The new Year brings stories and people to ARTworks

The new Year brings stories and people to ARTworks

Fannie, Judy, and Emma share their stories in the black box theater at ARTworks in January & February.

Good stories have a beginning, middle, and an end— and really good stories have storytellers who get themselves on stage in order to share the wonders and adventures. This is why ARTwork has a whole, custom-built black box theater which takes up half of the community arts center of Beaufort. After all, the BIG Story Fest is only once a year, and it’s coming this April.

On Friday, January 18 at 7:30, master storyteller Judy Sima presents a Family Storytelling experience, following her residency in Beaufort County schools. Judy Sima delights audiences with warmth, and bubbles over with humor, song, and loads of audience participation. She is a frequent presenter at the National Storytelling Conference, the American Association of School Librarians, and her career includes many accolades, publications, and belly laughs.

Fannie Lou Hamer, the American voting rights activist and civil rights leader will be portrayed in The Power of 1ne, by Donna Lee Williams, on Friday and Saturday February 8 & 9 at 7:30pm. “The Power of 1ne” is a not-to-be-missed, one woman; the Charleston City Paper called Donna Lee Williams’ Spoleto performance “well-acted and educational” in her portrayal of the still relevant courage and contributions of the civil rights champion from Mississippi, as well as eleven people, good and bad, who influenced her.

“Truer Words” is the name of Kim Poovey’s novel and performance, on February 15 & 16, about Emma Victoria Brown, a woman born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina during the Victorian era. Share in Emma’s childhood antics, love, sorrows, Civil War experiences, and ambitions. Poovey has reenacted many Victorian roles, including Mrs. Stanton in the 2011 movie The Conspirator— and she has the ladylike wardrobe to prove it.

Tix are $17 per person, $12 for students (13+), $7 for children (12 and under) and $12 for groups of 10 or more.

These shows are in the black box theater, surrounded by gallery exhibitions, workshops, and artists working in their studios, at ARTworks in Beaufort Town Center, 2127 Boundary Street.  For more info, please visit www.artworksinbeaufort.org