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Wherefore Art Thou, Wesleyan?

Shakespeare Week, Nov. 7-11, serves as the centerpiece for an exciting fall arts season at Virginia Wesleyan


WHAT'S IN A NAME: Josh Clark as Romeo and Zoe Speas as Juliet in News Release | September 14, 2016

In a whirlwind week of performances, art exhibits, and lectures, Virginia Wesleyan’s Fine Arts Department will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard himself with Shakespeare Week (Nov. 7-11). The signature event for Shakespeare Week is a presentation of Romeo & Juliet (Nov. 9) by the internationally recognized American Shakespeare Center.

Also during Shakespeare Week: A Shakespearean Celebration in Song (Nov. 7); Shakespeare on Film—A Discussion (Nov. 8); Religion and Church Music in Shakespeare’s England—A Discussion (Nov. 10); and The Invencia Piano Duo Interprets Shakespeare (Nov. 11).

In the Neil Britton Art Gallery this fall will be A Feast of Languages (Sept. 2-Dec. 9) featuring works by artists from the local NEON and ViBe arts districts. The exhibition title is borrowed from a line from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. A corresponding exhibit titled A Feast of Responses (Nov. 7-Dec. 9) will feature VWC art students responding to works by artists in the original exhibit.

VWC Theatre Department offerings this season include Noel Coward’s sharp-witted farce Blithe Spirit (Oct. 5-9). The Student One-Act Play Festival takes place Nov. 18-19 featuring a variety of plays produced and directed by VWC students. The spring theatre production will be the 18th-century She Stoops to Conquer (March 8-12) by Oliver Goldsmith.

A chorus of student concerts will be music to your ears beginning with the Homecoming Showcase (Oct. 8) and Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal! (Oct. 21). A long-running VWC tradition continues Dec. 2-3 with A Wesleyan Christmas featuring holiday classics. In the spring, listen for The Music of Michael McGlynn (March 15), Jubilant Jazz (April 26), and Yearning to Breathe Free: A Story of Refugees (April 28).

Meanwhile, the Virginia Wesleyan Concert Series offers diverse and delightful professional performances from The Tidewater Guitar Quartet (Sept. 9), QuinTango (Oct. 10), The Thirteen (Oct. 24); Patricia Nixon, soprano (Feb. 6); Jason Squinobal and James Harris (March 27); Duo Vela (April 10); and Red Priest (April 25).

The VWC Center for Sacred Music presents its Fall Hymn Festival—This Little Light of Mine at Virginia Beach United Methodist Church on Oct. 2 and the annual Sound & Symbol Lecture Series (Sept. 29-March 9) in which VWC faculty and guests explore women’s roles in the world’s religions and cultural frameworks.

All events throughout the 2016-2017 arts season at Virginia Wesleyan are open to the public. Prices and times vary. Event details are subject to change. For the most current listings, ticket prices and campus locations, visit the webpage for The Arts at Virginia Wesleyan or the Campus Event Calendar.