August Wilson’s lively ensemble drama Jitney transports theatergoers to the 1970s-era Hill, a predominately Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh where a group of unlicensed cab drivers navigate life, love, and struggle in a jitney station. Jitney is one of Wilson’s 10-edition “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays capturing life in the Steel City; this production is directed by Ron Foreman and features a robust cast, including former INDY Week staff writer Thomasi McDonald. The Pure Life Theatre show has a run of eight dates and tickets are $32.50, with discounts for students and seniors, and will be followed by productions of Bright Star and The Jungle Book in late spring and early summer.
Duke Respect Durham, a coalition of labor and local organizers that the INDY has previously reported on, is running a campaign with a big ask: That Duke University pay the city $50 million annually in lieu of the taxes that the university is able to avoid, thanks to its nonprofit status. At this event with Davarian Baldwin, author of In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower, the campaign broadens the lens on the issue, as Baldwin discusses the often-fraught relationships between institutions of higher learning and the communities that surround them—and how universities can try to repair that relationship. Refreshments will be provided and, as the event listing notes, “childcare, transportation, and Spanish interpretation available upon request.”
In recent years, the pianist and composer Florence Price has finally begun to get her due: Born in 1887, Price composed more than 300 works and was the first Black woman to have her music performed by a major symphony. The celebrated pianist Michelle Cann has been one of Price’s most tireless champions, helping bring her pioneering work to the public eye (and ear); with this program, Cann will make her debut at Duke with a performance of six pieces by “Women of Chicago’s Black Renaissance,” including Price, Margaret Bonds, and Betty Jackson King. This Duke Arts Presents event is $35; Cann will also offer a free masterclass at 10 a.m. on February 22, also at Baldwin Auditorium.
It’s nearly NCAA college basketball season; more immediately, it’s USCC (U.S. Coffee Championship) nationals. In Durham, stop by Omie’s Coffee for a party during USCC season that will include a latte art throwdown (6-6:30 p.m.) and a raffle, with one ticket per item of food brought to donate to Durham Community Fridges.
For those unfamiliar, the local mutual aid project has two fridges with free food available to the community—one located outside St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, the other located outside Part & Parcel; check the Omie’s Coffee Shop and Durham Community Fridges Instagram pages for a list of approved donation items to stock the fridges with. (For those curious to learn more, the Durham Community Fridges project is also participating in a Community Food Security Panel at Perfect Lovers on February 26 that is presented by the Duke Campus Farm.) Bonus: at the February 21 event, the new bottle shop at Omie’s is now open and Hatch Breakfast Burritos’ legendary frito pies will also be on hand for sale.
Prolific local poet Jeffery Beam’s writing is full of dispatches from the natural world—the perspective of ferns, queen bees, and mockingbirds come alive on the page—that are laced with mystery and verve. This month, Beam is the featured writer in the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts’ project “It’s All About the Story,” where artists respond to a writer’s work; on February 23, Beam will read his poetry in the space alongside the finished artist pieces. Purple Crow Books will be on hand to sell poetry collections by Beam as well as other merchandise. If you can’t make the reading, there will also be an opening reception for Volume XI on February 28 and the work will be on display through March 23.
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