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SATURDAY 5/1
With the announcement of its 2021 season, Festy takes a big leap forward by staying seated. Instead of the multi-day jam-out camp-out that’s fueled past Festys, this year’s event sticks with its COVID-inspired model of single shows (in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) and VIP-style pod seating. Well suited to the new vibe is North Carolina’s Mipso, with its acoustic-driven dark hollar pop and graceful harmonies derived from traditional folk. Livestream option, $10. Pods, $120-300, 7pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. thefesty.com.
SATURDAY 5/1
JOURNEY BY FOOT
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
BEGINNING 4/27
TAKE A LISTEN
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Ben Benson records his dialogue for The Lovers, Reversed.
With a pivot to podcasts, UVA Drama’s New Works Festival is all ears this year. The fifth annual student-run fest offers five short audio pieces (including one musical), which will be streamed on WTJU. Faculty mentors Dave Dalton and Doug Grissom realized audio dramas were a creative solution to replace the currently paused live theater experience, but the logistics involved lots of coordination. “Strategy and The Lovers, Reversed, for example, both take place with a limited cast in one location, so a lot of the conflict is resolved in dialogue,” says Dalton. “FUNeral and Half-hour Ride North, by contrast, initially had a lot of visual elements built into the scripts.” Free, times vary. new-works-festival.pinecast.co.
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Keith Lee now calls central Virginia home, but his teaching and choreography work began at NewYork’s storied High School of Performing Arts, and was followed by decades of dance artistry everywhere from the American Ballet Theatre to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As artist laureate, resident choreographer, and director of diversity and inclusion at the Charlottesville Ballet, he offers local access to the world premiere of his newest piece, And the VIII Journeyed. The virtual program includes a screening of a mini documentary that celebrates Lee and his career, as well as a panel discussion with others in the film. Free, 2pm. charlottesvilleballet.org.
Amiri Baraka’s 1964 play The Slave takes place during a race war and ends with a deadly house collapse. As final as that sounds, local playwright and vocalist Ti Ames (right) continues the story: See About the Girls is set 14 years later, and imagines that Walker Vessel’s biracial daughters survived the house collapse. Now young adults living in the aftermath of the war, they grapple with their father’s past, as the world around them once again begins to crack at its foundation. $20, 7:30pm (streaming). jeffschoolheritagecenter.org.
April 28 – May 4, 2021 c-ville.com
BEGINNING 5/1
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