week of  2/6/02
 
 
 

B. Smith does Lee Smith
One woman show brings the characters of Lee Smith to life
By Michael Beadle
What: “B. Smith does Lee Smith”
Where: Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre, Waynesville
When: Feb. 8, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and two Sunday matinees on Feb. 10 and 17 at 3 p.m.
How much: $7 for general admission, reservations are recommended.
More: 828.456.6322.

Barbara Bates Smith may not like to think of herself as a feisty mountain woman, but after performing for years as the fiercely independent Ivy Rowe in her one-woman play, maybe she’s come to accept the fact that art and reality can fuse. Giving away her signature erupting laugh, she’ll admit she has gradually become more like the persona she loves to act out, the character she discovered more than a decade ago in Lee Smith’s novel, Fair and Tender Ladies.

This weekend as a tribute to one of her favorite authors, Barbara Bates Smith will perform “B. Smith Does Lee Smith,” a theatrical sampler that includes songs, monologues and commentary drawn from several of Lee Smith’s books including Fair and Tender Ladies, Devil’s Dream, Saving Grace, and Christmas Letters as well as two short story collections, Cakewalk and News of the Spirit.

The show will be performed at the Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre’s studio space for two weekends — Feb. 8, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and for two Sunday matinees on Feb. 10 and 17 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $7 for general admission. Reservations are recommended because seating is limited.

Smith is no stranger to the HART stage. Last year, Smith earned critical praise for her inspiring performance as a cancer-stricken English professor in Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Wit,” which was performed at the HART studio and directed by Suzanne Tinsley. Tinsley is also directing “B. Smith Does Lee Smith.”

Several years back, Barbara Smith performed “Ivy Rowe,” a one-woman adaptation of Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies. Then finding herself fascinated by the writings of Canton native, poet and novelist Fred Chappell, Barbara Smith adapted scenes from several of Chappell’s Western North Carolina-inspired books and created another one-woman play, “Buck-os and Lady Misses.” Then, last year, Smith did a stage adaptation of Kaye Gibbons’ Ellen Foster. This time, for “B. Smith Does Lee Smith,” Smith will act out various characters from Lee Smith’s books and play from her autoharp.

“I’m hoping that it will show off an array of Lee Smith’s characters,” Smith said. “Her characters are just fantastic.”

The task might seem daunting — condensing whole novels into short scenes without losing the audience — but Smith finds herself naturally drawn to the material that seems to her like it was made for the stage. She chooses material that will give the gist of the story and refuses to add any extra words to Smith’s material.

With the aid of Tinsley’s direction, Smith has decided to use a small, sparsely decorated stage and a collection of carefully chosen props to illustrate each scene so that the characters themselves become the main focus.

From a prim and proper newspaper columnist to a brash country singer to a spunky mountain woman to a daughter of a snake-handling evangelist, Smith takes on these distinctly different personas of women who define themselves through their struggles, revealing tenderness, determination, and a flare for storytelling. Smith’s wide-eyed candor and crinkled frowns deliver deadpan lines like, “I may be old, but I’m not dead.”

There’s a theme of writing that weaves its way through these stories — women writing to pen pals, women writing newspaper columns, women dreaming of writing books, women writing songs, women searching for the words to describe their triumphs and their tragedies and the roads in between. And with a first person honesty that’s as welcome as a front porch swing, Lee Smith’s characters offer frank discussions about love and relationships — even if they involve elderly patients in a nursing home.

For those who do not know Lee Smith’s work, she is a major voice in contemporary literature. Smith’s literary accolades have included the Lila Wallace/Readers’ Digest Award, the North Carolina Award for Fiction, the Robert Penn Warren Prize for Fiction, the John Dos Passos Award, the Sir Walter Raleigh Award and two O. Henry Awards. She lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina with her husband, journalist Hal Crowther.

Whether you’re a fan of Lee Smith or not, B. Smith brings these characters to life in such a way, you’ll want to go running to your nearest book store or library to savor these stories for yourself.

For ticket reservations or for more information about HART studio shows or the HART 2002 season, call 828.456.6322.