Stage adaptation of literary work to be presented before, during festival
NO FLUKE: Interview with Founder Ashley Capps • Artist Profile: Caroline Williams, author of ‘Lucy Negro Redux’ • Into the Rabbit Hole • BLANK’S BIG EARS ARTIST GUIDE • FILM Guide • Pilot Light • Tickets • Schedule
Author and performance artist Caroline Randall Williams published a collection of poetry in 2015 entitled “Lucy Negro Redux.” With independent publisher Ampersand providing a print run of just 300 copies, Williams was grateful simply to see the book in print. The collection was a result of nearly three years of research, including a trip to England to review historical registry documents relating to who historians believe could have been the “Dark Lady” described in Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Her obsession with Shakespeare’s Dark Lady is rooted in a lifelong love of the Bard, but it was especially piqued by a more recent exploration of his extensive collection of sonnets. Though Williams often turned to Shakespeare in life’s difficult moments, the abstract application became much clearer when she realized the representation to be found in his more poetic works.
“Shakespeare says, ‘If hairs be wire, black wires grow from her head.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he’s literally just talking about me,’” Williams says, going on to illustrate that this representation of characters of color is not uncommon throughout Shakespeare’s works but that his immense focus on the Dark Lady, who was also referred to as Lucy Negro, showed unsurpassed depth and personality.
What Williams couldn’t have anticipated was the string of events that connected the 300-print run of her book of poetry to the creative director of the Nashville Ballet, Paul Vasterling.
“A member of the ballet board attended one of my poetry readings and bought a copy of the book and just gave it to Paul,” Williams says. “He read it and just cold-called me. He said, ‘I think there’s a ballet here.’”
Williams goes on to explain that, since the beginning, she and Paul worked collaboratively on every piece of the ballet: the libretto, the incorporation of her recitation of poetry and interaction with the dancers and who would take principal roles in the production.
“Paul asked me, ‘Who’s your dream person to do the score?’ And I said, ‘If it’s a woman, I’d like it to be Rhiannon Giddens. And if it’s a man, I’d like it to be Jack White.’”
Giddens did in fact go on to provide the music composition for “Lucy Negro Redux” and can be seen at two different performances of the play during this week of Big Ears 2019. Both performances will be held at the Tennessee Theatre and will feature additional musical backing from Francesco Turrisi, featured dancing from ballerina Kayla Rowser and poetry from Williams.
And as for White, he found his way into all of this, as well.
Williams laughs, seemingly still in disbelief at the synchronicity of this journey. “You know, Third Man Records is Jack White’s record label. And Third Man Books is the literary imprint. It’s kind of a wild set of blessings that I’m experiencing at the moment.”
The Nashville Ballet’s adaptation of “Lucy Negro Redux” first premiered on February 8, 2019, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Polk Theatre. Knoxville audiences will have the opportunity to see the play in a separately ticketed event at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, and the following night at 8 during Big Ears. Panel discussions involving the artists will follow both performances. In addition, Williams will perform spoken-word poetry at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 22, at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Get tickets for these performances and the entirety of Big Ears at www.bigearsfestival.org.
NO FLUKE: Interview with Founder Ashley Capps • Artist Profile: Caroline Williams, author of ‘Lucy Negro Redux’ • Into the Rabbit Hole • BLANK’S BIG EARS ARTIST GUIDE • FILM Guide • Pilot Light • Tickets • Schedule
