How to resolve AdBlock issue? Arts & Life
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
UKIAH, Calif. — The Mendocino College Art Gallery is proud to announce a faculty art exhibition, opening on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
There will be a reception for the exhibition on Thursday, Oct. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
Regular gallery hours are Tuesdays noon to 3 p.m., Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m., Thursdays from noon to 3 p.m., and by appointment.
Ukiah Symphony ticket holders will have early access to the show on Oct. 1 and 2. To purchase Ukiah Symphony tickets, visit www.ukiahsymphony.org.
The exhibition highlights the diverse creative talents of instructors who contribute to the high quality of art education at Mendocino College.
A dynamic selection of work includes sculpture, ceramics, painting, drawing, mixed-media, photography and woodworking.
Eighteen faculty members, representing the college’s four campuses and the Krenov fine woodworking school are participating in this exhibit.
For more information visit www.mendocino.edu/events or email
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- Written by: E. Evans
The show, which includes dinner, wine and dessert, will run Sept. 23, 24 and 25, and the curtain opens at 6 p.m.
Lake Family Resource Center is hosting this fundraising event to support the local Meals on Wheels Program.
Senior Services Director Denise Johnson, who also serves as an executive producer, is excited about launching more theater on the stage at the senior center.
Starring in the play is Ukiah resident Laurie Strantz, a veteran actress from the Middletown Repertory Theater, who has delighted many audiences by starring in local shows like “Crimes of the Heart,” “Noises Off,” “Beyond Therapy” and Cobb Mountain Elementary School's “Peter Pan.”
Ms. Strantz will be playing the lead role of Dottie, the ghost of a mother who cannot help but meddle in the love life of her daughter, Sarah, played by Bre'ana, also a resident of Ukiah and veteran actress for Middletown Repertory Theater.
Her love interest, Jack, is played by local police officer Juan Altamirano.
Joining the cast in the other starring role of Madam Vajra, is Lake County Theater Co.'s own Laura Barnes who will play a psychic medium hired by Sarah on Mother's Day to perform an exorcism.
Barnes brings to the production an extensive and impressive 15 year theatrical background in many successful local productions from the LCTC, including the recent Shakespeare at the Lake.
One of the many highlights of this type of “immersive theater,” as Director Bice calls it, is an ensemble who will be performing comic improvisation as waiters and waitresses in an imaginary restaurant.
“The last time we created a restaurant,” said Bice, “people called for reservations months after the show closed to go to this place that never existed!”
Bice is a graduate of UCLA's prestigious School of Theatre, Film and Television, and is known locally for his unusual avant-garde theatrical productions. His new film company Savant Garde Inc. is working in association with Lake FRC to raise money for Meals on Wheels.
“Mother May 1?” is the winner of a playwrights' festival and was performed originally to standing ovations at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa.
“When I won, I was excited, but I wasn't allowed to cast the play or be at any rehearsals,” said Bice. “I'm grateful to the executive director, Lisa Morrow, and everyone at Lake Family Resource Center for letting me be part of that creative process."
The ensemble cast has been rehearsing comic improvisational skills each week and is enthusiastic about exploring their new skills in the upcoming performances.
The supporting cast will be Cindy Jasser, Lillie Bower, Richard Crow, Margie Loesch, and Amirah Jasser.
“I just think the community needs this right now, and I'm so excited to see all this talent come together for such a good cause,” said production coordinator Alicia Adams.
Tickets are $50 each. Purchase them here.
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- Written by: Kwame Dawes
There is a posture that poets sometimes take, that of the prophet speaking predictions into the world, or simply proclaiming what is happening in the moment.
More often than not, the role is reluctantly embraced, for who wants to speak of calamity in the face of calamity?
Joan Naviyuk Kane’s poem “Fieldwork” assumes a knowing that carries the authority of ancestral memory. It becomes urgent in this calamitous moment, a moment of drought and heat that is familiar to us these days.
If there is hope, it lies in the expectation of movement: “as we move, / moon into moon.” The reluctant prophetess, too, wants to survive.
Fieldwork
By Joan Naviyuk Kane
Another day of heat-
strangers continue to wobble
across the horizon, bringing drought
when instead we should have deluge.
I steep snow-lichen in water I
drew from a lake
which has since gone dry.
At sea few understood me,
as though I induced a sickness
that deafened, then healed.
As before, I predict lies,
to be pushed from the boat
time and time again.
Nevertheless, I expect
to get by while their widowers·
seek refuge with their provident
families; perhaps a storm will pile fish
at their doors when the red tide rises,
perhaps they will not follow as we move,
moon into moon, under another sky.
American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Joan Naviyuk Kane, “Fieldwork” from Dark Traffic (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021.) Poem reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher. Poem reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2022 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Kwame Dawes, is George W. Holmes Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
‘SAMARITAN’ ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
You’ve seen men wearing a T-shirt or ball cap that says “Old Guys Rule” and yet, none of them hardly ever has the physical prowess of Liam Neeson, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone.
“Old Guys Rule” might as well be the title of Stallone’s aging superhero film “Samaritan” in which his character of Joe Smith may not exactly measure up to the standard of someone who helps a stranger, or at least not without some prodding.
Does it seem like a stretch for septuagenarian Stallone to be playing an aging vigilante who can easily toss a grown man across a room? Who has time to think about this when the action gets fast-paced?
Though it seems incredible that a man of Stallone’s age could be convincing in the way that superheroes half as old so easily pummel adversaries into a pile of human debris. Yet, he’s not gone flabby, and maybe that’s because his day job as a garbage man requires heavy lifting.
The introduction of Amazon Prime’s “Samaritan” has a lot of quick cuts of animation inspired by a graphic novel. The setting is Granite City, a dystopian hellscape that’s moving inevitably toward out-of-control chaos and looting.
Twenty-five years earlier, twin brothers Samaritan and Nemesis were so freakishly strong that the residents of Granite City grew to fear them and retaliated by trying to burn them alive by setting their house on fire.
The twins were unscathed, but their parents did not survive. At this point, Samaritan grew to fight as a protector of the innocent, while Nemesis, consumed by revenge, wanted the world to suffer.
Nemesis forged a powerful weapon in a hammer that he poured all his hate and rage into. His armament was like Thor’s, but his purpose was malicious. This was the only weapon that could destroy his sworn enemy, Samaritan.
Eventually, the brothers engaged in mortal combat at a warehouse that was consumed by a raging fire, and it was presumed that both of them perished, or at least, that’s the story for the citizens of Granite City.
Local journalist and bookshop owner Albert Castler (Martin Starr) has written a book about Samaritan that delves into conspiracy theories and speculation that the freakishly strong Samaritan is still alive.
A true believer of Samaritan’s earthly existence is 13-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton), who suspects that his mysterious and withdrawn neighbor Mr. Smith is actually the legend hiding in plain sight.
Living in a tenement with his single mom Tiffany (Dascha Polanco), Sam is frequently bullied by local thugs led by the heavily tattooed Reza (Moises Arias) who goes so far that Mr. Smith intervenes, causing the kid to believe that he’s found Samaritan.
Meanwhile, a psychotic gang leader named Cyrus (Pilou Asbaek), a worshiper of supervillain Nemesis, decides to incite a street rebellion of rioting and arson to entice intervention from Samaritan.
Coming as no surprise to anyone, the reclusive Mr. Smith is inexorably drawn to the fight, though getting to that point requires a test of his patience with the inquisitive Sam who goes so far as invading his apartment in search of clues.
Because this kind of film calls for escapist fare, the climactic showdown between Samaritan and the wannabe Nemesis seems much like a live-action replay of the introductory graphic novel animation.
Even though a streaming service like Amazon Prime may have a decent budget, “Samaritan” is nevertheless a B-movie that may be forgettable the next day but in the moment of its urban chaos and violence offers entertainment value for action fans.
WEIRD DIVERSION ON THE SUBWAY SYSTEM
This column is about entertainment, and diversion can be found in places other than film and television. Who knew that riding the New York subway system, as I did on a recent trip, would offer amusement with its travel etiquette?
Handy guidelines appear on certain trains with an electronic reader. “Stay off the tracks” should be obvious to anyone. That’s a no-brainer. A better warning is not to stand too close to the platform.
The “Keep your hands and other parts to yourself” makes one wonder about lechers riding the rails. Avoid anyone wearing a trench coat during warm weather, or someone looking slightly crazed.
“Go before you go” is wise because even if you found a public bathroom in a subway station, the best warning would be “Enter at your own risk.”
“Don’t sell stuff without a permit” is widely ignored. Someone is bound to be selling packaged cookies or candy, or useless items like an 8-track player or VHS movies.
The one guideline of “Don’t smoke or set anything on fire” does have me worried. The ban on smoking is understandable, but has there been a rash of arsonist acts that should give one pause?
The subway is a great way to get to a Mets or Yankees game, but the best advice is to be alert and aware of your surroundings and don’t travel in the middle of the night.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
