ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

TheatreSquared's New Play Festival in Fayetteville, Bentonville showcases works in progress

Williamson Branch — (from left) Debbie, Caroline, Kevin, Kadence and Melody Williamson — performs for a Bluegrass Monday show in Paragould.
Williamson Branch — (from left) Debbie, Caroline, Kevin, Kadence and Melody Williamson — performs for a Bluegrass Monday show in Paragould.

TheatreSquared presents five plays in various forms of completion for its 11th annual Arkansas New Play Festival, Friday-Saturday in Fayetteville and April 5-7 in Bentonville.

Teams including playwrights, directors, dramaturgs and professional casts will develop each project; four will receive staged reading performances in Bentonville and in Fayetteville (except as noted, tickets are $10):

Ain't I a Woman by Na'Tosha De'Von, a one-woman show examining "the woes and wonders encountered by girls on the journey to womanhood, as seen through the eyes of the playwright and performer," according to a news release, 11 a.m. Saturday, Great Hall at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville; 2 p.m. April 6 at TheatreSquared's performance space, Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios, 505 W. Spring St., Fayetteville.

Carlo at the Wedding by Bryna Turner, inspired by Dorothy Baker's novella Cassandra at the Wedding, about a woman attending an ex's wedding, 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Crystal Bridges, 7:20 p.m. April 5 at TheatreSquared.

He Did It by Rachel Lynett, in which three budding filmmakers' pending green light from a major production company is at risk because one of them has been recently accused of violent crimes and the other two know he did it, 6:30 p.m. Friday at Crystal Bridges, 5 p.m. April 6 at TheatreSquared.

Teen Dad by Adrienne Dawes, in which "a precocious emo-goth teenager orchestrates a surprise reunion for her mother and birth father with the help of her mom's fiance/healer," 3:30 p.m. April 7 at TheatreSquared.

Blanket Statements, a new work by Northwest Arkansas' LatinX Theatre Project, will receive a staged reading at 2 p.m. Saturday at Crystal Bridges and a full staging at 8 p.m. April 6 and 1 p.m. April 7 at TheatreSquared. The project involves a significant revision and expansion of an earlier, shorter script initially developed in 2018. Funding for the new collaboration comes from the Walton Family Foundation. Tickets are $10.

Concurrent with the festival but with capstone performances planned for August is a developmental workshop for R&J: Damascus, adapted and directed by Kholoud Sawaf. Support for the three-year project comes from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

The ninth annual Arkansas Young Playwrights' Showcase, one-act scripts by students from across the state, will receive public readings at 11 a.m. April 6 at TheatreSquared. Admission is free.

Festival passes are $50; a limited number of "30 Under 30" passes are available for patrons under age 30. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit playarkansas.com.

Bluegrass Monday

Nashville, Tenn.-based family bluegrass band Williamson Branch — father Kevin Williamson, mother Debbie Williamson and daughters Melody, 20; Kadence, 16; and Caroline, 10, plus Anthony Howell on banjo, mandolin and guitar — performs at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould, part of Jonesboro public radio station KASU-FM's Bluegrass Monday concert series. The station will literally "pass the hat" to pay the musicians; suggested donation is $5. Call (870) 972-2367, email [email protected] or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.

Artist Louise Mandumbwa hosts a discussion and presentation of her work Monday at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.
Artist Louise Mandumbwa hosts a discussion and presentation of her work Monday at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.

'Big Rock' artist

Artist Louise Mandumbwa, a University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College alumna, will host a discussion and presentation of her work at 12:15 p.m. Monday in the Performing Arts Studio, Center for Humanities and Arts on the college's main campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. It's part of the college's Big Rock on the Map series; admission is free. Mandumbwa is in her fourth year studying painting in the bachelor of fine arts program at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Email [email protected].

Cemetery sessions

The Downtown Dames will open their third-Saturday 2019 Mount Holly Garden Series of talks and demonstrations with Ronnie Palmer of the Arkansas chapter of the Azalea Society of America, discussing "Azalea ... the Queen of Spring," 9 a.m. April 20 at Mount Holly Cemetery, 1200 Broadway, Little Rock.

The rest of the lineup (all talks, 9 a.m. at Mount Holly, April through October):

• May 18: Master Gardeners Margo Rowe and Pat Luzzi offer "A Spring Chocolate Tasting: History and Trends in Chocolate Making."

• June 15: Mark Gibson of Little Rock's Green Thumb Water Garden Center covers "Japanese Koi ... Exotic Fish from an Exotic Land." (Gibson will also sell locally grown, organic blueberries and blackberries.)

• July 20: Cindy Strauss, a Pulaski County Master Gardener, presents "The Late Blooming Rose Gardener."

• Aug. 17: Susan Rose (Central Arkansas Iris Society, American Daffodil Society, Pulaski County Master Gardeners) provides money-saving tips in "Gardening on a Shoestring."

• Sept. 21: Governor's Mansion horticulturist Holly Wyman discusses "Culinary Herbs, How to Choose, Grow, and Use!"

• Oct. 19: Theo Witsell, ecologist and botanist with the state Department of Natural Heritage: "Following Thomas Nuttall: 200 Years Later." (Nuttall was an English botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841 and who reintroduced plants that had been identified on Lewis and Clark's expedition through western North America for which the samples had been lost or destroyed.)

Admission is by suggested $5 donation; attendees should provide their own lawn chairs and the Downtown Dames will provide refreshments and door prizes. Proceeds benefit projects at the cemetery. Call (501) 372-3372.

Ballet camps

Ballet Arkansas is offering three summer dance camps for dancers age 5-21:

• The annual Summer Intensive program, for dancers age 10-12, with sessions 9 a.m.-4 p.m. July 22-26 and July 29-Aug. 2 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, culminating in a Friday-afternoon showcase performance. Participants must have at least three years of dance training; dancers 13 and older must have been enrolled in a Pointe class. By audition only; visit balletarkansas.org/summer-intensive for information on how to submit a video audition. There is a $20 audition fee; cost is $400 for one week, $725 for both weeks. Housing options are available.

• Junior Intensive, for dancers 8-10, 9 a.m.-noon, June 17-21, Ballet Arkansas studios, 520 Main St., Little Rock, featuring classes in ballet technique, jazz, contemporary and choreography, culminating in a showcase performance. No audition required; tuition is $150 with a $100 deposit. Register by April 30 at balletarkansas.org/junior-intensive.

• Story Time Dance Camp, ages 5-8, 9-11:30 a.m. June 24-28, Ballet Arkansas studios, focusing on stories and movements of classical ballet. No audition required. Total cost is $175, of which $100 is a reservation deposit; bring a friend and save $25. Visit balletarkansas.org/story-time-dance-camp.

Style on 03/24/2019

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