
Your week ahead: Mardi Gras and Shakespeare
Make plans for a weeknight. Fun can exist outside of the weekend!
🍾 Mardi Gras — Join a pub and grub crawl at participating downtown Fayetteville businesses starting at 5pm Tuesday.
Also, celebrate at Natural State Beer Company or Ozark Beer Company in Rogers.
🎭 "Twelfth Night" — The Shakespeare play is on stage at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville starting Wednesday and runs through March 30. Get tickets ranging $15-$60.
🏀 Basketball — The Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team takes on Vanderbilt Commodores at 9pm Tuesday. Watch on ESPN.
The women's team plays in the SEC tournament on Wednesday in South Carolina. Check SEC Network.
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The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Lawmakers get theatrical at annual ‘Will on the Hill' show
Several lawmakers took a break from debating legislation on Capitol Hill to instead recite William Shakespeare at Harman Hall on Tuesday evening. The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) hosted its annual 'Will on the Hill,' welcoming members of Congress, journalists and students to perform popular Shakespeare scenes to fund its youth arts education programs, which reach nearly 20,000 students and teachers across the region. The over 20-year long tradition also seeks to promote bipartisanship, bringing together lawmakers and political strategists from across the aisle to bolster support for theatre and the arts. Rep. Dina Titus' (D-Nev.) performance of the last scene of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was the hit of the night. Her interpretation of old-English Shakespeare, which included a southern accent, made the crowd roar in laughter. Another notable performance was the standoff between the Capulets and Montagues, two enemy families, in the opening scene of 'Romeo and Juliet.' As Atlantic journalist Steve Clemons, Republican political strategist Grover Norquist, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) and Fox News correspondent Rich Edson bit their thumbs at each other on stage, the producers noted that giving them foam swords was the safest amid a tense political climate. The crowd then commended Sen. Chris Coons' (D-Del.) impersonation of Brutus plotting the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Shakespeare play. With political tensions rattling the country, seeing lawmakers fumbling over their words and trying to remember their lines proved to be refreshing entertainment. The elected officials were accompanied on stage by Holly Twyford, a pillar of D.C. theatre, and Renea Brown, an award winning actor. The show also included a stage combat demonstration by STC students. An elementary school student brilliantly played King Oberon in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' and two high school students performed 'All's Well That Ends Well.' STC executive director Angela Lee Gieras praised the event as an opportunity for children to express themselves, highlighting the courage it takes to perform in front of an audience. This year's performance was presented by Michael Evans, former Democratic chief counsel and deputy staff director for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, who is an avid Shakespeare enthusiast. Samantha Wyer Bello's, STC's senior director of learning, returned to direct her sixth production of 'Will on the Hill.' STC also honored the memory of the late Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly (Va.) and Rep. Charles Wrangle (N.Y.) for their dedication to public service and their year-after-year support of 'Will on the Hill.' Other cast members included Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI), Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), D.C. Council chairman Phil Mendelson, DC councilmember Brooke Pinto, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities executive director Aaron Myers, and Politico journalist Olivia Beavers.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sweet Pride Alabama: Celebrating LGBTQ+ lives in the Deep South
For two weeks each year, Birmingham, Alabama's streets fill with rainbow hues. In place of the usual traffic, crowds of people in vivid colors flood Seventh Avenue to the edges of the sidewalks. They inch as close as possible to floats and cars in the annual Pride parade — a Mardi Gras-style celebration complete with costumes, flags, and balloons. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. Birmingham's first organized Pride event, Central Alabama Pride, has continued to show up for queer communities for nearly 50 years, bringing light into an otherwise dark place. In recognition of its significance, the organization has been awarded The Advocate's Communities of Pride Award, which honors a group that upholds the spirit of Pride by fostering connections between LGBTQ+ people from all walks of life. 'I'm beyond honored to receive The Advocate's Communities of Pride Award. In a time when LGBTQ+ people – especially in the South – are under attack, this recognition means everything to us,' says Central Alabama Pride President Josh Coleman. 'It says our work matters, our communities matter, and we're not going anywhere.' 'Getting to share this moment on The Kelly Clarkson Show was so surreal, but it also shows just how far we've come. Pride in Central Alabama isn't just a celebration, it really is a fight to be seen, to be safe, and to belong,' Coleman adds. 'For every young person in Alabama who feels like there's no place for them, I hope this moment reminds them that there is and that we're fighting every day to make it safer, louder, and prouder.' Central Alabama Pride began as a 'Day in the Park' get-together on June 24, 1979. Now in its 47th year, Pride in the city has evolved into a 15-day series of events attended by more than 20,000 people each June. While Pride events are often associated with large, liberal cities, Alabama has an estimated 173,000 LGBTQ+ adults, making up 4.6 percent of the population. This may be one of the smallest queer populations in the U.S., but the sea of people in Birmingham each year can't be written off as insignificant. 'Celebrating Pride in the Deep South is an act of courage, resistance, and love,' Coleman says. 'It's not just about rainbow flags and parades. It's about affirming our right to exist, thrive, and be visible in spaces that haven't always welcomed us. In states like Alabama, where LGBTQ+ rights are often under attack, Pride is a declaration that we're not going anywhere.' Alabama, which has seen seven anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced so far in 2025, has one of the worst track records for queer rights. The state incorrectly defines sex as exclusively male or female, and it prohibits transgender people from using public facilities that align with their identities. The Republican legislature has banned lifesaving gender-affirming care for youth, though it permits the discredited and harmful practice of so-called conversion therapy. The state also has a "don't say gay" law restricting the discussion of LGBTQ+ identities in classrooms. It has barred trans students from participating in sports or using school facilities that most align with their gender identity, and it requires staff to out queer students to their parents or guardians. The weight of these laws doesn't reflect on the faces of the people who flock to Birmingham. The crowds cheer and applaud as floats with drag queens, advocacy groups, and local businesses roll by in an unabashed celebration of queer lives. For Coleman, Pride is 'a moment for our community to come together, celebrate our progress, and demand better.' 'We build and protect rural LGBTQ+ communities by showing up – consistently and intentionally. It starts with listening to local voices, providing resources, and making sure no one feels isolated,' Coleman says. 'Visibility is critical: When people in small towns see representation – whether it's a Pride event, a drag show, or a youth group – they start to feel less alone.' 'We also have to fight for policies that protect LGBTQ+ people everywhere, not just in big cities,' he continues. 'At Central Alabama Pride, we're committed to reaching beyond Birmingham and supporting our rural neighbors through partnerships, education, and advocacy. Because every LGBTQ+ person, no matter their zip code, deserves to feel safe, valued, and supported.'


Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘Homework' is Geoff Dyer's memoir of a British childhood transformed by books, and it's a brilliant read itself
The only child of two working-class — and indeed hard-working — parents, Dyer recounts a childhood filled with family and friends, hopes and dreams, joint activities and private pursuits. There are the usual boyish pastimes: he reads comics, plays with toy soldiers, collects and swaps bubblegum cards, and constructs models of warplanes. A fascination with parachuting and an obsession with the underwater world — helped in part by the aquatic James Bond film 'Thunderball' — engender ambitions of a job either in the air or the sea. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement Then at the age of 11 comes a major milestone, the consequences of which open up even more possibilities for Dyer's future. He passes the 11-plus exam and in doing so secures a place among the smarter set at a prestigious grammar school. Dyer calls this 'the most momentous event of my life, not simply up to that point but for its duration.' The exam may have been 'the big divider,' ending existing friendships, but it was also 'the forger of destinies,' putting Dyer on an academic path that would take him to Oxford. Before getting there, though, Dyer must navigate his teenage years. He starts playing tennis, enjoys bike rides in the Cotswolds, and develops a passion for prog rock. A similar passion for girls takes root, but being at a single-sex school means he has little contact with any and no idea how to acquire the mysterious skill of chatting them up. However, school proves beneficial in other respects. He gets on the right side of the bad boys in his year, including the appositely named Myles Lawless; more importantly, he has an inspiring English teacher who introduces him to the joy of reading books — not just Shakespeare and other set texts but also more modern titles. 'There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in,' Graham Greene wrote. For Dyer, that moment came when he learned that stories could be compelling and language alluring. 'A world was beckoning,' he declares, and it is one he runs into and wholeheartedly embraces. 'Homework' can feel episodic, particularly when Dyer regales us with the details and emotions surrounding his first kiss, his first pint of beer, or his first time watching color TV. And yet it feels churlish to take him to task here — partly because childhood is episodic but also because those episodes are so brilliantly relayed. That first romantic clinch leaves Dyer more confused than aroused: 'We stood up like a fully clothed Adam and Eve after eating a sensationally normal apple, bewildered, not even disheveled: unseen, uncaught and unpunished.' Related : Advertisement Dyer excels with less savory evocations. 'There were no ghosts,' he says of a relative's gloomy home packed with stuffed animals: 'the house was so dismal in its own right it didn't need to be haunted.' Meals served up at home and at school consist of gristly, veiny, fatty meat and vegetables 'boiled to extinction'; handkerchiefs are 'routinely stiff with yellow snot'; and swimming-pool changing-room floors are studded with 'pink band-aids that had floated off raw heels and toes, and water-bloated cigarette ends.' Dyer's most absorbing recollections are those concerning his foray into books. But his most satisfying depictions are of his humble, private, and resolutely unbookish parents. His mother was a school dinner lady who always wanted to be a seamstress but was held back and pushed down by a debilitating lack of self-worth. His father, a sheet-metal worker, was parsimonious in the extreme, forever 'saving money in the face of the rival claims of ease, quality or utility.' Throughout the book, Dyer writes affectionately about them; in his closing pages, when fast forwarding to 2011, he delivers a poignant account of their final days, and with it, the end of an era. Related : 'Homework' is a vibrant trip down memory lane. There might be little in the way of tension or drama in the form of growing pains or teenage angst, but there is no shortage of candid and beguiling recollections of scrapes, shenanigans, success, and self-discoveries — not to mention musings on such British delights as conkers, allotments, Action Man, Opal Fruits, and Advertisement HOMEWORK: A Memoir By Geoff Dyer Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 288 pages, $29 Malcolm Forbes has written for The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He lives in Edinburgh.