Headwaters: Birth, Death and Places In-Between

Headwaters: Birth, Death and Places In-Between, the remarkable community story performance at the Sautee Nacoochee Center, opens next Thursday, July 9.

Performances of this home-grown folklife play about the people and places and creatures of our Goodly Portion of Beautiful Northeast Georgia will run Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 5 pm through July 26. That’s only three weekends, and this show has sold out for the past two years. Dinner is available before each show for only $8. Very affordable tickets and more info at www.snca.org

This year’s Headwaters tells stories of the connections people make with one another, and the families we’re born into or create. The play, written by Jo Carson and Jerry Grillo and directed by Gerard Stropnicky, is animated by original and traditional music, gorgeous movement created by Celeste Miller, and amazing puppets (shadow and 3D) created by Lynn Jeffries, who also designed the set. A cast of 33 local performers and a SNOrchestra of 11 local musicians have worked with these and other professional artists to create a performance of startling authenticity and delicious humor.

We’re guided through the production by the three Fates – the Spinner, who spins the thread of life; the Weaver, who combines those threads in a beautiful tapestry (or sometimes just a tattered blanket, you know?); and the Cutter, who severs our individual threads from the warp and woof of all those we know and relate to.

Angels walk among us saving lives and a mid-wife tells of bringing babies into this world. A man past the end of his life spends some time in Purgatory trying to decide if he was bad, or just stupid (he gets some help from his horse, Cowboy). A woman who has moved to the mountains tells us how she learned to be a "been-here" instead of a "come-here." And a family of moonshiners draws straws to see who among them is going to surrender their still and spend six months in jail, in a concession to the new economic realities of 1959.

For tickets and more information, please visit www.snca.org or call 706 878 3300. For a glimpse behind the scenes, there’s a production journal at www.ArtisticLogistics.org/resources – including video clips from recent rehearsals.

"Alice in Wonderland"

The Hambersham Community Children's Theater presents "Alice in Wonderland" March 20-22. For more information, please call 706.839.1315. www.habershamtheater.org

Super Saturday at the Center

Events for the history buff, the arts lover, and the theatre patron are planned for Saturday, February 28, at the Sautee-Nacoochee Center.

Super Saturday begins at 8am with Simply Breakfast -- all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, and a beverage. Breakfast is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 6-12, and free for children under 6. Reservations are not required.

After breakfast, you can participate in the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association's "Raise the Roof." The SNCA is restoring an 1850's slave cabin, and will be selling hand-split oak shakes to cover the roof of the cabin. Each shake is $10 and your name will be commemorated on a specially created work of art. There will be folk life demonstrators, folk musicians, and tours of the restoration site throughout the morning, as follows:

• 9am - Bob Slack demonstrates riving (splitting) shingles with traditional tools while local musicians keep time to the whack of the maul (wooden mallet) and crack of the froe (metal splitting wedge) with lively tunes
• 10am - Mike Craven demonstrates folk pottery techniques
• 11am - Dr. Tom Lumsden will lead a history walk of the Ceremonial Stone Circle on Alec Mountain. Meet at the Community Hall for an introduction.

On Saturday afternoon, you can view the new "Fiber Arts" exhibit in the Center Gallery, enjoy a fiber art demonstration, get in on the action at the Artists' Trading Card Swap, and meet the artists during the Gallery Reception. The "Fiber Arts" exhibit features the work of the local Fiber Soup Group artists Lynda Doll, Jane threlkeld, Beverly Mannes, Denise Hopkins, Lucia Scroggs, Betty Cooper and Suzy MacKay. Collages by Kathy Whitehead and Nancy Hicks will also be on display.

• 3 - 5 pm - Fiber art demonstration by Marilyn Wall and Martine House
• 4 - 6 pm - Artists' Trading Card Swap
• 5 - 8 pm - Gallery Reception
  

Finally, plan to stay for the Playwright's Showcase. The SNCA will present staged readings of the three winners from their One Act Play Contest, chosen by the Center's Theatre Committee as part of a national contest designed to nurture, support and encourage the development of playwrights. The winning plays are: Jon Dahlstrom's The Girl Who Walked with Music, Tim Quigley's 'Twas the Night Before a Christmas Carol, and Maia Akiva's Me. Both Mr. Dahlstrom and Mr. Quigley are from the Dahlonega area, and Ms. Akiva is originally from Israel and now resides in Los Angeles.

Attendees will have an opportunity to hear original work and to participate in audience feedback with the playwrights after the readings. Tickets are $5 each (+ tax) and are available online at www.snca.org or by calling the Center at 706-878-3300.