and architecture, to vibrant and inspiring abstracts. Much of this artistic expression he refined while living in Nova Scotia, MacDonald noted, where keen observation and a love of the natural environment influenced his vision.

New at CentreStage

“It’s like discovering that your parents are real people,” says Tracy Churchill about CentreStage Theatre’s upcoming production, The O’Conner Girls, by Kate Forgette.

“After their father’s funeral, the two O’Conner Girls – who haven’t seen girlhood in a few decades – help their mother go through their father’s things,” explains cast member Rachel Cooper.

“As the inevitable reminiscing gets underway, startling revelations emerge. With the help of their tart-tongued Aunt Margie and a charming doctor friend, the girls learn how past events are about to change all their futures.”

Moreover, “the O'Conner Girls is about a family sorting through material things, good and bad memories and emotions - including romantic feelings, and current situations. It’s about life and death,” explains the show’s director Phoebe Thibault Sherrard.

“I feel the best part about the show is the loving and caring nature of family members through sadness and family differences,” says cast member Sharon Messom.

The show conveys the idea that small town life is never small stage life. “It shows the won and lost gambles, the heroic failures, the stolen moments and, most importantly, the will to keep going,” says another cast member Paul Abela, who is making his debut performance at CentreStage.

Stage manager Susan Monro echoes these feelings. “I personally walked away with the awareness that everyone in a family experiences situations differently. If we could be in the shoes of others, like our parents, our neighbours, our sisters or brothers, we would look at them (and ourselves) in a kinder, more forgiving manner. And we'd laugh a heck of a lot more!”

The O’Conner Girls is most suitable for adults and older teens, because of a few adult situations and language.

The play opens Thursday, Sept. 18, and continues playing Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. until Oct. 25. There will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Oct. 19. Phone 678-8040 to make reservations.

Come listen

Jacob McArthur Mooney is a Nova Scotian living in Ontario who will be giving a poetry reading Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Acadia University.

An editor with the web journal ThievesJargon.com, he is also the founder of The Facebook Review. His work has been widely published, and in 2006 he was short listed for the CBC Literary Award in Poetry. The New Layman’s Almanac (2008) is his first book.

Mooney will read at 7 p.m. in the Vaughan Library Quiet Reading Room.

Hear Thibodeau

Twenty-year-old Michael Thibodeau will be featured in a performance in Denton Auditorium, Acadia University, Wolfville, Friday, Sept. l9, at 8 p.m.

The Middleton native is the winner of the 2008 Atlantic Young Artist Competition.

The public is invited to attend the concert. Free will offering at the door.

Catch the films

The Fundy Film Autumn series begins Sept. 21. The

Autumn series pre-paid ticket sale will take place 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept 13, at the Al Whittle Theatre lobby in Wolfville.

Tickets include 6-Packs (six tickets), which are $36. (Regular tickets are $8). www.fundyfilm.ca www.fundyfilm.ca> for all details

Brochures available in local outlets soon.

At Union St.

Sept. 19 at the Union St. Café in Berwick there is an Open Mic Kitchen Party with Jesse Beck. No cover charge.

Then Sept. 20 there’s a special performance with Michael Pickett and Doc MacLean scheduled. They will perform at 9 p.m. Tickets are only $12.

The following Saturday, Sept. 27, folk music hero David Francey will be for his near-yearly performance at Union Street. Seats are $25 and going fast. Call 538-7787 to book a table.

Coming up

Sept. 25

Auditions for Footloose, Anyone wishing to audition should email Kerri Anyone wishing to audition should email Leier at jump_musical@hotmail.com or call 697-2515 Leier at jump_musical@hotmail.com or call 697-2515

Until Sept. 30

Linda Moyer exhibition, Annapolis Art, Wolfville

Send arts items to: welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca