Tag Archives: Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre

Arkansas Literary Festival This Weekend!

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litfestlogoThe Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, has expanded to include over 90 authors in many locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus, other venues in the River Markets and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet the authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Festival authors include:

Salma Abdelnour, David Abrams, Mary Stewart Atwell, Beth Ayer, Jenni B. Baker, Jan Barry, Carolyn Briggs, Kevin Brockmeier, Sam Calvin Brown, Oliver Burkeman, Mary Bucci Bush, Drew Cameron, Raquel Cepeda, Da Chen, Joseph Crespino, James Daily, Lela Davidson, Edmond Davis, Sylvia Day, James W. Erwin, Richard Ford, Ben Fountain, Tim Gallagher, Tim Gallagher, Paula J. Giddings, Kay Collett Goss, Jessica B. Harris, Ruth Hawkins, Roger D. Hodge, Ty Jaeger, Jay Jennings, Ben Katchor, Janis F. Kearney, Jeannette Keith, Brian and Terri Kinder, Steve Kistulentz, Christi Shannon Kline, Jon Krampner, Travis Langley, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Dorothy R. Leavell, Domingo Martinez, Ayana Mathis, Carla Killough McClafferty, Rosetta Miller-Perry, Lydia Millet, Pat Mora, Linda Murphy, Sara Nesson, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, Harry Ostrer, Darcy Pattison, Lori Perkins, Leonard Pitts Jr., Garry Craig Powell, Padgett Powell, Joe Queenan, Karen Russell, Eric Rutkow, Courtney Miller Santo, Rosie Schaap, Martha Silano, Heather Sutherlin, Steve Teske, Chuck Thompson, Charles Todd, Caroline Todd, Duncan Tonatiuh, GB Tran, Dennis Vannatta, Frank X Walker, John Corey Whaley, Steve Wiegenstein, David Wesley Williams, Johnathon Williams, Rita Williams-Garcia, Christian Wiman, Jan Wolfe, Ron Wolfe, C.D. Wright, Steve Yates

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, James Beard Foundation Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Newbery Honor, National Book Critics Circle Award, a Coretta Scott King Honor, PEN/O.Henry Prize; Pushcart Prize; Barnes and Noble Discover Prize for Fiction, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival Thumbs Up Award, Pure Belpré Award, International Griffin Prize for Poetry, International Documentary Association Best Documentary Short, Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and several National Book Award Finalists. Many of the presenters’ works have been translated into multiple languages and made into films.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, food, wine, and spirits workshops, films, a play, and Spoken Word LIVE!, a city-wide poetry competition. Panels and workshops will feature topics such as fiction, memoir, screenwriting, super hero psychology & law, Warrior Writers Project, erotica, and more.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a book fiesta, the artmobile, plays, outdoor activities, and Super Hero Activity Afternoon. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the new Children’s Library, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, teens can meet authors and illustrators, participate in ComiCALS, activities and panels such as a cosplay contest, video game tournament, a writing workshop, and zombie survival activities.

Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by several authors for Pulaski county elementary, middle, and senior high schools and area colleges.

Support for the Literary Festival is provided by sponsors including Central Arkansas Library System; Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL); Department of Arkansas Heritage; Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; Regions; ProSmartPrinting; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Historic Arkansas Museum; Clinton Presidential Center; Hendrix-Murphy Foundation; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Arkansas Times; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Henderson State University; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature & Language; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Hendrix College; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pulaski Technical College; Jewish Federation of Arkansas; Arkansas Arts Center; Power 92 Jams; Central High School National Historic Site; National Park Service; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; Capital Hotel; Little Rock Film Festival; and LuLav. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 19 at 8pm on the fifth floor of the CALS main library building.  Tickets are available at the door.

The Arkansas Literary Festival is a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Festival’s mission is to encourage the development of a more literate populace. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy with planning the Festival. Jay Jennings is the 2013 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

LANTERNS! this weekend at Wildwood

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LANTERNS! Festival, Arkansas’ only deep-winter outdoor festival, will light up the night at Wildwood Park for a fifth year of family fun and illuminating entertainment! Travel paved paths illuminated with fire pits and thousands of luminaria to enjoy unique entertainment, authentic food and beverages for all ages at eight cultural vistas from around the globe!

LANTERNS! runs from 6pm to 10pm on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23.  On Sunday, February 24 it runs from 6pm to 9pm.

Tickets are available at the gate during festival days:
$10 for Adults
$5 for Children (6-12 years old)
FREE for Children 5 and UnderSHUTTLE service will be provided to and from Kroger Marketplace at Chenal Parkway.This year’s cultural vistas include:

Asia – Asian New Year festivals inspire LANTERNS! Hosted by Northington Investment Group, this vista’s serene Asian Woodland Garden & Pavilion are bedecked with paper lanterns and a traditional Chinese dragon. Sushi rolls, warming teas and sips of Sake beckon patrons to immerse themselves in demonstrations and traditions of Asian culture where families explore Eastern artistic traditions. Discover why it’s the Year of the Snake!

Bavaria – Visit the Park’s beer garden and polka to the sounds of The Itinerant Locals! This lively duo will have you dancing yourself into a pretzel under the full moon. Refresh your palate with German fare beneath the Maibaum and enjoy a lakeside feast for the eyes in the winter woodlands.

The Caribbean Warm up next to the fire pits along the shoreline, enjoy a show by the Park’s famed pirates (Armadillo Rodeo Improv Troupe), walk the plank, and seek your treasure in Pirates Cove.

Greece Travel back in time to the mythical land of ancient Greece where you’ll be greeted by living statues. Don your laurel wreath and help reconstruct ancient glory with vista hostess Christen Bufford and her team from Little Rock Central High School. Try a taste of lighter fare, maybe some Ouzo.

New Orleans Hot jazz continues all night indoors on Bourbon Street, where guests will delight in Cajun fare, signature beverages, and a fortune-telling Voodoo Queen! Thoma Thoma hosts our high-spirited Café du Monde while the kings & queens of this party feast on beignets!

Rio de Janeiro Café Bossa Nova, Vivian Norman and Patti Stanley are teaming up to take you on an adventure to colorful South America! Learn to Samba the night away while dining on exquisite authentic cuisine and sipping on caipirinhas.

Shakespeare’s England Hosted by Elizabeth and Tom Small with performances by the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, this vista transports you to Elizabethan England, complete with street urchins, fresh-roasted turkey legs, ale and kidfriendly Shakesbeer.

Venice The Park’s iconic Gazebo awaits sailors and ladies with a monumental selection of sweet treats! Commedia dell Arte performances will have you silly with glee! Launch wishing lanterns at the gazebo; your hopes and dreams will glow bright throughout this enchanting evening!

Ark Shakes’ TWELFTH NIGHT at Wildwood

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The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night journeys not to Illyria but the Little Rock this weekend.

After being performed at Hendrix College the first two weeks of its run, the production is being performed at Wildwood Park for the Arts this weekend.  Performances continue tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow at 7:30pm.

Twelfth Night is directed by Rebekah Scallet, the producing artistic director of Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre.   The cast includes Nisi Sturgis, Chad Bradford, Kevin Browne, Ron Thomas, Jordan Coughtry, Heather Dupree, Tim Sailer and Curtis Jackson. Miss Sturgis and Messrs. Browne and Coughtry appear courtesy of Actors Equity Association.

Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre summarizes Twelfth Night thusly:

After a tragic shipwreck, Viola washes up on shore on the unknown island of Illyria.  Believing her brother to be lost, she disguises herself as a boy in order to seek shelter as a servant to the Duke Orsino.  Her plans quickly go awry, however, when she falls in love with the Duke, who is already in love with the Countess Olivia, who falls in love with Viola, whom she thinks is a boy.   Mistaken identities, missed signals, and mischievous mayhem abound in one of the Bard’s most romantic and delightful comedies.

Shakespeare on Trial at Clinton School

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The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strained – The Merchant of Venice

For centuries, controversy has raged over whether William Shakespeare is the true author of the plays attributed to him. Was it Shakespeare himself, or some nobleman such as the Earl of Oxford, merely using Shakespeare as his front man?

The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre in conjunction with Clinton School for Public Service explores this controversy in an imaginative and entertaining format in a program at Sturgis Hall tonight at 6pm.

Tonight’s program sets out to answer these questions by giving Shakespeare himself an opportunity to bring suit in front of U.S. Judge Joe Volpe, with the help of top Arkansas attorneys serving as the prosecution and defense.

Other Elizabethan luminaries may make appearances as witnesses to add their two cents as AST celebrates Shakespeare’s (traditionally held) birthday in the courtroom. Birthday cake will be provided, whether or not Shakespeare wins his case.

Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.

Wildwood’s LANTERNS continues tonight

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LANTERNS!, Arkansas’ only deep-winter outdoor festival, illuminates Little Rock for a fourth year of family fun and glowing entertainment. Admission includes live entertainment, family activities and a cultural experience like no other in Central Arkansas!  The event concludes tonight from 6pm to 10pm.

LANTERNS! celebrates the first full moon of the lunar year with a variety of indoor and outdoor entertainment. Visitors will take a mystical stroll along paved pathways lit by fire pits and luminaries into Wildwood’s winter woodlands to visit eight cultures around the globe.

From Asia to the Moon, LANTERNS!, is a magical evening designed to delight children and adults alike. This year’s vistas include:

  • China: the Lunar New Year celebrations in this country are the inspiration for the entire festival!
  • Paris: featuring FREE performances of dance (with Ballet Arkansas!), french art song and more on stage in the Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre, as well as dessert crepes and champagne for purchase in the lobbies
  • Rio de Janeiro: featuring delicious edibles for purchase from Cafe Bossa Nova, live Bossa Nova music and dancing!
  • India: featuring tasty delights for purchase from Star of India Restaurant and fabulous mango smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
  • Shakespeare’s England: featuring fabulous performances by the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival and food for purchase, including Lear’s (Turkey) Legs!
  • Venice: featuring wishing lanterns and splendid desserts for purchase!
  • American Baseball: featuring giveaways from the Arkansas Travelers, baseball games on the radio and hot dogs for purchase from Little Rock favorite Hot Dog Mike!
  • and even The Moon!

General Admission:
$10.00 for adults
$5.00 for children ages 6 to 12
FREE for children ages 5 and under

Member Pricing:
$5.00 for adults
FREE for children 12 and under
Find out More about Membership!

Shakespeare’s South

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In partnership with the Arkansas Shakespeare Theater, acclaimed writers Graham Gordy, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Warwick Sabin will bring Shakespeare to the South for a very special Tales from the South on Tuesday evening, January 17, 2012, with stories centered around finding themselves, others, and even the South in the Bard. The live taping of the radio series will be at Starving Artist Café in the Argenta Arts District, Downtown North Little Rock. Live music by The Salty Dogs.

Doors open at 5pm, dinner is served 5pm-6:30pm and the show starts at 7pm. Tickets are $5 for the show, plus the cost of dinner. Seating is very limited. Tickets can be purchased online at www.talesfromthesouth.com.

“Tales from the South” is recorded on Tuesdays during “Dinner and a Show” at Starving Artist Café. The show airs locally on KUAR Thursdays at 7pm and is syndicated by World Radio Network, a satellite radio distribution service, available to more than 130 million listeners worldwide. Shows are also distributed nationwide to multiple public radio stations by PRX (Public Radio Exchange). Podcasts are available on ITunes, the NPR website, the KUAR website, the PRX website, and the “Tales from the South” website.

“Tales from the South” is presented by the Argenta Arts Foundation, with AY Magazine as the official media sponsor, publishing a story each month in the magazine. Additional support provided by William F. Laman Public Library, the North Little Rock Visitor’s Bureau and The Oxford American Magazine.