On his 90th birthday, Joseph Quinn receives an Internet connection from his seven children.
On his 90th birthday, Joseph Quinn receives an Internet connection from his seven children.
Despite never having been online, or familiar with a keyboard or a mouse, Quinn delves into this new world. He creates an email listserv, “The Chestnut Hill Gazette,”from which he sends messages to his family and friends twice a day.
These events set up the fictional play “Poppa, God Bless,” to be performed at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The free public performances in historic Playmakers Theatre at 202 E. Cameron Ave. will be part of the Process Series, in which professional authors and playwrights present their works in progress and afterward receive critiques from the audience.
“The series’ mission is to illuminate the ways in which artistic ideas take form and to follow artists and performers as they explore and discover,” said series director Joseph Megel, artist-in-residence in the department of communication studies. The department co-sponsors the series, a program of Carolina Performing Arts.
Besides two actors, “Poppa, God Bless” will feature projected images of Quinn at his computer and of his memories. The play opens the 2011-2012 Process Series, which comprises five more events through May 18, all free to the public:
Jan. 20-21, “Painting the Town: A Rock n’ Roll Life and the Souls of Four Great American Cities.” Django Haskins of Chapel Hill writes, sings and performs this work based on his new book about cities he has toured as a musician. Gerrard Hall, 160 E. Cameron Ave., 8 p.m.
Feb. 29 and March 1, “Scar Tissue” and “Klutz.” Two short works by Latino playwright Gabriel Rivas Gomez, “Scar Tissue” is about hearts in disrepair, both literally and figuratively, and “Klutz” is about strength of mind and weakness of body. Sponsored by UNC’s Teatro Latina/o Series. Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art, 120 Country Club Road, 7:30 p.m.
March 16-17, “Harvesting Pomegranate Dreams – a puppet dream play.”Puppets emerge from within a veil and twist and turn their way through ancient wisdoms on mothering, war, migration, birth and death. Historic Playmakers Theatre, 202 E. Cameron Ave., 8 p.m.
April 12–15, Theatrical Translation as Creative Process: A Conference/Festival. In collaboration with the department of dramatic art, the Process Series will present four staged readings of new translated plays, with the translators present:
- “Huddersfield” by Uglijisa Stilnac of Serbia, 7:30 p.m. April 12, Gerrard Hall;
- “Vengeance Can Wait” by Yukiko Montoya of Japan, 8 p.m. April 13, Gerrard Hall;
- “The Ballad of the Pine Tree Killers” by Rebecca Kricheldorf of Germany, 8 p.m. April 14, Brody Theater in Branson Hall, 5 Brodie Gym Drive, East Campus, Duke University; and
- “Apocalypse Tomorrow” by Ricardo Monti of Argentina, 1 p.m. April 15, Room 104, Center for Dramatic Art.
May 18, “Who Do You Think You Are,” inspired by the newest breakthroughs in neuroscience, particularly discoveries in neuroplasticity. The play creates a society that is complex, repressed and verging on domestic violence. Time and location to be announced later.
For more information, contact Megel at (919) 843-7067 or megel@email.unc.edu.
Process Series contact: Joseph Megel, (919) 843-7067, megel@email.unc.edu
Carolina Performing Arts contact: Ellen James, (919) 843-0516, epjames@email.unc.edu