This week’s events very well may have left you feeling uneasy about the future of this country. A quote from H. L. Mencken seems especially apropos in times of late (to the extent that one wonders if he was bestowed with the curse of clairvoyance).
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Hopefully this isn’t truly the case, and rather an aberration in the grand story of our country. Either way take a weekend off from preoccupying thoughts like Mencken’s, or at least punctuate them with the following recommended activities.
On Friday and Saturday, islanders should make time to get on down to Bainbridge Performing Arts for the sixth annual Island Theatre Ten-Minute Play Festival. The event is sure to delight with a colorful cast of characters — a ghost, the goddess of death and deceptively dangerous jellyfish, to name a few — throughout a diverse, dynamic 10-play lineup.
Out of 57 submissions from both experienced and emerging Kitsap County playwrights, the 10 plays selected to be performed by Island Theatre directors and actors were chosen via a blind judging panel (playwrights’ identities were hidden) of three theater professionals.
All 10 plays will be staged during each of the three shows: 7:30 p.m. Friday; and 3 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. There will also be a
If stage plays are too highfalutin for you, “Finding Dory” is playing at the Bainbridge Public Library at 3 p.m. Friday, as well. Go fish.
The month of August, being a prime summertime month in the Puget Sound region, is also prime time for plein air painting — that is, painting outdoors in natural light, capturing the surrounding scene or landscape.
It’s no surprise then that this region is rife with plein air events in the summer, including Bainbridge Island’s own Paint Out Winslow, taking place this year on Saturday and Sunday, presented by Bainbridge Arts & Crafts.
Starting this year, BAC is inviting artists of all levels to get a fresh perspective and paint anywhere on Bainbridge Island during the two-day event.
Other changes afoot this year include free participation for all painters, as well as a new “amateur” category. There will be prizes awarded in cash and art supplies in both the professional and amateur categories during a public celebration on Sunday afternoon.
After a day and a half of painting time, a juried evaluation will take place at Winslow Art Center in the Winslow Mall on Sunday afternoon, with awards and a reception. The public is invited to join the celebration and enjoy viewing the finished works, which will be on display at Winslow Art Center until Thursday, Aug. 31.
For more information, and to register online, visit www.bacart.org/paintout. To register in person, drop by the gallery (151 Winslow Way East) or call 206-842-3132.
After you’ve painted your masterpiece, soaked in the works of local playwrights or found out if the fish finds her family, kick off your shoes and relax as you get ready to run headlong into the last full week of August and in doing so take one giant leap forward to the conclusion of the summer.
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