Founded in 2011, Gorilla Theater stresses the troupe’s efforts at comprehensive inclusion, and with Summer Shorts 2018, that quest includes UVA students. In this production, the theater’s core players work together with student performers and directors to put on shows ranging from the whimsical to the surreal to the intensely dramatic.
This Week, 1/16
Nearly four weeks in, the federal government remains at a standstill over the president’s maniacal demand for $5.7 billion in American taxpayers’ dollars to erect a giant wall. But local government, at least, is raring to go. “Eighty percent of what we do is not a Republican or Democratic
ARTS Pick: Oldest Sea
Haunting vocals paired with gentle guitar strumming define Sam Marandola’s solo project Oldest Sea. There’s no need for heavy rhythms on her self-released LP Sage Burner—it showcases just how effective pure instrumentation paired with melancholy vocals can be. With Winterweeds, Brandon
ARTS Pick: Mitchell Tenpenny
Nashville native Mitchell Tenpenny writes stories about where he comes from as he navigates the musical landscape that established his love for creating personal connections onstage. The star football player turned country musician’s soulful, edgy vocals combined with his acoustic
Fighting fear: Local groups step up to help our community of undocumented immigrants
When Maria Chavalan-Sut talks about her life, she smiles. She laughs. Sometimes she cries. The Guatemalan refugee came to America in 2015 and passed a credible fear interview at the border, meaning ICE believed that she would face persecution or torture if she was sent back to her country. But
Reeling it in: The Virginia Film Festival announces its 2019 lineup
By Adriana Wells The Virginia Film Festival (VAFF) returns to Charlottesville this fall with a lengthy list of standout films and special guests for its 31st annual festival, to take place November 1 through 4. Highlights of the event will include a tribute to the late actor Orson Welles, led
Making magic: Jack Black and Cate Blanchett cast a spell
Halloween season is off to a solid start with the pleasant surprise of the kid-friendly horror/fantasy/comedy The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Everything about this movie should be working against it. The marketing makes it seem like another expository, self-contained “adventure” that uses
Vocal exercises: Singer Nay Nichelle promotes positivity
Nay Nichelle likes to write outside. There’s something inspirational about natural sunlight, she says, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the light changes quickly and just so. It’s hard to put the reason for the inspiration into words, she says, but those moments often lead to lyrics for
The Shenandoah Valley’s Lively Cultural Life
By Ken Wilson – There is peace in the valley if that’s what you want—and plenty to keep you occupied when you don’t. Just “over the mountain” from Albemarle County is the storied Shenandoah Valley with all that lush countryside, and all those country places. Once so richly farmed it was dubbed
ARTS Pick: Jazz concert seeks justice
John D’earth directs the UVA Jazz Ensemble in a three-way benefit for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the UVA jazz program. Jazz4Justice is a statewide, college-based series that raises funds and awareness about social justice issues through community
Movie review: The Insult imparts the complexities of conflict
A dialogue of national reconciliation takes the form of a courtroom drama in Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult, one of this year’s nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. It all begins as a minor conflict between a Lebanese Christian mechanic, Tony (Adel Karam), and a Palestinian engineer living in
LIVING Picks: Week of March 14-20
FAMILY James Madison’s birthday celebration Friday, March 16 Commemorate the 267th birthday of fourth president James Madison in an event featuring the U.S. Marine Corps Band, Honor Guard, Color Guard and the annual wreath–laying ceremony at the Madison Family Cemetery. Free, 1:30pm.
Dominion’s win: Bills reduce refunds, thwart SCC regulation
It was a bill that had its own meme. “When Dominion writes the law: We pay twice. They get richer,” said a post that swept the web with the hashtags #HB1558 #KILLTHEBILL and #STOPTHESCAM before the House of Delegates voted to pass the bill 63-35 on February 13. The bill was a response to the
Arts Pick: MerleFest on the Road
Thursday 2/22 MerleFest on the Road gives added exposure to the players at (the late) Doc Watson’s popular Americana music festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Chicago’s soulful five-piece The Way Down Wanderers, laidback Nashville bluegrass act The Barefoot Movement, and seasoned folk
Album reviews: Girlpool, Say Sue Me, Novella and Sloan Peterson
Girlpool Powerplant (Anti-) Philadelphia-by-way-of-California duo Girlpool released Powerplant in May, and it was probably a great summer heartbreak album, all intertwining guitars and fragile voices. Opener “123” comes in like a lamb and revs up to lion level at the chorus—but it’s a sweet,
Album reviews: Jackie Shane, Tough Age, King Khan and Luna
Jackie Shane Any Other Way (Numero Group) Any Other Way is an incredible soundtrack with a riveting story. Jackie Shane was assigned male at birth in 1940 Nashville, identified as female as a teenager, blew minds as a singer/stand-up drummer in various bands, moved to Toronto at the turn of the
Album reviews: Downtown Boys, The Blow, Frankie Rose, Swale and Jack Cooper
Downtown Boys Cost of Living (Sub Pop) “A Wall,” the opening track on Cost of Living, winds up like it could be a punk Springsteen cover—then vocalist Victoria Ruiz bursts through with the righteous, insistent bellow of Dog Faced Hermans’ Marion Coutts or holy Poly Styrene. Downtown Boys calls
The kids are alt-right: Your guide to the new crop of white nationalists
First the Loyal White Knights of the KKK July 8 and now the Unite the Right rally August 12. Charlottesville has become quite the magnet for white nationalists since City Council voted in April to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee and rename two Confederate general-monikered parks. Oh,
Sister cities, brotherly love
Little more than 40 years ago, former Charlottesville mayor Nancy O’Brien received an unexpected letter. Sent from Poggio a Caiano, a tiny, two-square-mile municipality in the Italian province of Prato, the epistle recounted the tale of a very special—and very old—friendship. “We were preparing
Grave concern: Local group preserves historic black cemetery
A single pink rose lies at a diagonal across the quartz headstone that has become two-toned with age in the last 125 years. The rose covers part of the inscription on Carrie Brown’s headstone, which is different from others from that time period. The Buckner family’s clustering of graves, which
Judge considers Bellamy’s attorney fees
One thing Judge Richard Moore and Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy’s attorney agreed upon: “If it was possible under the law and there was one person who should pay on this meritless claim, it would be Jason Kessler,” said Pam Starsia, who represented Bellamy when Kessler petitioned to