Sept. 13, 2012. Friends of the late Romulus Linney will read from his works and talk about working with the playwright Friday, Sept. 21, at Appalachian State University’s Valborg Theater.
“Romulus Linney … Back Home in the Mountains: A Tribute to Romulus Linney” begins at 7:30 p.m. in Valborg Theatre with Louis Asekoff, Paul L. Coffey, T. Cat Ford, James Houghton, Scott Sowers, Adrienne Thompson and David Van Pelt. Admission is free courtesy of the generosity of the Romulus Linney celebration sponsors.
Free tickets are available from the Valborg Theatre Box Office weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by calling 800-841-2787 or 262-3063.
Actor David Van Pelt will open the evening by reading an excerpt from Linney’s novel “Heathen Valley.” Set in the mid-1800s in Valle Crucis, the novel tells the story of an Episcopal bishop who sets out to establish a mission and convert the “heathens” living in the valley, and the failings that occur in the process. Linney also adapted the novel for the stage.
James Houghton, founding artistic director of Signature Theatre Company in New York, will present remarks about Linney and how he and others started? Signature Theatre Company, the first not-for-profit theatre company in the United States. The company devotes each season of productions to the work of a single living playwright. Linney was their inaugural playwright-in-residence. . Houghton co-directed with Linney “Heathen Valley” and the world premiere of “Ambrosio.”
Actors David Van Pelt and Adrienne Thompson will present a scene from “Gint,” an adaptation of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt.”
Film and stage actor Scott Sowers will talk about working with Linney and read from his short story “Doc’s Boy.” Sowers is considered the definitive interpreter of the lead role in “Heathen Valley” and has performed in other productions of Linney’s work. Sowers also is a founding member of Signature Theatre.
Louis S. Asekoff will talk about the Hudson Valley Writers and Authors Group, of which Linney was a member, and read Linney’s “Wild Before Winter” as well as the poem “Ave Atque Vale” that Ahekoff wrote in honor of Linney. Asekoff is professor of English at Brooklyn College where he specializes in modernist and postmodernist poetry.
Actors T. Cat Ford, Scott Sowers and Adrienne Thompson will read excerpts from Linney’s last play, “Over Martinis, Driving Somewhere,” co-written with Eleanor Cooney. Ford also will read “How St. Peter Got Bald,” the prologue from “Jesus Tales.”
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