Arts& culture
A look at upcoming arts and d entertainment events in the Annapolis Valley:
Geoff Butler and Devopro Video
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts elected member Geoff Butler has begun a series of videos in collaboration with Devopro Video. These six videos explore Butler’s writings and paintings over the decades.
The first video tackles his artist statement that has been written in verse, then each following video will feature Butler reading from his published works mixed with his unique imagery from the featured collection.
“The Offbeat Artist” blends the artist’s paintings, writing, and life story into a series of threeminute videos. In total, there will be six videos available on Butler’s official Facebook page. The series will also be translated into Chinese for mainland distribution in late summer of this year.
Butler’s work is a mixture of realism and fantasy that depicts a wide range of subject matter and often uses humour to comment on the human condition. From the 1980s, he has dealt with topics such as war, spirituality,
Mrs. Boyle (Carole Ball), mysterious Miss Paravicini (Lizon Richard), daunting Miss Casewell (Lilly Ashdown) and stiff upper- globalization, gl human rights, and environmentalism.
You can find Butler on Facebook by searching GranvilleGeoff (Geoff Butler Art Studio) or learn more about his art and writings: https:// geoffbutlerartist. weebly.com
Go online: The teaser trailer is currently on Facebook at https:// www. facebook. com/ GranvilleGeoff/ videos/162605254390116/
Black Umfolosi at King’s Theatre
Black Umfolosi, the worldfamous acappella and dance group, is on a rare North American tour and makes a stop in Annapolis Royal on March 4 at 2 p.m. to perform at King’s Theatre.
Black Umfolosi was formed in 1982 by school friends in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. They named themselves after the Umfolozi Omnyama River in South Africa, where their ancestors can be traced. For more than 30 years, they have been thrilling audiences worldwide spectacular songs and dances.
For tickets or for more information go to www.kingstheatre. ca or call 902-532-7704.
Fundy Cinema Film Screenings
Fundy Cinema screens Lady Bird March 4 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
An ambitious, bright and precocious high school senior longs to break free of life in suburban Sacramento in Greta Gerwig’s Oscar- nominated directorial debut, a deeply personal and immensely relatable look at the relationships that shape us and the beliefs that define us.
Then, Fundy Cinema screens Call Me By Your Name March 7 at 7 p.m. In the sun-drenched setting of northern Italy, two young men discover the heady beauty of awakening desire in Luca Guadagnino’s Oscar-nominated tale of first love, which transcends the same-sex narrative to offer a universal coming-of-age story reflecting on human nature and family.
All shows are screened at the Al Whittle Theatre, 450 Main St., Wolfville. Tickets are $9 for each show and are available 30 minutes before screening.
Go online: fundycinema. ca or facebook.com/Fundy-Cinema-1692183731024542
Contact 902-542-1050
Author Reading at Box of Delights
Author David A. Wimsett will be reading from his novel, Beyond the Shallow Bank, on March 4 at 7 p.m. at Box of Delights Bookshop on Main Street in Wolfville.
Beyond the Shallow Bank is the story of a fictional artist named Margaret Talbot who has fought harassment, low pay, and assault to enter the male- dominated world of publishing in 1901. Margaret loses a child in stillbirth and nearly dies herself. Her husband, John, who had been affectionate and supportive of Margaret’s illustrations and painting, turns cold and withdraws all physical and emotional contact. He forbids Margaret to paint, saying she must work exclusively on
the magazine illustrations. She defies him and paints in secret, but cannot express the idea she struggles to express and questions if she really is an artist.
The Talbots travel to a Nova Scotia fishing village to write an article where an older woman becomes a friend and confidant while another accuses Margaret of being a witch. With the influences of those and other villagers, and her own self-determination, Margaret strives to discover who she is and what she truly wants.
Apocalyptic Quartet at Acadia
Performed for the first time some 77 years ago in a prisonerof-war camp near Breslau, Germany, the quartet for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano — the instruments and players available in the camp to French composer, and prisoner, Olivier Messiaen — Quartet for the End of Time — will be heard on the Acadia campus on March 11, at 2 p.m. in the Garden Room of the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre.
This is the first program of 2018 in the Sunday Music in the Garden Room series, and is a rare opportunity to experience, live, Messiaen’s overpowering Quartet for the End of Time. It will be performed by Gillian Smith (violin), Eileen Walsh (clarinet), Benjamin Marmen (cello), and Simon Docking ( piano). The quartet has been described by American music critic Alex Ross as “the most ethereally beautiful music of the 20th century.” Admission is free.
Go online: https://artsacadia. acadiau. ca/ Sunday_ Music_ in_ the_Garden_Room.html
Weekly Music Night
It’s Friday night so that means it’s Music Night at Port Royal Legion in Annapolis Royal where they will host Hourglass March 2 from 8 to 10 p.m. or later.
Hourglass has an extensive set list including ‘50s to ‘80s rock, folk, blues, and Celtic. Join in on some great music weekly with no cover charge. Open to the public and everyone is welcome.
Rumors at Centre Stage
CentreStage Theatre takes the edge off the winter blahs with Neil Simon’s farce Rumors.
At a large, tastefully appointed Sneden’s Landing townhouse, the deputy mayor of New York City has shot himself on the night of his 10th wedding anniversary party. Though only a flesh wound, the four couples invited experience a severe attack of farcical ‘ cover-up’.
Lawyer Ken and his wife Chris arrive to find the deputy mayor bleeding in another room and no sign of his wife. They must get the “story” straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and miscommunications mount, the evening spins off into hilarity... and that’s even before the cops arrive!
Remaining shows are March 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24, with doors opening for the evening performances at 6:45 p.m. Matinees will be held March 11, 18 and 25, with doors opening at 1:15 p.m.
Tickets are: adults $15; seniors/students $12; children age 12 and under, $5. CentreStage takes cash or cheques only. Reservations are held until 15 minutes before show time.
Please note there is a coarse language advisory for this show.
Call 902-678-8040 for reservations.
Go online: www.centrestagetheatre.ca
Cinderella! Cinderella!
Cinderella! Cinderella! by Edith Weiss is the first family show of 2018 and it is the first show in the newly renovated Upper Performance Centre at Centre Stage Theatre in Kentville.
This unique and hilarious adaptation has a new twist to the classic story of Cinderella and it’s bringing in the crowds.