Arts

Tickets are $10 adult, $9 with a film buff card, and $8 youth.

Go online: www.kingstheatre.ca

Rawlins Cross in Annapolis Royal

One of Canada’s most accomplished and beloved Celtic bands, Rawlins Cross, performs at King’s Theatre in Annapolis Royal on May 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Rawlins Cross was formed in St. John’s in the late 1980s by songwriting brothers Dave Panting (guitar and mandolin) and Geoff Panting (keyboards and accordion) and Ian Mckinnon (highland pipes and tin whistle). Since then, Rawlins Cross has been at the vanguard of the fusion of Celtic traditional music with the rhythms of rock, pop and world beat music.

Rawlins Cross rekindled their magic with their six-track EP, Rock Steady, released in December 2017 through Groundswell Music. This collection of new songs along with a string of successful festival performances, has added some spring to the step of this venerable East Coast act.

Tickets are $36, $32 for members, and $12 for youth.

Go online: www.kingstheatre.ca

Murder Weapon at Centrestage Theatre

A mystery to challenge any armchair detective comes to Centrestage Theatre.

When Chief Constable Bligh accompanies her friend, Diane Tulliver, home to Dysart Hall after a night at the choral society, they arrive to a horrifying scene. Diane’s husband, Paul, has been shot dead and ex-convict, Charley Mirren, is standing over him bearing a gun. Open and shut

case, you say? Perhaps not. Murder Weapon by Brian Clements will certainly appeal to the detective in everyone.

The remaining dates are May 18 and 19. Front of House opens at 6:45 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. Call 902-678-8040 for reservations.

Go online: www.centrestagetheatre.ca

Botanical art show at Irving centre

Members of the Botanical Artists of Nova Scotia Association will be taking part in a worldwide botanical art show with its exhibit Nova Scotia Native Flora in Art that opens May 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the foyer of the K.C. Irving Environmental Sciences Centre and Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens, Wolfville.

The show continues daily until June 1 and will be relocated to the Acadia Art Gallery annex later in June. Nova Scotia Native Flora in Art is a regional show of members’ work of the Botanical Artists of Nova Scotia Association. It will feature Nova Scotia indigenous plants in small format 12” x 12” works.

The show represents Nova Scotia as one of five regional exhibitions being held across Canada as part of Art of the Plant botanical art exhibition being held in Ottawa. The Canadian national show will officially open on May 22 at the Stonewall Gallery, Canadian Museum Of Nature, Ottawa. https://artoftheplant.com .

The regional national shows are part of a simultaneous worldwide art exhibition opening around the world on May 18. BANSA invites people to take part in Botanical Art Worldwide-linking People with Plants through Botanical Art.

This is a global initiative uniting botanical art organizations and cultural institutions on six continents. Worldwide Day of Botanical Art is May 18 and celebrates the diversity of plant life on earth.

The national exhibitions can be viewed online at www.botanicalartworlwide.info

Children of Eden at Festival Theatre

Music and colour fill the air as the St. Joseph’s Stage Prophets present Children of Eden in Wolfville. Stage Prophets 16th production brings this family-friendly storyline to life with universal themes and catchy music that has been performed by thousands of schools and theatre groups.

Children of Eden is a touching musical about parents and children. The show focuses on the challenges of making choices, forgiveness, letting go and the obvious good and evil that live within all of us. It’s an inspiring story through music, costumes, acting and magnificent life- sized animal puppets. The production features cast from the Annapolis Valley and Halifax, many whom are returning to the stage from last year’s production of “Anne & Gilbert”

There will be six performances of Children of Eden taking place from May 17-20 at Festival Theatre in Wolfville. Nightly performances start at 7 p.m., with 1:30 p.m. matinees on May 19 and 20. Tickets are $20 and available at the following locations:

-- Occasions Gifts and Décor, Kentville

-- Box of Delights, Wolfville -- Acadia Box Office – 902-542-5500

Book about Nova Scotia’s poor

Brenda Thompson’s new book, A Wholesome Horror – Poor Houses in Nova Scotia will be launched at the end of this month in Annapolis Royal.

A Wholesome Horror, published by SSP Publications, provides an overview of how poor people in Nova Scotia are treated, and shares the evolution of private and government-subsidized poor houses, noting that only one of these 32 sites remain – and is now an apartment building.

A Wholesome Horror will be launched in Annapolis Royal on May 20 at Sissaboo coffee shop, with books available at Indigo and Chapters as well as online at http://sspub.ca/book-a-wholesome-horror.html .

Blackfly Music Festival in Annapolis Royal

The Port Royal Legion in Annapolis Royal will hold its 10th annual celebration of the perennial pest, the black fly, May 19 from 1 to 10 p.m. or later. The festival always draws lots of great local acts all day long for only a $7 cover for the whole day.

There’s a barbecue available from 12 to 7 p.m. Check the Legion Facebook page for updated information.

Uncommon Art activities

While the official opening is not until June 16, there are still things to look for from Uncommon Common Art. Starting this week, the artists will be making and installing all kinds of wondrous creations. Keep an eye on the Facebook page and website as art blooms in Kings County along with the trees and flowers.

If you are anxious to get started with your public art experience, join UCA/VANS artist in residence, Alex Mann, for a free workshop at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens on May 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Art of Native Plants talk topic

Artist Twila Robar-decoste will speak about the Art of Native Plants at the Kings County Museum annual general meeting May 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kings County Museum Courtroom (upstairs), 37 Cornwallis St., Kentville. A freewill offering will be accepted.

Robar-decoste is a self-taught artist and illustrator living and working in the Annapolis Valley. She was elected to the Society Of Canadian Artists in 2009 and is currently president of the Botanical Artists of Nova Scotia Association.

She will be giving a brief history of botanical art and the renewed interest in plants and art worldwide. In May 2018, more than 20 countries will be linking people to plants through botanical art, she said, “we are part of it, and there is interesting news to share.”

Go online: www.kingscountymuseum.ca

Kentville’s Hardware Gallery open

Until May 30 at Hardware Gallery in Kentville, Terry Drahos will present her body of work inspired by architecture. She uses bold colors and shapes reminiscent of both rural and urban constructions rendered into abstraction.

Hardware Gallery is run by the Kentville Art Gallery Society, a nonprofit society established in 2017 with the mission to offer cultural experiences in downtown Kentville and provide exposure to contemporary and historical aesthetic practices.

Go online: Find Hardware Gallery at www.hardwaregallery.ca or on Facebook. Send arts news to lawrence.powell@ annapolisspectator.ca