Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023
2023 NC Stage Co. Community Tour Auditions
Apr 18 all-day
online w/ NC Stage Co,

Performances are coordinated with and performed for audiences in non-traditional spaces such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, community centers, low income senior centers and locations throughout rural Western North Carolina.  For schools, the Community Tour offers student workshops with teaching artists from the Ensemble.

The Community Tour also includes a series of ticketed performances for audiences at NC Stage.  Performances at NC Stage are staged in an intimate setting with all the lights on so our audiences may enjoy the performances as it is experienced at each tour location.

Cinderella Magic Package
Apr 18 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

We are excited to bring this special package to you and your loved ones. It’s super easy!

  1. Pick your show date – June 14, 17, 21, 24 (Evening only)
  2. Choose 2 Adult Seats and 2 Student Seats
  3. At Checkout, discount will be applied

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

Your wish is granted!

TICKETS + INFO

If you have any problems, our Box Office is happy to help!

828.693.0731

Wednesday, April 19, 2023
2023 NC Stage Co. Community Tour Auditions
Apr 19 all-day
online w/ NC Stage Co,

Performances are coordinated with and performed for audiences in non-traditional spaces such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, community centers, low income senior centers and locations throughout rural Western North Carolina.  For schools, the Community Tour offers student workshops with teaching artists from the Ensemble.

The Community Tour also includes a series of ticketed performances for audiences at NC Stage.  Performances at NC Stage are staged in an intimate setting with all the lights on so our audiences may enjoy the performances as it is experienced at each tour location.

Playhouse Jr. Summer Camps Registration Open
Apr 19 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

 

The Education program at Flat Rock Playhouse is undergoing a name change! We are excited to streamline our program and we can’t wait to share the news with you!

Our new name will be Playhouse Jr.!

 

This new name will encompass many things. You might ask….what is Playhouse Jr.?

• Playhouse Jr. is classes and camps for K-12th Graders and Adults.
• Playhouse Jr. is mainstage shows performed by our Playhouse Jr. students and families.
• Playhouse Jr. is our touring company that visits our local schools and is performed by our fall apprentices.
• Playhouse Jr. is a licensing program for our new and exciting Playhouse Jr. touring shows!

Playhouse Jr. means many things and we are excited to share this news with our community!

We are introducing a new software system for our Playhouse Jr. families! This new system will make your life easier! Once you have registered you are in our system for good. That means that once you register all you have to do is access your account to purchase any classes and camps moving forward. No need to register every time!

To register for our new system and to enroll in classes please visit this link: https://app.jackrabbitclass.com/regv2.asp?id=548849

Questions? Please email [email protected]!

Want to register over the phone? No problem! You can call our Education Director, Lauren Hopkins at (828)693-0403 ext. 246 starting Monday March 6!

Read to Puptart!
Apr 19 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Enka-Candler Library

Puptart is a tail wagging robot dog who sits and stays, pants when listening, and responds to someone talking to and petting it. It will not jump up or run away, plus it’s fur free, so no sneezes and runny noses coming your way!

Every Wednesday afternoon, Puptart will be available for reading practice in the children’s picture book room. Help establish a joy of reading and develop early literacy skills. Sign up at the front desk, pick a book and practice reading for up to 15 minutes.

Hybrid | Indigo Field: Marjorie Hudson in conversation with Andrew Lawler
Apr 19 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store.

The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

This event includes a book signing. If you would like a signed book but can’t attend in person, use the order comments field when you order below to request a signed copy and tell us to whom the book should be personalized.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


About Indigo Field

In the rural South, a retired colonel in an upscale retirement community grieves the sudden death of his wife on the tennis court. On the other side of the highway, an elderly Black woman grieves the murder of her niece by a white man. Between them lies an abandoned field where three centuries of crimes are hidden, and only she knows the explosive secrets buried there. When the colonel runs into her car, causing a surprising amount of damage, it sparks a feud that sets loose the spirits in the Field, both benevolent and vengeful. In prose that been called “dazzling” and “mesmerizing,” in the animated voices of trees and birds and people, Southern-voiced storytelling as deeply layered as that of Pat Conroy, Marjorie Hudson lays out the boundaries of a field that contains the soul of the South, and leads us to a day of reckoning.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Marjorie Hudson has served as features editor of National Parks Magazine and written for Garden & GunAmerican Land ForumWildlife in North CarolinaOur State Magazine, and North Carolina Literary Review. She worked as copyediting chief for Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and received an MFA from Warren Wilson College. Her short story collection, Accidental Birds of the Carolinas, first introduced Ambler County and some of the characters in Indigo Field. She lives with her husband, Sam, and feisty small terrier DJ, on a century farm in North Carolina, where she mentors writers and reads poetry to trees.

Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization.  As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew’s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.

Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play
Apr 19 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Whitmire Activity Center

Enrollment is now open for two adult improvisation acting classes offered by Hendersonville Theatre (HT). Classes will be taught by professional improvisation actor and comedian Emily Swindal. Both classes are open to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of experience level.

Improv Level One: Communicate. Collaborate. Play. meets on Wednesdays from April 5 to May 24. Tuition is $180. In the class, students will work at getting comfortable on stage while having fun doing it. Students will learn to have compassion for themselves and their classmates as performers as they learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, they will learn the importance of “yes-and-ing,” heightening the absurdity and raising the stakes. They will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Apr 19 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

“This is a phenomenon.”- New York Magazine, Sara Holdren

All rise for Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is “the most successful American play in Broadway history” (60 Minutes). With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune— has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR).

Emmy Award®-winning actor Richard Thomas will play the role of Atticus Finch in the National Tour.

Thursday, April 20, 2023
2023 NC Stage Co. Community Tour Auditions
Apr 20 all-day
online w/ NC Stage Co,

Performances are coordinated with and performed for audiences in non-traditional spaces such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, community centers, low income senior centers and locations throughout rural Western North Carolina.  For schools, the Community Tour offers student workshops with teaching artists from the Ensemble.

The Community Tour also includes a series of ticketed performances for audiences at NC Stage.  Performances at NC Stage are staged in an intimate setting with all the lights on so our audiences may enjoy the performances as it is experienced at each tour location.

Cinderella Magic Package
Apr 20 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

We are excited to bring this special package to you and your loved ones. It’s super easy!

  1. Pick your show date – June 14, 17, 21, 24 (Evening only)
  2. Choose 2 Adult Seats and 2 Student Seats
  3. At Checkout, discount will be applied

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

Your wish is granted!

TICKETS + INFO

If you have any problems, our Box Office is happy to help!

828.693.0731

Playhouse Jr. Summer Camps Registration Open
Apr 20 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

 

The Education program at Flat Rock Playhouse is undergoing a name change! We are excited to streamline our program and we can’t wait to share the news with you!

Our new name will be Playhouse Jr.!

 

This new name will encompass many things. You might ask….what is Playhouse Jr.?

• Playhouse Jr. is classes and camps for K-12th Graders and Adults.
• Playhouse Jr. is mainstage shows performed by our Playhouse Jr. students and families.
• Playhouse Jr. is our touring company that visits our local schools and is performed by our fall apprentices.
• Playhouse Jr. is a licensing program for our new and exciting Playhouse Jr. touring shows!

Playhouse Jr. means many things and we are excited to share this news with our community!

We are introducing a new software system for our Playhouse Jr. families! This new system will make your life easier! Once you have registered you are in our system for good. That means that once you register all you have to do is access your account to purchase any classes and camps moving forward. No need to register every time!

To register for our new system and to enroll in classes please visit this link: https://app.jackrabbitclass.com/regv2.asp?id=548849

Questions? Please email [email protected]!

Want to register over the phone? No problem! You can call our Education Director, Lauren Hopkins at (828)693-0403 ext. 246 starting Monday March 6!

Flat Rock Book Club
Apr 20 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
The 2nd Act

Please join us at The 2nd Act in Hendersonville, NC for our first monthly book club meeting that strives to read books that create a closer knit and more inclusive community! We will meet virtually and in person monthly to discuss a book, so read the book and then join in the discussion in person or online every third Thursday. All are welcome! At the end of each meeting we will vote on the next book! The virtual club meeting will be in Zoom format and will meet 2.5 hours after the in-person meeting (8:00pm EST). After the meeting there is live acoustic music so stay and enjoy the vibe with your new friends! Put us down on your calendar for every third Third Thursday!

The first book is going to be called Disability Visibility.

Synopsis from the back cover: One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.

From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love. Preview:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51456746-disability-visibility
Message me for the Zoom link to the online meetup. Thanks!

Live Stream | Poets Ed Madden, Kevin McLellan, and Brad Richard
Apr 20 @ 6:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore

This live streamed virtual event is free but registration is required.

Please click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Ed Madden is the author of A pooka in Arkansas (selected for the 2022 Hilary Tham Capital Collection) as well as four other books and four chapbooks of poetry, most recently Ark, a book about his father’s last months in hospice care, and So they can sing, which won the 2016 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize. He is a professor of English and the former director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches Irish literature, queer studies, and creative writing. Ed served as the poet laureate for the City of Columbia, SC, 2015-2022. He is recipient of
an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and artist residencies at the Hambidge Center in Georgia and the Instituto Sacatar in Itaparica, Brazil.

Kevin McLellan is the author of: in other words you/ (selected by Timothy Liu for the 2022 Hilary Tham Capital Collection), Hemispheres (in the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona and other special collections), Ornitheology (2019 Massachusetts Book Awards recipient), [box] (in the Blue Star Collection at Harvard University and other special collections), Tributary, and Round Trip. Kevin makes videos under the name, Duck Hunting with the Grammarian. His video Dick won Best Short Form Short Film at the LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film Festival. It also showed in the Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival, the Tag! Queer Film Festival, the Berlin Short Film Festival, and the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. https://kevmclellan.com/

Brad Richard’s most recent full-length collection is Parasite Kingdom (The Word Works, 2018—
winner of the Tenth Gate Prize). His most recent chapbook is In Place, winner of the 2021 Robin Becker Series Prize from Seven Kitchens Press. He has taught creative writing at the New
Orleans Center for Creative Arts, The Willow School (whose creative writing program he
founded and directed), Louisiana State University, and Tulane University, and for New Orleans
Writers Workshop. Series editor of the Hilary Tham Capital Collection from The Word Works,
he lives, writes, and gardens in New Orleans. More at bradrichard.org.

Snow Blind: Book Discussion
Apr 20 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wedge Brewery at Foundation

This month’s short story, voted on during our last meeting, is from the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Elizabeth Strout. The story is ‘Snow Blind,’ which won the the 2015 O’Henry Prize for short fiction.

A copy of the story can be found here:

https://www.vqronline.org/fiction/snow-blind

Intro to Sketch
Apr 20 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Whitmire Activity Center

Want to know how to write like they do on SNL? Would you like to level up your comedy knowledge? Learn the basics of sketch comedy writing! We’ll talk about the history of sketch, and the differences between the famous sketch and improv schools based in NYC, Chicago, and LA. Want to learn about the crossover of skills practiced in sketch writing and improv? Are you interested in learning some of the differences between British and American humor? Are you curious about the similarities between sketch and satire? (Think: The Onion.) We’ll talk about it! We’ll read a variety of sketch scripts, break them down into parts, and learn the mechanics. We’ll watch a number of sketches together, practice identifying the formula, and specifically labeling what’s funny about them. We’ll also practice idea generation and pitching. Hold onto your hat!

About the Teacher

Emily Swindal lived in New York City for 8 years as an actor and improv comedian and relocated to Hendersonville during the pandemic. Emily has studied and performed improv and sketch comedy writing at NYC’s Magnet Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NY. Emily has performed with an assortment of improv teams. Some of her past instructors include Elana Fishbein, Peter McNerney, Ross Taylor, Michael Lutton, and Nicole Drespel. She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory. Emily can’t wait to meet you.

Common Word Community Read: “Being, Researching, Writing About, and Advocating for Dr. Gilmer” w/ Wiley Cash + Benjamin Gilmer
Apr 20 @ 7:00 pm
UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center in the Manheimer Room.

Join New York Times Bestselling author and UNC Asheville alumnus, Wiley Cash ’00 in conversation with author Benjamin Gilmer on Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center in the Manheimer Room.

This event is part of the Common Word Community Read, curated by Cash. The program brings the UNC Asheville community together to engage in a collective educational experience. Each semester, one book will serve as the focus of numerous virtual and in-person lectures and discussions that will allow participants to delve deeper into the text. Over the course of the academic year, participants will read one book each semester, gaining insights and sharing ideas in a welcoming and respectful environment. Spring 2023’s selection is The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice.

Notorious HBC (History Book Club)
Apr 20 @ 7:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore and Virtual

Notorious HBC (History Book Club)

Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm
Thursday, March 16, 2023 – 7:00pm
Thursday, April 20, 2023 – 7:00pm

 

This club meets in-person and virtually. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected] for more info and instructions! 

Join host and Malaprop’s bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across different periods of history. The club tackles challenging subjects, hence “NOTORIOUS.”  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets at Malaprop’s on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm.

THE PINK UNICORN
Apr 20 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center
Proud Mary Theatre Company is pleased to announce the return of Kelly Davis in our award-winning one-woman show THE PINK UNICORN which will take flight once gain in Spring 2023 for a few select dates.
Best Actor and Best Play winner in the 2020 Carolina Curtain Call Awards, this unforgettable play by Elise Forier Edie – produced Off-Broadway with Tony-winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) – follows Trisha Lee, a Christian widow in a conservative Southern town, whose life and faith is suddenly upended when her 14-year-old daughter Jolene becomes “Jo” and makes national headlines by starting a Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at their high school.
369 Short Play and Monologue Festival
Apr 20 @ 7:30 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

Elektra
Apr 20 @ 7:30 pm
UNCA Campus-Belk Theatre

Directed and adapted by Aaron Snook for the Drama Department from a new translation of Euripedes’ Electra by the Ancient Mediterranean Studies Department, and infused with original Appalachian roots music composed by the Music Department, this production of Elektra aims to spark a conversation around the cycles of violence that inherited hate produces.

Elektra production banner

The Civil War may have ended, but the blood that was spilled sowed the Appalachian soil with loss and grievance.  In the succeeding years, the Conservative cause nurtured those seeds with violence and intimidation, creating an inheritance of hate to be passed down to the younger generation.  In the sleepy mountain town of Mycenae, North Carolina this legacy is tearing at the heart of a young girl named Elektra.  Fatherless at the hands of her mother’s new husband, Elektra awaits her brother’s return and prays for vengeance.

The Magnetic Theatre Presents: Fish
Apr 20 @ 7:30 pm
The Magnetic Theatre

FISH
By Cyndi Williams
Directed by Ashleigh Goff

When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy and the present.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Apr 20 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

“This is a phenomenon.”- New York Magazine, Sara Holdren

All rise for Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is “the most successful American play in Broadway history” (60 Minutes). With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune— has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR).

Emmy Award®-winning actor Richard Thomas will play the role of Atticus Finch in the National Tour.

Friday, April 21, 2023
2023 NC Stage Co. Community Tour Auditions
Apr 21 all-day
online w/ NC Stage Co,

Performances are coordinated with and performed for audiences in non-traditional spaces such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities, community centers, low income senior centers and locations throughout rural Western North Carolina.  For schools, the Community Tour offers student workshops with teaching artists from the Ensemble.

The Community Tour also includes a series of ticketed performances for audiences at NC Stage.  Performances at NC Stage are staged in an intimate setting with all the lights on so our audiences may enjoy the performances as it is experienced at each tour location.

Playhouse Jr. Summer Camps Registration Open
Apr 21 all-day
Flat Rock Playhouse

 

The Education program at Flat Rock Playhouse is undergoing a name change! We are excited to streamline our program and we can’t wait to share the news with you!

Our new name will be Playhouse Jr.!

 

This new name will encompass many things. You might ask….what is Playhouse Jr.?

• Playhouse Jr. is classes and camps for K-12th Graders and Adults.
• Playhouse Jr. is mainstage shows performed by our Playhouse Jr. students and families.
• Playhouse Jr. is our touring company that visits our local schools and is performed by our fall apprentices.
• Playhouse Jr. is a licensing program for our new and exciting Playhouse Jr. touring shows!

Playhouse Jr. means many things and we are excited to share this news with our community!

We are introducing a new software system for our Playhouse Jr. families! This new system will make your life easier! Once you have registered you are in our system for good. That means that once you register all you have to do is access your account to purchase any classes and camps moving forward. No need to register every time!

To register for our new system and to enroll in classes please visit this link: https://app.jackrabbitclass.com/regv2.asp?id=548849

Questions? Please email [email protected]!

Want to register over the phone? No problem! You can call our Education Director, Lauren Hopkins at (828)693-0403 ext. 246 starting Monday March 6!

Juniper Bends Reading Series
Apr 21 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Citizen Vinyl
Join Juniper Bends —  now in its 14th year — at Citizen Vinyl for readings by poets, a shorty story writer, and a musical guest! Enjoy delicious mocktails and cocktails from Session. Bring your literary friends!

Katherine Soniat is a poet, professor, and editor. She teaches in the University of North Carolina at Asheville’s Great Smokies Writers Program and currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Her latest collection, Polishing the Glass Storm, published by Louisiana State University Press Poetry Series, came out in 2022. Bright Stranger was published by Louisiana State University Press Poetry Series in 2016. A Raft, A Boat, A Bridge from Dream Horse Press (2012) was the runner-up for The Orphic Prize.

Melanie McGee Banchi grew up in a series of character-forming historic houses in different parts of the U.S. Starting at age 12, she gathered modest notice on the spelling-bee circuit, won short-story contests in various newspapers, and placed poems and fiction in national print publications, including the grunge-era teen magazine Sassy. After university, she began a career in features journalism in Asheville, North Carolina, where she has lived most of her life.

Alan Mearns, aka Yes the Raven is a poet and musician from Ireland. He began studying classical violin at age five, switching to the guitar at age ten. Moving to the United States in his late teens, he studied classical guitar performance with Douglas James at Appalachian State University (where he held the prestigious Fletcher Scholarship) and with Stanley Yates at Austin Peay State University.

Molly Rice is currently a theatre teacher/director of the Tractor Shed Theatre and editor of the literary magazine “Indian Ink” at St. Stephens High School (SSHS). She is the district coordinator for the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. Molly currently resides in Hickory, North Carolina with her husband Irish poet, Adrian Rice, and their son.

Kevin Evans has been a part of The Poetry Cabaret, Asheville Slam, and most currently Black Diamond Group with Penny Meacham. In 2019 he has had the fortune of hosting his own workshop during WordFest on the topic of Passion and Intention as it relates to the written and spoken word.

369 Short Play and Monologue Festival
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

DIFFERENT STROKES! PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

THREE SIX NINE MONOLOGUE AND SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL features a curated selection of original pieces written by emerging Black Playwrights, primarily from our emerging Black Playwright’s program, A Different Myth. Join us for nine evenings of heart-warming, dramatic, funny, heart-breaking, and provocative short plays and monologues. Three Six Nine features represents 3 weekends, 6 short plays, and 9 monologues. No two weekends will be the same, and neither will you. Join us as we mix and match 12 pieces over the course of 90 minutes on 9 very different evenings.

April 6-8, 2023
April 13-15, 2023
April 20-22, 2023
at 7:30 p.m. each evening

Bright Star
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
Asheville Community Theatre

Music, Book, & Story by Steve Martin; Music, Lyrics, & Story by Edie Brickell

Set in our very own Blue Ridge Mountains, Bright Star tells the story of Alice at two different points in her life: as a young girl in the mountains, and 22 years later as the well-to-do editor of a successful Asheville magazine. A serendipitous encounter inspires Alice to face her past, and a stunning realization changes her life forever. Bright Star is based on the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass album, Love Has Come for You, and centers particularly on the song “Iron Mountain Baby.” Be sure to listen also for the song with our namesake – “Asheville”!

Content Warning: Bright Star contains swearing, language that some may find blasphemous, incidental drinking and smoking, and kidnapping.

 

Accessibility:

All performances: Accessible wheelchair/scooter seating available.

Saturday, May 6, 2023: ASL-Interpreted Performance

Elektra
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
UNCA Campus-Belk Theatre

Directed and adapted by Aaron Snook for the Drama Department from a new translation of Euripedes’ Electra by the Ancient Mediterranean Studies Department, and infused with original Appalachian roots music composed by the Music Department, this production of Elektra aims to spark a conversation around the cycles of violence that inherited hate produces.

Elektra production banner

The Civil War may have ended, but the blood that was spilled sowed the Appalachian soil with loss and grievance.  In the succeeding years, the Conservative cause nurtured those seeds with violence and intimidation, creating an inheritance of hate to be passed down to the younger generation.  In the sleepy mountain town of Mycenae, North Carolina this legacy is tearing at the heart of a young girl named Elektra.  Fatherless at the hands of her mother’s new husband, Elektra awaits her brother’s return and prays for vengeance.

Lies
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
Attic Salt Theatre

Lies

By Jerry Slaff

A young Jewish lawyer is asked to represent a German-American WWII radio propagandist, imprisoned for treason. The only trouble is that she doesn’t want to leave. This intriguing play hits close to home, since history does, in fact, tend to repeat itself. Don’t miss it.

Lies, by Jerry Slaff
Produced by Attic Salt Theatre Company
at Attic Salt Theatre Arts Space

April 21-30, 2022
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm,
Sundays at 2:30pm

Attic Salt Theatre Arts Space
2002 Riverside Drive
Asheville, NC

Directed by Jeff Catanese

Starring: Christy Montesdeoca
Jered Jackson Shults

Ring of Fire, The Life and Music of Johnny Cash
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm
Flat Rock Playhouse

From the songbook of Johnny Cash comes this unique musical about love and faith, struggle and success, rowdiness and redemption, and the healing power of home and family. More than two dozen classic hits including “I Walk the Line,” “A Boy Named Sue,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and, of course, “Ring of Fire.” Performed by a multi-talented cast.

 

Director Ben Hope adds “Having spent many years working on various productions of Ring of Fire (this production will be my personal 10th!), The most extraordinary thing I keep finding about Mr. Cash is how unanimously loved he is, even now, 20 years since his death. No other project seems to attract such a varied and enthusiastic crowd as the music of Johnny Cash. I think it’s because he wrote for the ordinary. His words and music are authentic and simple, and he speaks plainly about things we all connect with. He was fallible, with personal demons and shortcomings. He makes us feel like our own imperfections are normal and mundane, and he teaches us that there’s beauty and hope, even in despair. I love Johnny Cash, and I know Flat Rock audiences are going to love Ring of Fire’.”

 

Don’t miss this inspiring story, all the great music, and an evening of iconic Johnny Cash!

 

Ring of Fire is presented by WHKP and Carolina Ace Hardware. Flat Rock Playhouse’s 2023 Season is supported by Charlotte & Bob Otto, Optimum, WHKP, and WTZQ as well as the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. www.NCArts.org

 

For a complete lineup with show descriptions and to purchase tickets, visit www.flatrockplayhouse.org.