There is a lot to look forward to in the Arts & Culture scene this Fall semester at Wake Forest, and as your A&C editors, we want to give you a sneak peek into some of the biggest events that you should be marking on your calendar.
Wake Forest fosters world-class talent and puts on performances and events that are entertaining for both casual attendees and devoted fans. Not only are these great opportunities to enjoy phenomenal live shows, but they are also perfect for making new friends and getting together with old ones. We hope you will come out and show support for the incredible work done by our peers and faculty!
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The Wake Forest Theatre department and the student group, The Anthony Aston Players, always work tirelessly during the school year and over the summer to produce some of the best student-led plays in the entire country. They produce classics like Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” and brand-new works like “This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing.”
This year, you can expect another batch of stellar productions. Here are some of the upcoming, must-see performances at Tedford Stage in Scales Fine Arts Center, as well as a look ahead to the Faculty and Guest Dance concert.
“Musical Comedy Murders of 1940”
Directed by Cindy Gendrich
Sept. 20-21 & 26-28 at 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 & 29 at 2 p.m.
Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
“John Bishop’s campy, intricately plotted murder mystery is filled with larger-than-life characters, the twists and turns you’d expect from a good Agatha Christie story and a healthy serving of silliness. It’s winter, 1940, and a blizzard can’t keep a group of ambitious theatre folk from assembling at an upstate New York mansion to audition their new musical for a wealthy patron. Bodies begin to drop immediately. Love, ambition, espionage, dad jokes, recipe tips: The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 has it all.”
“Love & Information”
Directed by Stephen Wrentmore
Nov. 1-2 & 7-9 at 7:30 pm
Nov. 3 & 10 at 2 p.m.
Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
“Through a montage of vignettes and a collage of over 100 characters, Caryl Churchill creates an ingenious and inventive commentary on the information age. Where the soundbite erodes, complexity and algorithms flood us with the trivial — sex and celebrity, conflict and cats — Churchill prompts us to wonder how we will have the wisdom to discern what is essential from all this noise.”
Fall Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert
Nov. 21-23 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.
Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
“The Fall Faculty & Guest Artist Concert will feature modern, jazz, contemporary and classical ballet choreography by our dance faculty and renowned guest choreographers, under the direction of Nina Lucas Rice. This fall, faculty choreographers include Chris Martin, Tina Yarborough-Liggins, Sam Shapiro and Trisch Casey. Past guest artists have included: Heather Malloy artistic director of Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance; Broadway dancers Matthew Loehr and Mark Price to name a few.”
Girls of Yellow Diamonds
Sept. 21 at 5 p.m.
Porter Byrum Welcome Center
“This performance features Asian women composers and poets with the intention of raising awareness and uplifting the stories of Asian women. Performing songs in Mandarin, Korean and English, classical singers Alice Chung and Helen Huang will take us on a poignant musical journey with local pianist and WFU adjunct professor, Dr. Yong Im Lee Federle. The Lam Museum of Anthropology will display a curated exhibit in the lobby of the Porter Byrum Welcome Center featuring Asian art and artifacts.”
Lovefeast
December 8
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Wait Chapel
The annual Wake Forest Lovefeast is a core tradition on campus that students look forward to every year. “Moravian student Jane Sherrill Stroupe (’67) organized the first Wake Forest Lovefeast in December 1965. Two hundred students gathered to celebrate the traditional meal. Since then, the Wake Forest Lovefeast has grown to be the largest Moravian-style lovefeast in North America, and one of the favorite features of Wake Forest tradition.”
The English department has a rich tradition of bringing world-famous writers and scholars to campus every semester to read some of their work and answer questions. This is a great opportunity to discover new authors, get a book signed and learn about the different ways people make a living as a writer and/or academic.
The guests for the Dean Family Speaker Series and the Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series are chosen by Wake Forest English Department faculty. Best-selling author and Wake Forest professor Joanna Ruocco told us about Steven Dunn, who is coming on Oct. 2, to give a collaborative reading and performance with Drew Lipscomb. “Steven Dunn is the author of three small-press books (a coming-of-age novel in flashes; a hybrid fictional ethnography about the Navy; a collaboratively authored speculative novel about environmental racism, art, community, and resistance) and does some remarkable Etch-a-Sketching. I love his work, and I love his readings, so I’m really looking forward to the visit.”
Dr. Judith Madera revealed that “the English Department is proud to host the international performance poet, Sawako Nakayusu, as our Fall 2024 Dean Family Speaker. She will give a poetry reading and will take audience questions on October 8, 2024 @ 5:30 pm at the Hanes Art Gallery in the Scales Fine Arts Center. Students are warmly welcomed. All events are free and open to the public. Reception to follow.” Nakayusu is a renowned poet and translator, who works in Japan and America.