INDY Week January 25, 2023

5 Squash, cilantro, and Jimmy Nardello: In Durham, seeds are stars.

BY ESMÉ FOX

6 More resources coming to Raleigh’s ACORNS crisis response team

BY JASMINE GALLUP

8 Residents want answers to the clearcutting in North Raleigh.

BY JASMINE GALLUP

ARTS & CULTURE

10 Talking with Ibram X. Kendi about How To Be a (Young) Anti-Racist, co author Nic Stone’s adaptation of his bestselling manual, ahead of a Raleigh stop on their book launch tour. BY SHELBI POLK

14 A preview of Playmaker's new production of Hamlet and a review of Honest Pint Theatre Company's A Steady Rain BY BYRON WOODS

16 Inspired by her exodus from her farmhouse on the Eno, H.C. McEntire’s Every Acre is a prophetic poem. BY BRIAN HOWE

18 Talking with the photographer Laurel Nakadate, whose Catalogue Of Tears is on display at the Ackland Museum of Art. BY MICHAELA DWYER

20 The moral of British period drama Living is evergreen: You can easily lose your life to bureaucracy and busywork. BY GLENN MCDONALD

COVER Raleigh: tree stump photo by Jasmine Gallup, woods photo by Brett Villena Durham: photo of H.C. McEntire by Heather Evans Smith

PHOTO COURTESY OF DUKE PERFORMANCES

B A C K T A L K

Last week, Arts and Culture Editor Sarah Edwards interviewed Greg Bower—“The Turntable Doc” of Chapel Hill—for our weekly 15 Minutes column. It turned out to be one of the most popular 15 minutes in recent INDY history. The man is clearly loved, personally and professionally, judging by the overwhelmingly positive feedback on our social media channels.

From our Instagram page:

“When I first moved to the area Greg was one of the first people I reached out to,” @DJNINES09 wrote. “In years past in other areas I’ve lived I’ve driven hours to have my turntables serviced or serviced them partially myself. He is truly a triangle gem!”

“He has helped me tremendously in the past,” @TJWILSON2424 added.

“This man just worked miracles on my turntables. Sounding the best they have in 20 years!” @SAIDDEEP wrote.

From @DJRASJ: ““An awesome brother, has repaired my decks multiple times over the years. Some well deserved love from the Indy!”

“i bought my first turntable from this guy off craigslist, probably 2012. hung out in his basement a while and checked out some really nice vintage gear. cool dude,” @JASONGOODMAN_ said.

And on and on, the positivity flowed … Highlighting cool people doing cool things is our pleasure. Thanks for bringing good vibes to the world, Greg.

WANT TO SEE YOUR NAME IN BOLD? indyweek.com backtalk@indyweek.com @INDYWeekNC @indyweek

A New Approach

We need to invest in a different vision of safety for Durham.

BY JAVIERA CABALLERO AND JILLIAN JOHNSON backtalk@indyweek.com

No matter who we are or where we’re from, we all want to feel safe. But over the holidays, our community experienced multiple shootings, including a horrific mass shooting on New Year’s Day that injured five people. Our hearts are with the victims, their loved ones, and every single person who has been impacted by gun violence. Everyone deserves to feel safe in our city. That’s why we need unprecedented investments in real community safety.

Historically, our society’s vision of safety has been tied solely to policing and incarceration. This needlessly narrow approach doesn’t even begin to meet all of our community’s needs. The ShotSpotter technology’s failure to notify police of the mass shooting on New Year’s Day is only the latest example of this failed strategy. Across the country, communities are beginning to broaden their vision of safety to include resources like food and housing and programs to prevent violence and intervene during emergencies. Durham has led the way, developing alternatives to policing like nonprofit Bull City United’s violence interrupters and the Durham Community Safety Department’s Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART).

In conversations with neighbors over the years, we have heard consistent calls for community-led safety initiatives. Bull City United focuses on preventing violence at its source. Outreach workers and violence interrupters connect with people and help them find jobs, education, and other services. They also provide a needed space of understanding and empathy for people in high-risk communities in order to mediate conflict before any violence happens.

Complementing Bull City United’s focus on violence prevention, HEART provides an alternative for interventions when emergencies do occur. Durham neighbors experiencing mental health crises or other quality-of-life emergencies deserve to be met with a clinician trained to help them rather than with armed police. In the seven months

that HEART has been taking 911 calls, the program has responded to nearly 3,000 of these incidents, either in conjunction with police or independently. Their community response team diverted nearly 70 percent of the calls that they received from the police to trained clinical social workers. The success of the program is evident—from national recognition to neighbors who have seen the day-to-day impact and have asked us when HEART will be accessible to them. The Durham community understands that when they or a loved one are dealing with a mental health crisis, they need trained responders who will treat them with care.

We have two choices ahead of us: we can continue funneling the majority of our money to carceral “solutions,” or we can invest in nonviolent community-based programs that address this historic moment and the full spectrum of our community’s needs. HEART and Bull City United are proven approaches that we know are effective. We strongly support significant investments in HEART so that all community members can access it 24/7, increased city funding for Bull City United to expand to four additional census tracts, and increased 911 operator pay. Just as important are investments that improve our residents’ quality of life: affordable housing so people can stay in Durham; education to better engage and enrich our youth; infrastructure so our neighbors can walk, bike, and take transit through the city; and more.

We know that alternatives to policing are effective— but it will take all of us to muster the political will to fully implement them. We’ve heard widespread support for these programs from parents, small business owners, and residents from all walks of life. We have an opportunity to build a different vision of safety in Durham: one that meets our neighbors where they are instead of criminalizing them. We just need to invest in it. W

Jillian Johnson and Javiera Caballero are at-large members of the Durham City Council.

“We know that alternatives to policing are effective—but it will take all of us to muster the political will to fully implement them.”

Seed Swap

Squash, cilantro, and Jimmy Nardello: At this swap meet, seeds are the stars.

BY ESMÉ FOX backtalk@indyweek.com

Under a banner declaring “everyone welcome,” a small group of Durhamites gather in the winter cold. The yard in front of the Durham Co-op is a sea of colorful wool hats and scarves. Two big black dogs near the parking lot serve as the greeting committee, while parents shepherd their bundled-up kids, reusable tote bags in tow.

“I would love to grow spinach, it just doesn’t work for me,” says a woman in a flowing green skirt, as she examines the table for her perfect seed fit.

This is the Durham Co-op’s Seed Swap, where different gardening-focused groups in Durham flaunt a variety of seeds for the taking—everything from sunflowers to pumpkin seeds to whole garlic bulbs. In exchange, amateur local gardeners donate seeds from their own collections.

A small group huddles around a woman in a brown suede coat named Jennifer, animatedly discussing a certain seed she’s brought—Jimmy Nardello, an Italian variety of sweet pepper. Jennifer generously divulges the secret of growing the vegetable: patience, at least until the plants fully ripen. “They’re good green, but they’re really good red.”

For people looking for more than Jimmy Nardello, the next picnic table offers a diverse assortment of crops such as squash, cilantro, and broccoli. All this bounty is thanks to the Digging Durham Seed Library, Durham County Library’s seed swap initiative, which celebrates its 10th

anniversary this year. The program offers a repository of seeds for “borrowing”—no library card required.

Library goers can check out seeds at seven library branches, along with a detailed brochure that explains how to care for the seeds, which include heirloom varieties. As part of the deal, patrons are encouraged to return with a donation for the next growing season. In addition to helping Durhamites level up their personal gardens, the program improves local biodiversity and sustainable food sources. One of the library’s most popular features, the program gave out over 8,000 seeds last year.

The repository is stocked seasonally, and spring seeds have just come in. Think hearty vegetables that can survive some winter frost like carrots, kale, and radishes. During the rest of the growing season—February to October— the seed library offers other crops like flowers and herbs, while supplies last. Librarian Jess Epsten shares a detailed harvest schedule for different seeds throughout the year, compiled based on “hundreds and hundreds of years of knowledge” about the local climate.

A sign directs people to the seed swap’s resident experts: “Ask a Master Gardener.” The master gardeners, part of a program run by the NC State Extension, are required to undergo a rigorous botany training process to earn their title.

“I get a little intimidated because I think, ‘There’s no way I’m going to remember all of this,’” admits Lina Davison, a master gardener intern dressed in head-to-toe marigold yellow. “But it’s a community of people who want to guide you. It’s a community of people who enjoy plants!” Kat Causey, a certified master gardener of 18 years, nods along. “I come to these events and I learn. I will learn from her, she will learn from me.”

Across the yard is Sunflower Turning, a new nonprofit fighting food injustice by teaching underserved communities to grow their own food. Their picnic table offers seeds donated by a dollar store to help people jumpstart their gardening journeys. The initiative is run out of the basement of Wendy Padilla, with the help of her daughters. “Our whole life is gardening,” her daughter says, giggling.

Keep Durham Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is situated by the exit. Wildflower seed mix packets are scattered across the table, and group representative Dawn Keyser recommends sowing the seeds now. The winter cold actually benefits many wildflowers, she explains, ensuring that they’ll bloom beautifully in the summertime.

As people share the perfect ratio of water and sunlight for growth, or murmur excitedly when they find the seed they’ve been looking for, master gardener Causey looks on with pride. “This is a true community gem. It engages the public as well as gardening experts. You can’t ask for more.” W

This story was published through a partnership between the INDY and 9th Street Journal, which is produced by journalism students at Duke University’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy.

Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.

Left: Seeds on offer from the Digging Durham Seed Library. Below: Visitors “check out” seeds from the Seed Library, a program of Durham County Library.

PHOTOS BY ABIGAIL BROMBERGER–THE 9TH STREET JOURNAL

Crisis Response

Raleigh’s ACORNS crisis response team will add new social worker positions.

BY JASMINE GALLUP jgallup@indyweek.com

I n the past 18 months Raleigh’s crisis response team, the ACORNS unit, has helped track down a birth certificate for someone in order to help them get SNAP benefits; built a rapport with someone on a university campus showing “concerning behaviors” and made connections with their family; and helped transport someone panhandling on Glenwood Avenue to their monthly medical appointment.

“We understand the need to foster growth, patience, relationships, and understanding with our community,” said Raleigh police lieutenant Renae Lockhart, who commands ACORNS (which stands for Addressing Crises through Outreach, Referrals, Networking, and Service). “We are all passionate about what we do and we are making sure we are seeing the people behind the homelessness, behind the mental health issues, and behind the substance use.”

Now, ACORNS will add a new social work supervisor and three new social workers to its existing team of nine, according to a presentation last week from Lockhart at Raleigh’s city council meeting.

The Raleigh City Council earmarked $800,000 for the expansion of ACORNS for the 2022–23 fiscal year. Now that the money has been allocated, the unit will

outline the new positions and hire people to fill them.

The three new social workers will be stationed in Raleigh’s busiest districts, where the ACORNS unit has seen the most activity: downtown, Southeast Raleigh, and North Raleigh. Some money will also be used to buy a data-tracking system, Lockhart added.

The system will help track the number of people with whom the unit comes in contact as well as their backgrounds and needs. City council members have also asked the unit to track the kinds of calls they respond to—for example, the number of encounters with people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

ACORNS, which began work in June 2021, is currently focused on helping people dealing with homelessness, mental health concerns, and substance abuse issues, Lockhart said. Team members work to connect people to the care they need.

The team is composed of Lockhart, a police sergeant, a detective, three officers, and three social workers. After the new positions are filled, the team will expand from 9 to 13 people. Everyone wears civilian clothing, rather than uniforms, while on duty, said police chief Estella Patterson.

Raleigh’s approach to crisis intervention

The ACORNS unit has faced some criticism for its approach to crisis intervention, which is different from some other programs where staff are dispatched through the 911 system. Specifically, the unit has drawn comparisons to Denver’s STAR program as well as Oregon’s CAHOOTS program.

“We are familiar with CAHOOTS. We’re familiar with the STAR program,” Lockhart said during her presentation. “Before the launch of ACORNS … the research and planning unit took a lot of time to research and talk to these other departments, other agencies. And what they came up with is what’s best for Raleigh.”

Detective Wendy Clark expanded on that point.

“When we started with the development of the unit, what we had envisioned turned out to be something very different than what we have now,” Clark said. She added that the department was finding success providing more of a “wraparound service.”

“We could respond to the 911 calls, [but] it’s putting a Band-Aid on [the problem],” Clark continued. “You’re responding to the original crisis. What we’re doing is we’re coming in on the back side, making

sure people are connected to resources … and making sure they’re getting from point A to point B, so there are not repeat calls for service.”

Who responds to people in crisis?

Right now, the ACORNS unit itself initiates calls for service, meaning members decide when and where they go out into the community. The ACORNS unit monitors police radio and officer dispatches, but they are not directed by 911 operators. Still, ACORNS does respond to 911 calls alongside officers and follows up with the people that officers encounter during their patrols.

“If there is a call where … somebody that is in crisis or somebody that’s dealing with a mental health issue, these individuals do respond to that,” said Patterson. “The officers know the routine by now. They will call us up front and say, ‘We need to have ACORNS respond to this call.’”

The Raleigh Police Department also has a crisis intervention team, with officers who are specifically trained to respond to mental health crises, as well as a crisis negotiation unit, which responds to “barricaded subjects and hostage situations,” Lockhart said.

Police parked on Martin St. PHOTO BY JADE WILSON

Lockhart added that dispatching ACORNS unit members through the 911 system may be an option for the future, “as long as it’s not taking away from the care navigation we’re providing right now …. When we have the additional staff, we may be able to be dispatched to certain groups of calls that would be helpful to patrol [officers].”

By the numbers

ACORNS team members spend most of their time out in the field, Lockhart said. From August 2021 to December 2022, they responded to more than 1,000 calls for service. The unit’s top three requests were for follow-up investigations—with people dealing with mental health issues or overdose; requests for transportation to shelters, medical care, or other services; and searches for missing persons.

During that same time, the ACORNS unit made contact with 546 people in need, secured 86 release-of-information forms (which help them coordinate care), and accepted nearly 400 referrals from RPD, the unit reported. Lockhart added that the program has been able to help nine people find permanent housing and reconnected seven people to their families.

“The majority of the folks we come in contact with are new to Raleigh,” Lockhart said. “They’re looking for resources.”

That was expected, according to city staff.

“A lot of the folks on the regular roll now are people that have been dropped off at Moore Square or dropped off downtown, and it’s not necessarily Raleigh natives,” said City Manager Marchell Adams-David. “Our perspective is, we provide help to whoever needs it. There’s no picking and choosing.”

ACORNS is also working on securing regular transportation for people who need it, rather than just meeting their needs on a case-by-case basis with limited staff. City council members are working on creating a van service for the ACORNS unit and social workers to use in partnership with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. The ACORNS unit is also working on buying three of its own vans and creating a mobile office.

It all comes back to housing

The biggest outstanding need for the people served by the ACORNS unit is, predictably, affordable housing. One of the social workers with the unit, Chelsea Levy, explained that the number of vouchers (which qualify people for discounted or emergency housing) far outnumber available apartments and other housing.

“The bucket is full of [vouchers], but there is nowhere to house them,” said Levy. “There is almost no affordable housing in the city of Raleigh, so those vouchers are actually being recycled back to the Raleigh Housing Authority, and those people are finding themselves still experiencing homelessness.”

Levy said she and others have been working with Wake County to find private landlords willing to help (through the county’s Landlord Engagement Unit), but “there’s just not enough to go around.” Levy often works with people who may have a criminal history, evictions, or poor credit, which makes it harder to find private landlords willing to rent to them, she said.

The waitlist for vouchers is around five to seven years, which means that once people are forced to give them up, they could remain on the streets for a half decade or more. Vouchers can be extended for up to 120 days once issued, about four months, but after that, many people are out of luck.

“A lot of people are having to turn back in their vouchers and get back on the waitlist and just cross their fingers,” Levy said. “They’re on the street, in shelters, self-paying for hotels. I have a lot of contacts who are receiving disability checks every month and then they’re using it up in a week and a half on hotels, because it’s cold. There is [the] White Flag [shelter], but a lot of those who have been in shelters for years and years, they just don’t want to return.” W

For more information, or if you know someone who needs help, contact the ACORNS unit at ACORNS@raleighnc.gov or 919-996-3345.

“The biggest outstanding need for the people served by the ACORNS unit is, predictably, affordable housing.”

Vanishing Trees

Crews are cutting down old oak trees in a North Raleigh neighborhood. Residents want to know why.

BY JASMINE GALLUP jgallup@indyweek.com

Matt Stanwick, who lives in a townhome community in North Raleigh with his wife, was walking his dog River through the neighborhood on a rare sunny day in mid-January when he noticed there weren’t as many trees as there used to be.

Where dozens of oak trees once stood in small pockets around townhomes, there were now just scattered saplings, dogwoods, and pines standing among the many stumps hidden by fallen leaves. In some areas, about a quarter of the trees had been chopped down. In others, up to half of the trees were gone, according to Stanwick.

For the renters of homes located in Edwards Mill Townhomes and Apartments, the neighborhood is a rare pocket of serenity in the ever-changing, ever-growing North Raleigh—at least, it used to be. Since January 12, dozens of trees in the quiet, secluded community have been cut down, leaving wood chips scattered across the parking lot and tree limbs and trunks sliced into pieces on the side of the road.

Stanwick, who has lived in Edwards Mill for about a year, knew crews had been at work doing tree trimming and removal—the buzz and rattle of chainsaws and wood chippers was almost nonstop for at least a week, he says. But he, like many of the residents, had no idea why the trees were coming down when work first started.

“We assumed they were just kind of doing cleanup, but it was pretty quickly obvious that it was more than that, [with] as much as they were cutting,” Stanwick says. “It wasn’t until probably a few days in that we received an email from management.”

Even that email was frustrating, Stanwick says, because it didn’t fully explain why the trees were coming down but

simply threatened to tow cars that were in construction zones. Another email from the new management company—ZRS Management—explained the tree-trimming and removal project was set to take a total of three to four weeks. By the end of January, who knows how many trees will be left.

Why cut down the trees?

Explanations about the tree removal have varied. Stanwick says he recalls a property manager saying they wanted to “let more sunlight in.” That’s an explanation several other residents say they have heard, including one anonymous social media user who posted a lengthy protest on Reddit.

“I understand needing to cut trees because of danger to property if they fall, or roots getting into foundations, or into plumbing,” the resident wrote. “That’s not what’s happening here. They literally told me they want to ‘open it up’ and ‘make it brighter’ so anything with a particular diameter is being cut down.”

On the other hand, ZRS has also sent emails to residents stating the tree removal is for safety reasons. Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation from the management company, forwarded this explanation from ZRS:

“[Work] is being completed due to the structural damage as the roots and branches are overgrown,” the statement read. “As the roots grow, they damage sidewalks, foundations, and underground piping around the community. Also, the overgrown branches are causing damage to the rooftops of the buildings. We are trying to prevent structural

damage to the community and other issues that could cause water intrusion later on. We do apologize that the communication was not sent out when this project started to let residents know.”

That same resident, who has lived in Edwards Mill since 2008, refuted this claim, saying he and his partner have not seen roots breaking up the parking lot or sidewalk and that most of the trees and branches being cut are healthy.

When asked about the tree-cutting, ZRS property manager Emilia Wright told the INDY she had “no comment.” In a follow-up email, regional manager Katie Schane reiterated that sentiment, writing, “I am unable to provide you with any comment at this time.”

The consensus among residents is that they understand the need for tree trimming from time to time—especially of expansive, overhanging, or sick or dead trees—but the kind of clear-cutting that’s happening now is unacceptable.

“I’m disgusted,” says 64-year-old Steve Austin, who has lived in Edwards Mill for about six years. “All my animals are gone. All my squirrels, all my chipmunks, all my birds are gone. It looks like a natural disaster kind of a scene.”

Austin, who is retired, says he spends a lot of time in his front- and backyard shadowboxing. His unit is one of the few with an expansive lawn, which was mostly forest up until two weeks ago. Austin also does a lot of walking in local parks, so he says he understands that tree maintenance has to be done. If the trees are sick or at risk of falling on his house, “by all means, remove them,” Austin says.

“If it’s something that had to be done, that’s one thing,” he adds. “I mean, some of the trees are leaning in a precarious position to the house … but from what I heard, the original deal when they sold the property was that the

PHOTO BY BRETT VILLENA

trees were supposed to stay.”

That natural landscape is one of the reasons Austin moved into Edwards Mill in the first place.

“Now a lot of the shade is gone,” he says. “My car was always in the shade. Now it’s not. My house was nice and cool in the summer. Now it won’t be.”

Chainsaws and wood chippers

The buzz and rattle of chainsaws and wood chippers has been nonstop in Edwards Mill since early January, residents say. It starts as early as 8 a.m. and can last all day, according to some who work from home.

It’s unclear who made the decision to cut down the trees. The property has changed hands a few times since it was expanded in the 1990s, but no drastic changes happened until it was sold this year to Covenant Capital Group, based in Nashville, Tennessee, according to Wake County records.

The former owner, RK Properties in Florida, sold the 37-acre property for $56.5 million on January 5, according to records. The new owner also brought on a change in management, with ZRS Properties moving into the leasing office. Tree removal started just seven days later.

Property owners are generally allowed to do what they like within the boundaries of their land, including cutting down trees, says Justin Rametta, a zoning administrator with the City of Raleigh. They are bound by certain rules, including the city’s tree conservation ordinance, which took effect in 2005. Essentially, the ordinance requires that 10–15 percent of trees on properties bigger than two acres must be preserved when a property is being developed or redeveloped.

Since Edwards Mill was built before this law took effect, the owners weren’t bound to it, says Rametta. But they may still be bound by other parts of zoning law, which requires natural buffers on the edges of the property.

Due to the complaints from residents, the City of Raleigh opened an investigation into the tree cutting on January 18, which is meant to determine whether the property owner is violating any city codes by cutting down certain trees. If found in violation, the owner could face thousands of dollars in fees, depending on how many trees were illegally removed. An inspection was scheduled for January 24, after the INDY went to print.

“Basically, part of that investigation entails looking into whether any of the trees that were moved are required [by the city] or violated any of the city’s tree protection ordinances,” Rametta says. “There are some protections that apply to trees around the perimeter of the property.”

Tree conservation

The city’s tree conservation rules are designed to protect the environment by preventing clear-cutting, preserving the tree canopy, and protecting existing mature trees. In addition to preserving animal habitats, protecting trees can prevent stormwater runoff and flooding, a common complaint among city residents. The merits of trees in urban areas have been extensively documented: not only do they provide shade, potentially lowering utility bills, but they absorb heat and greenhouse gas emissions, reduce noise pollution, and provide habitats for wildlife.

As climate change worsens, urban residents have pushed for better environmental protections. The environment was a significant talking point in Raleigh’s elections last year, when environmentalists Jane Harrison and Mary Black-Branch were elected. Even before the election, however, the city council was considering expanding tree protections.

“Tree conservation policies in Raleigh are woefully inadequate for the development pressures we are facing,” Harrison wrote in an email. “It’s common to see small properties clear-cut and minimal tree protections for larger developments. We need a real plan to preserve forest cover or it will be lost. We must plant and maintain tree canopy cover if we value the beauty, shade, cooling effects, water filtration, and carbon sequestration trees provide.”

The city council is currently considering expanding tree protections, an initiative that started last year before the elections. The new policy proposes tree conservation requirements for properties under two acres, as well protections for “champion” trees and planting requirements for smaller lots.

It “has the potential to protect native species to the Piedmont such as oaks, basswoods, and hickories. It’s a step in the right direction,” Harrison wrote.

“Basically what [the city council has] asked staff to look into is potential ways to reduce the threshold for tree conservation … from two acres to one acre,” says Rametta. “[We’re also] exploring other ways we might be able to increase tree protections on lots that are even smaller than one acre.”

Tree preservation is just one part of a larger initiative by the city to increase sustainability and take action on climate change, Rametta says.

“We’re working with Wake County … on a tree canopy study to scientifically determine exactly how much tree canopy exists today and where we might focus on preserv[ing] that canopy,” he says. “The city has adopted a climate action plan. These tree conservation rules are just one small piece of a larger initiative the city has regarding trees in general and environmental health.”

PHOTO BY JASMINE GALLUP

“The city has adopted a climate action plan. These tree conservation rules are just one small piece of a larger initiative the city has regarding trees in general and environmental health.”

W PHOTO BY SHANA SCUDDER

Speaking Out at Any Age

A conversation with Ibram X. Kendi about How To Be a (Young) Anti-Racist, co-author Nic Stone’s adaptation of his bestselling manual, ahead of a Raleigh stop on their book launch tour.

BY SHELBI POLK arts@indyweek.com

Alittle over a year after its release, How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi became an international sensation. In the summer of 2020, protests broke out across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death, and Kendi became a household name in some wildly different circles. How to Be an Antiracist was Kendi’s third book, and it has since been adapted into a children’s book, a journal, and a parent’s guide to raising an antiracist.

For the newest version, Kendi handed the reins to Nic Stone, the New York Times best-selling author of several young adult novels, including Dear Martin. Stone took the structure of the original Antiracist and turned it around to tell Kendi his own stories. How to Be a Young Antiracist is written with an inviting second-person narration that follows Kendi through many of the early experiences he recounts in the original.

Stone also shares some of her experiences as a Black, queer woman, adding intersections to a young reader’s understanding of discrimination. Rofhiwa Book Café and Quail Ridge Books will host both Kendi and Stone on the fourth of 10 stops of their book launch tour for How to Be a Young Antiracist, which comes out on January 31 alongside the paperback edition of How to Be an Antiracist.

The event will be held at Meredith College’s Jones Auditorium, and the ticket price will include a copy of the book. Ahead of the event, INDY Week spoke to Kendi about the work and collaboration with .

INDY Week: I think the most obvious question, but one that people are going to need to know, is why are you versioning this book?

IBRAM X. KENDI: Well, I think, first and foremost, because even kids 12 and up are unfortunately being told that there’s something better or worse about them or wrong or right about them because of the color of their skin. Even young people are facing things like police violence, or houselessness, or disproportionate amounts of poverty. Teenagers can see and oftentimes experience racism, and so for them to have clarity about what racism is, and

more importantly what they can do to challenge it, I think is important. I also think a large portion of the personal narrative is actually in some of the most critical moments was when I was a teenager. And I think that that’s going to be quite enchanting, particularly for teenagers.

Tell me about working with Nic Stone. The choice to put it in the second person was really interesting to me.

I’m just so excited to be able to work with Nic Stone, and what I was really excited to see was the way in which Nic Stone, I think through her own creativity and brilliance, was literally able to create an entirely new book. Like this is a completely different experience from it being in first person. The organization of the chapters is pretty radically different, [and] the voice, obviously.

Certainly this technically is an adaptation, but in many ways it’s a completely new book that’s rightly geared to teenagers.

I have to admit that I didn’t read the first version until after it had become so infamous in some circles, and I was shocked by how gentle it is. I love, especially in this young-adult version, how inclusive it is of everyone who’s trying to do any kind of this work. Were you surprised by how much attention the first version got?

We certainly wanted many people to be reading the book and reflecting on themselves and society, but I would have never imagined it would have become, like, a global best-seller and that people around the world would learn about what it means to be antiracist. It wasn’t even something I could necessarily dream of.

I have not spent a lot of time responding to the misrepresentations and misinformation surrounding How to Be an Antiracist. And part of the reason is because I feel that whoever takes the time to read the book, they’re going to see for themselves that that misinformation was false.

IBRAM X. KENDI AND NIC STONE IN CONVERSATION WITH DAMON TWEEDY Rofhiwa Book Café in partnership with Quail Ridge Books | Feb. 1, 7 p.m. | Jones Auditorium at Meredith College, Raleigh

What have you heard from parents about how the earlier versions have helped them? What do you hope to hear about this version?

I think what I’ve heard from parents and even teachers is that it allowed them to become much more self-reflective. It allowed them to really begin to think about their own life, their own journey, how they came to believe what they do believe about different racial groups. And similarly, I’m hoping the same thing happens for young people. Our young people, they are deeply introspective. And they obviously, in many cases, aren’t as sensitive as we are to being self-critical. So, I actually think in certain types of ways, our young people are much more open to understanding their world and understanding themselves, and that’s why I’m excited to get this book before them.

Are you heartened by the conversations we’re having now for high schoolers, middle schoolers, whoever, to be following along with these really serious conversations?

I am heartened that there are. For instance, Nic Stone is part of, really, a generation of YA authors of different backgrounds who are writing all different types of novels that are relevant to the experiences of so many of our young people. I think I am just excited about just this outpouring of literature in this moment by these incredible authors. We just did not have that when I was a kid, and certainly when I was in middle school, in high school.

Of course, the genesis of so many of these conversations is tragedy.

It is. And it is tragic, for instance, to know that there are kids like Adam Toledo, 12 years old in Chicago, and even Tamir Rice in Cleveland, who were killed as a result of the violence of racism. So, I think for us as caregivers, as people who love our children—whether it’s children who are being harmed by police violence or even our young, white,

male young people who are being recruited online by white supremacists on multiplayer video games or through direct messages on social media—it’s critically important for us to expose them to this literature. So that they know that they’re not the problem.

I read in some older interviews that your daughter was six. Is she in first grade now? She’s six, in first grade.

What do your conversations about race look like with her? Mostly, when we are talking about race and racism, typically it happens in one or two areas. Either we’re reading a book on it, which allows us to have conversations, or something is happening in my life, or her mother’s life, or in society somewhere. And we see the effects of racism, and we show it to her, and we explain it to her, and we talk to her about it.

Sometimes she has questions. Sometimes she doesn’t. Or in other cases, my partner and I, we’re talking about something, and she’s actually more willing to ask questions because we didn’t initiate it. We always are trying to figure out ways to put her in a position that she becomes curious, because typically, there’ll be much more robust conversations.

How are you hoping her schools approach this going forward?

I’m hoping that her schools, and really the schools of all our children, realize that one of the most important things we must do for our children is to raise them to be antiracist and put literature in front of them that helps facilitate that goal. And what it means to be antiracist for a child is for them to be able to see all the different-looking people in their community and not see certain people as better or worse. What it means for a young person is for them to begin to understand that there are bad rules in our soci-

ety, not bad people. And what it means for our children is for them to understand the history of those rules and the history of this country and also for them to begin to understand that their culture is different than the cultures of other peoples. But that doesn’t make it better or worse. It’s just different and sort of generates a curiosity for the multiplicity of humanity.

We briefly talked about people who intentionally have misused your work. What about parents who mean well? Are there any concerns you have about how, especially, white parents could possibly misuse a book with the best of intentions here?

I do think we should not hand How to be a Young Antiracist to a child, to a young person, and then say to them, “This is all you need to read on the subject.” That’s one of the reasons why we pair How to Be a Young Antiracist with Stamped—if one is the backstory, one is the action plan. So, I think it’s better for parents to introduce the book as more of an introduction, and then students or young people will continue their reading on other subjects.

I’m excited about the fact that the paperback edition of How to Be an Antiracist is coming out on the same day. Because it gives parents and students and teachers the ability to reread, or read for the first time, the adult book when their child or their student is reading the younger book.

So when that student has questions, or when they want to have conversations, older people are more equipped to be able to do so. I think this is the type of book that is just going to spark conversations. And obviously, I think one of the things we tried to convey to young people through the book is that the most important thing, obviously, is asking the question. W

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. A longer version is available online.

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To Be or Not to Be

Hamlet gets a makeover with PlayMaker’s production, which stars Tia James as the lead and Honest Pint Theatre Company’s gritty cop drama shines.

BY BYRON WOODS arts@indyweek.com

After opening night, Tia James only got two chances to play Mark Antony before the start of the pandemic closed all theater, including PlayMakers Rep’s production of Julius Caesar, back in March 2020. But even by then, artistic director Vivienne Benesch already knew she wanted to see what James would do with Hamlet

“She’s got an extraordinary gift with the language. She’s quick-witted; she’s vulnerable, but she’s also fierce,” Benesch says. “That complexity is what you need for Hamlet.”

The two raise the curtain on one of the most-talked-about shows of the year when Hamlet opens this week in Chapel Hill.

James was “completely surprised” when Caesar’s guest director Andrew Borba cast her as the loyal warrior three years ago. “That kind of broke a certain box that maybe I or the people or the industry had been putting myself in: ‘Oh, I can only play certain roles,’” she says.

Subsequent casting as Benedick in a summertime Boston production of Much Ado about Nothing added to the actor’s confidence in claiming roles previously saved for men. In that play, when Hero’s reputation is ruined by Benedick’s best friend Claudio, she needs a man to stand up for her. “But in our production, I go to him and say, ‘Actually, we are going to fight, and it’s going to be to the death. Your honor is at stake, and you’re going to be held accountable by me, as a Black woman.’ It not only meant soli-

darity with women, but that I don’t need a man to stand up for my honor or my friend’s honor. I will stand up.”

It’s Benesch’s first time directing Hamlet, and as she and her company explored the text, she realized that Hamlet’s part “has so much feminine, masculine, and everything in between in it already, that bringing a woman to the role really feels very natural.”

“It has just opened up the possibilities of the text more,” she continues. “We’ve had to do next to no twisting to make something work.”

The production cuts against cultural gatekeeping that reserves power—and stage time—for specific hierarchies involving gender, sexuality, and race. Hamlet here is a Black woman, the heir in the family of a Black monarch. In love with Ophelia, her Hamlet is queer but not disadvantaged, in a culture that openly accepts gays and lesbians.

“It was very important to me that queerness not be otherized in this production,” Benesch says. In the same vein, she’s not creating a world in which “a predominantly white audience needs to justify” that Hamlet isn’t set in an African state.

“In terms of social norms and expectations, I wasn’t interested in spending a lot of time justifying,” Benesch says. “I was really interested in spending time exploring.”

When Hamlet is a woman, a number of lines land differently. When a female Hamlet says of Queen Gertrude, “Frailty, thy

name is woman,” she’s not condemning a lesser sex but decrying the common fate women share in that culture. And when Gertrude and Hamlet have a mother-daughter relationship, that changes the alchemy in a host of other relationships as well.

“I have never worked on a play that, when you open a door, there are six more doors right on the other side of it,” Benesch says. The approach, Benesch says, is grounded in “literally just letting the casting reveal the dimensionality of the script; letting this particular company reveal the play.”

Cracking the cultural locks on such a gatekept work gives it the chance to speak more universally. “It’s a story we know well, and sometimes we don’t want to listen in a new way,” Benesch says. “But the choices we make that are affected by this particular casting means that this version is going in a certain direction.”

And that has caused her to let go of the idea of making a final, definitive work—what she would call “the” Hamlet

“It is a Hamlet,” Benesch says. “I hope it’s a good one, and an engaging one.”

Particularly given all that has come before, it’s significant that the last seconds of Honest Pint Theatre’s harrowing revival of A Steady Rain are as uncomfortable as any in that production. By then all the cards in playwright Keith Huff’s deck have been placed face up, in a decid-

edly unhurried dissection of the ethical gangrene that has set in after two street cops, Denny (Ryan Brock) and Joey (David Henderson), lifelong friends who grew up together on the scuzzy streets of inner-city Chicago, have become increasingly complicit in and enabling of each other’s personal and professional failings.

In the staccato rhythms of their hardnosed neighborhood and work, the nuances in what had been their alpha-and-betadog relationship have been forcibly stripped away, along with the rationalizations, dodges, and lies that have let both of these repellent characters kid themselves that they’re the good guys. Denny’s marriage and the lives of other central characters have been permanently compromised by his toxic masculinity and reckless behavior, and Joey’s responses no longer read on what remains of his moral compass.

Under Susannah Hough’s direction, Brock’s and Henderson’s characters have both been sculpted—that is, carved down— to their dark essentials: what can be least defended, and what both are ultimately capable of.

They stare us down, as they face us, behind the table at a hearing different from the Internal Affairs probe that both had counted on. In the final moments of this gritty, profoundly disturbing psychological drama, they openly dare us to judge them. And that is why we must. W

Tia James (Hamlet) and Sekou Laidlow (Claudius) in fight rehearsal. PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAYMAKERS REPERTORY COMPANY

HAMLET

PlayMakers Repertory Company | Jan. 25–Feb. 13

A STEADY RAIN | HHHH1/2 Honest Pint Theatre Company | Theatre Raleigh Studio Theater | Through Feb. 4

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Unknown Country

Inspired by her exodus from her farmhouse on the Eno, H.C. McEntire’s Every Acre is a prophetic poem of grief, grace, place, and privilege.

BY BRIAN HOWE music@indyweek.com

A ll songs know the future. Words sung 10, 20, 200 years ago still speak to us now with uncanny precision. Music foretells every mistake we will make and loss we will suffer, but it cloaks its warnings in beauty, so we do not heed. Instead, listeners use shuffle as an oracle, and artists often say things they don’t understand, finding out what they meant only later.

Grief, too, can have a premonitory shimmer, like an aura before a migraine, when currents we can feel but not name are moving us toward places we can sense but not see. This aura softly crackles around Every Acre, H.C. McEntire’s third album for Merge Records. McEntire knew the chorus of “Rows of Clover” was the album’s emotional center: “It ain’t the easy kind of

healing when you’re down on your knees, clawing at the garden.” But other lyrics took time to unveil themselves in both heartbreaking and healing ways.

One stanza—the term is used advisedly to describe McEntire’s symmetrical, epigrammatic verses—in that same downy piano ballad begins, “Bow beside the granite mound: at your heels, the steadfast hound.”

At first, it was the usual discreetly autobiographical flash of her life by the Eno River on the Orange County line. She didn’t know that her 14-year-old dog, Lou, would pass away after the record was finished, pouring supernal light into the descriptive lines, which conclude: “Crawl to cracks where the light gets through—warm and golden, absolute.”

“We would go to this altar I made in the woods and sit and meditate—well, I’d meditate; I don’t know what she’d do,” McEntire says one recent evening, laughing through a sadness that still appears fresh and sharp. “This album has revealed itself postproduction in a way that I’ve never experienced. ‘Foreshadowing’ is a good way to put it—I knew that my life was about to change.”

As she was making Every Acre, she was facing the possibility of having to leave the 100-year-old farmhouse where her songs’ distinctive dailiness has elapsed for a decade. Now she has left, living only half a mile but a whole world away. Furthermore, while making the album, one love ended and another began; after the album, it ended too. Every Acre wound

up as the conjunction at the center of all these befores and afters, these causes and effects.

“I wanted to be really open about my depression and anxiety, but I didn’t know that after mixing the record I would interpret the songs in such a healing way,” McEntire says. “It felt otherworldly at the time; there was a sort of ease to it.”

Indeed, the turbulent themes of Every Acre roil behind a surprisingly light, relaxed version of her stark yet luscious country music. This energy, it turns out, is the sparkle of collaboration.

As you might expect of a meticulous writer who came to songwriting by way of poetry, which still resides at the core of her identity—and, sure, with the irresistible lure of having a great country voice— McEntire usually enters the studio fully prepared, but this time she had only six songs ready.

She developed a palette with coproducer Missy Thangs (cool, silvery jets of electric guitar; warm, pliant organs) and left plenty of room for her longtime band, including bassist Casey Toll and drummer Daniel Faust. Meanwhile, guitarist and coproducer Luke Norton was sending her riffs and sections to write over. This, along with her intuitions of turmoil, freed her from habitual chord progressions and vocal phrasings.

“I wanted to see what would happen if we relied on the instincts and trust we’ve built over the years and to kind of keep myself on my toes,” McEntire explains. “At least a third of the record we composed together, and I mumbled out scratch vocals and wrote lyrics later.”

There are also two guest stars. First, S.G. Goodman sings backup on the hypnotic “Shadows.”

“She’s from Kentucky; she is queer and writes about the complexities of the South. Everyone kept telling me I should check her out, and I was like, ah, OK,” McEntire says, conveying the reluctance we all feel when told that someone is just like us. But she did love the music, and they started building a connection when they played a show together at Motorco with Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray, whose championship first boosted McEntire to national acclaim.

“Amy’s a good friend at this point,” McEntire says. “We’ve been collaborating

H.C. McEntire

PHOTO BY HEATHER EVANS SMITH

H.C. MCENTIRE: EVERY ACRE

Merge Records; Jan. 27 | Release show: Jan 26, 6:30 p.m. | Schoolkids Records | Raleigh

for over 10 years now. I feel like she’s a mentor but also a peer, which is a special thing. And I knew she was the right voice for ‘Turpentine’ because of all her work in Native rights.”

All songs know the future, but they also remember the past, built as they are on stratified mounds of convention and invention, technology and culture, satiety and struggle, inspiration and theft. Befores and afters, causes and effects.

To me, McEntire’s great theme is about how life’s changes register when you hold still in one place and pay attention for a long time. If Every Acre is “a long goodbye” to the land she has observed so closely and loved so well, it is also a reckoning with what she has taken from and owes it. Her music has been so intimately hewn from this ground that it seems right for the album to come with a land acknowledgment—to the Eno, Lumbee, Occaneechi, and other peoples whose dominion on the river casts her 10 years in a small light.

The issues of ownership and privilege came to consume her research while writing the album, which, in all, seems to be about giving up what you realize never belonged to you.

The theme is sounded clearly in “Turpentine,” in which McEntire minds the boundaries of the terrain and the bones underneath it before reaching the cleansing epiphany, “Hallelujah, turpentine! We can tend the land for a little while.” And in “Shadows,” when a quatrain of questions about how to “make room” resolves:

Leave this place just like you found it: Posts of cedar, coils of wire, Tangled up inside the briar; Like shadows on fire. W

“This album has revealed itself postproduction in a way that I’ve never experienced.

‘Foreshadowing’’ is a good way to put it—I knew that my life was about to change.”

As Tears Go By

Talking with the photographer Laurel Nakadate, whose work is on display at the Ackland Art Museum, about grief, bodily autonomy, and the stories we tell ourselves through social media.

BY MICHAELA DWYER arts@indyweek.com

L ast week, the Ackland Museum of Art opened an exhibition of 10 photographs by the photographer, filmmaker, and video performance artist Laurel Nakadate. Part of the Ackland’s permanent collection, Ten Performances from 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears, is also an excerpt from Nakadate’s 2010 durational project during which the artist photographed herself crying every day for a year.

Presented as a set of large-scale chromogenic prints wrapped around a small gallery, the photographs are eerily timeless immersions in the intimacy of another. They feel like fever-dream riffs on the endless online search results for “best places to cry” or exemplars of “Sad Girl Theory” years before it was popularized.

Reflecting on the project more than a decade later—in between teaching, directing the MFA program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and continu-

ing her own artistic projects—Nakadate spoke with INDY Week about visual representations of grief, body autonomy, and the stories we tell ourselves through social media.

INDY WEEK: Hi, Laurel. Where are you right now?

LAUREL NAKADATE: I’m in Boston. It’s a nice winter day where it’s a little bit wet and cold. But it can always be worse, right?

At least it’s not snowing! But I don’t know how you feel about snow.

I’m from Iowa, so snow is OK. Last winter, we had a ton of snow for a couple weeks. And they just piled it all up into these massive sculptures at the side of the street. I spent a lot of time walking around, marveling at the beautiful icebergs in the middle of Boston.

Did you document it?

As a photographer, it’s impossible for me not to document things when I see them. I’ve always had that impulse to record the thing: to make it real or to acknowledge that it existed.

It’s connected to the [365 Days] work, which came out of the idea of the selfie. Late 2009 was the first time I heard the term “selfie,” and it was from a teenage girl. She said it so naturally and with such ease. [Taking selfies] was a way to be seen; it was a way for teenagers to create their own photo booth and document themselves within a language they owned. I really latched on to that and felt something big about it. I was in that stage between childhood and adulthood when you’re still swimming in both worlds.

I was also thinking about the way we used photography and social media in the late aughts. People seemed really happy: we had a great year, we went skiing, everything’s perfect, and we have this cute dog. I didn’t feel that way inside. I didn’t have a great year; nothing was going right, and I didn’t have a dog, you know? I wanted to participate in sadness and grief and put those images on social media and, through the tools of performance and photography, to put that story right up against how everyday consumers of social media were using photography.

Back then, social media wasn’t really a container that could hold that emotional spectrum or ambivalence. It was a greeting card. I never felt that the greeting card I could make was the one people wanted to receive. The project I made is sort of the anti–greeting card of the internet.

The first month of my project was actually really hard. I had to find prompts from pop culture to figure out how to get [the crying] done. But as the project progressed, I felt like I could cry about anything. It became so easy. I could literally stand in front of people and just start weeping.

Today you can see so many visual expressions of crying on social media, from the more dramatic and theatrical to the more mundane.

“Theatricality” is a really interesting word. In the theater, people are always experiencing grief and speaking about grief because we go to the theater to learn something about who we are. So of course there would be crying or grief because that’s part of the human experience. But [in 2009] the internet was not fully part of the human experience, not something we identified with in a human way.

Your work has always centered self-portraiture and performances of the self. How did 365 Days evolve from your practice at the time?

Around the time I started graduate school, I went to my grandparents’ house in Oregon and was shown a photograph of my [Japanese] great-grandmothers, who were brought to America as picture brides. The chance strange-

“November 12, 2010” by Laurel Nakadate PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ACKLAND ART MUSEUM

LAUREL NAKADATE: TEN PERFORMANCES FROM 365 DAYS: A CATALOGUE OF TEARS

The Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill | Open until April 2

ness of that—of being chosen to come to a country based on your physical attributes— was really fascinating to me. So I started going out and making pictures with men I met through chance encounters, and I started thinking about the chance involved in how we build a life with someone.

I was also thinking about the way Asian American people are viewed in photographs and how we historically have not been able to document ourselves. My father spent the earliest part of his childhood in a concentration camp, and his family was not allowed to document themselves, because cameras were illegal for Japanese Americans during World War II. It was important for me to document myself as a mixed-race American person and to be able to tell this story about myself. Even if it was a constructed narrative built out of chance encounters with people I didn’t know, it was still a conversation about my body and my self in those spaces.

I think some people didn’t get the work. People weren’t seeing their own bias against a young Asian person building a narrative around her own experience and her relationship to whiteness. A lot of people early on were like, “How dare you insert yourself into the lives of these men if you’re not going to marry or date them? What gives you that right?” 365 Days was another opportunity for me to look at myself, to place my body in the frame, to be recognized by the camera.

I was thinking about this aspect of your work because I just saw the comedian Kate Berlant’s one-woman show that’s up in New York. The fulcrum of the show is [Berlant’s] performance of her inability to cry on cue.

And the whole theatrical experience is mediated through a live filming of her face; she keeps approaching the camera trying over and over again to cry. She tells the audience that the process is incomplete until we see visual evidence of a tear coming down her cheek.

In 365 Days, the photos don’t always hinge on this visual evidence of a tear. In constructing these images, how did you decide what to show or what not to show?

I knew I wanted there to be a variety of the before, during, and after of crying: the full spectrum of the experience. If every single shot was just of my crying face, that would have felt like a scientific study of crying. I also wanted the pictures to be beautiful: meaning, I wanted them as photographic images to hold together. I also wanted to think about the spaces that I was in. In the series, you really

travel around the world with me. Being able to stand back and see more of a hotel room or a bed or a truckstop—seeing the context for where my body is—is also important.

I did re-perform this piece in 2020 on Instagram (@365_tears). I photographed the book in square format for every day of 2020, letting the light from 2020 interact with the surface of the print from 2010.

You teach students. Do you see connections or resonances between what you were working on around that age to what young artists are interested in now?

I feel like it’s a given now that you can be vulnerable as a young artist. The work I made in 2010 was really vulnerable work. The internet was not ready for me to post it then. If I’d done this work in 2010 in art school, I would have had to unpack the whole thing. Now, I think people would just be like, “Well, I wasn’t feeling happy, so I made this picture.” There is so much more permission now. Or there’s less stigma around speaking about grief.

Earlier in my career, I did a Q&A. And someone said to me, “What gives you the right to use your body in this way?” I was so young that I actually was trying to unpack it and answer the question, when the answer should have been, “Why don’t I have the right to use my own body?”

Or like, “What gives you the right to ask me that question?”

Right. But I couldn’t even turn it at that moment. I think when people take away our rights, sometimes we’re confused about what’s happening. Thinking back now, that person literally was trying to separate me from being in control of my own body. And it’s hard not to feel like it was really wrapped up in the intersections of race and gender. I look back now in horror over those kinds of questions and the ways I could and couldn’t defend myself.

In some ways, I feel like the best teaching I do is actually just letting the work be there for other people and be a way to grant permission for people to tell their own story. [In showing 365 Days in various museums and galleries], I’ve gotten letters from students who have talked about their own experiences with grief at a really young age. Thinking about the sorts of things I’ve done while on this planet, that feels important: the idea that I’ve given other young artists permission to be in grief. W

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. A longer version is available online.

indy?

Earning a Living

The moral of this British period drama is familiar: You can lose your life to bureaucracy and busywork. But it still hits the mark.

BY GLENN MCDONALD arts@indyweek.com

In terms of pure storytelling, the British period drama Living has quite the pedigree. The movie is adapted from a 1952 film by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, which was in turn inspired by an 1886 novella by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. That’s got to be a pretty good story, right?

And so it is. Set in 1950s England, Living stars Bill Nighy as Mr. Williams, a bureaucrat who has spent his entire life in the deadening routine of a London desk job. Chin up, steady on, and all that. When a medical diagnosis reveals he has mere months to live, Mr. Williams sets out on an improvised adventure—a last-minute attempt to learn a different way of living.

Mr. Williams begins by ditching work (“skiving” is the British term, evidently) for the first time ever. In an existential fog, he drifts to a seaside resort with the intention of “living a little” in the taverns, speakeasies, and penny arcades. It doesn’t really work out, although he does drunkenly sing a heartbreaking Scottish folk tune in a piano bar. If you’re the sort to cry at a movie like this, here is the first of several opportunities.

Mr. Williams eventually limps back to London and strikes up an unlikely and touching intergenerational friendship with Miss Harris (Aimee Lou Wood), a cheerful young woman who recently and reasonably also left a soul-crushing office job. (They address one another as Mr. and Miss—it’s adorable.) Mr. Williams finds himself incapable of disclosing his condition to his son, so Miss Harris becomes his unlikely confidante and caregiver.

What happens from here has the graceful and rounded shape of a parable, which is what it is, really. Director Oliver Hermanus rides the vibe by deploying classic techniques—sweeping crane shots, montage sequences, wipe transitions, mirrors, mirrors, mirrors. In one delicious sequence, the pages of a desk calendar dissolve away to mark the passage of time. That shot

hasn’t been used nonironically in 50 years. It still works!

Period details fill the corners of the frame: adverts for Schweppes tonic and Gordon’s gin; a burlesque show staged in a beachside big-top tent; some incredible hats. I also liked a scene with a doctor smoking cigarettes in his office.

Beloved British actor Bill Nighy is perfectly cast as Mr. Williams, a man for whom stillness has become a lifestyle. Nighy is one of the greats, and subtlety is his métier. He can tell entire stories with a twinkle of the eye, a knitting of a brow. As Miss Harris, the young English actress Aimee Lou Wood creates an intriguing and fully formed character, a fearless young woman capable of empathy beyond her years.

As a parable, Living is designed to be instructive. Its 150-year-old international provenance suggests the universal nature of its central theme: Don’t let your life drift away. Mr. Williams, looking back on his lonely existence, spills it for Miss Harris:

“How did it happen? It just crept up on me, one day preceding the next. I didn’t notice what I was becoming. Then I saw you and I remembered what it was like to be alive like that.”

The moral of this story is no less sincere for being so familiar. It’s one of those stories we feel compelled to tell ourselves, over and over. But Living stitches in another thread concerning the numbing nature of bureaucracy, busywork, and terrible jobs in general. People really do lose their lives this way, slowly but literally.

There’s interesting contemporary resonance here. I found myself thinking of our recent turn toward employee rights, remote work, mental health, and self-care. Then there’s quiet quitting, which seems like some mild spasm of the culture’s collective unconscious. Could it be that we’re making progress in this area? It’s nice to think so.

Anyway, so long as we still have heart enough to appreciate a movie like this, we’ll be OK. W

Bill Nighy as Rodney Williams in Living

PHOTO COURTESY SONY PICTURES CLASSIC

Now in theaters

stage

toup on me, didn’t notice you and be alive less sincere those stories over and another thread bureauin generthis way, contemporary resothinking of our rights, remote self-care. Then seems like collective we’re making think so. have heart like this,

music

John Craigie Winter Tour 2023 SOLD OUT. Wed, Jan. 25, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Below Decks: Darkcore Truth, Simon SMTHNG, Uymami, and Yespeez $10. Thurs, Jan. 26, 8 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Elijah Johnston $10. Thurs, Jan. 26, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Nick Hakim $17. Thurs, Jan. 26, 8 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

North Carolina Opera: Don Giovanni $41+. Jan. 27-29, 7:30 p.m. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

North Carolina Symphony: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 $50+. Jan. 27 and 28, 8 p.m. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Matt Heckler $15. Fri, Jan. 27, 8:30 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Renaissance Disko with DJ VSPRTN $5. Fri, Jan. 27, 10 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

Rubblebucket $20. Fri, Jan. 27, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Back to the ’80s: A Totally Rad Review $15. Sat, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Be Our Guest: A Disney DJ Night $20+. Sat, Jan. 28, 9 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

Cody Johnson / Randy Houser $65+. Sat, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. PNC Arena, Raleigh. Dreamroot $15+. Sat, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Live Band Karaoke with the Blind Tigers Sat, Jan. 28, 9 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

Mysteries of Identity: Caroline Stinson (Cello) and Ieva Jokubaviciute (Piano) Sat, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. Nelson Music Room, Durham.

The Queer Agenda $7. Sat, Jan. 28 11 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Sarah Shook and the Disarmers $18. Sat, Jan. 28, 8:30p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Saved by the Rave: Gettoblaster $20+. Sat, Jan. 28, 9 p.m. The Fruit, Durham. Skyblew $7. Sat, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country $18. Sun, Jan. 29, 8:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Goldings/ Bernstein/Stewart Organ Trio $40. Sun, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band: Trouble Is … 25th Anniversary Tour $47+. Mon, Jan. 30, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra Concert $25. Tues, Jan. 31, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

¡Somos Kidznotes! Tues, Jan. 31, 7 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

TAUK and Kanika Moore $15. Tues, Jan. 31, 8:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

page

A Steady Rain $25. Jan. 21–Feb. 4, various times. Theatre Raleigh, Raleigh.

Hamlet $20+. Jan. 25–Feb. 12, various times. PlayMakers Repertory Company, Chapel Hill.

Mlima’s Tale $20+. Jan. 26 Feb. 12, various times. Burning Coal Theatre Company, Raleigh.

Noel Miller: Everything Is F#&ked $33+. Thurs, Jan. 26, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Jim Gaffigan $50+. Jan. 27-28, various times. DPAC, Durham.

Luxury Comedy Hootenanny: Alex Hofford Fri, Jan. 27, 8 p.m. Imbibe, Chapel Hill.

Cats $30+. Jan. 31–Feb. 5, various times. DPAC, Durham.

Machine de Cirque: La Galerie $32+. Tues, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m. Page Auditorium, Durham.

Jonathan Darman: Becoming FDR Wed, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh.

Jamila Minnicks: Moonrise over New Jessup Thurs, Jan. 26, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Danielle Keats Citron: The Fight for Privacy Fri, Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

The Ethics of Now with Angela Garbes Fri, Jan. 27, 7 p.m. Durham Arts Council, Durham.

Marcia E. HermanGiddens: Unloose My Heart Tues, Jan. 31, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Rubblebucket performs at Cat’s Cradle on Friday, January 27. PHOTO COURTESY OF CAT’S CRADLE.

© Puzzles by Pappocom

There is really only one rule to Sudoku: Fill in the game board so that the numbers 1 through 9 occur exactly once in each row, column, and 3x3 box. The numbers can appear in any order and diagonals are not considered. Your initial game board will consist of several numbers that are already placed. Those numbers cannot be changed. Your goal is to fill in the empty squares following the simple rule above.

this week’s puzzle level: 29 # MEDIUM

If you just can’t wait, check out the current week’s answer key at www.indyweek.com, and click “puzzles page”.

01.25.23 7 4 2 9 8 5 458 3 5 2 9 7 2 8 4 1 297 6 1 4 4 1 5 2 30 # MEDIUM

4 9 2 78 5 3 8 2 1 7 5 7 9 9 6 3 4 3 3 76 8 5 3 1 6 3 4 2 95 8 1 9 8

Senior Validation Engineer

KBI Biopharma, Inc. seeks a Senior Validation Engineer in Durham, NC to coordinate and execute validation studies, write protocols, document results, and generate final reports and summaries of work for release of equipment tested. MS & 3 years or BS & 5 years. For full req’s and to apply visit https://www.kbibiopharma.com/careers Job Reference Number: R00004594

Sr. Software Engineer Sr. Software Engineer sought by LexisNexis USA in Raleigh, NC to write & review portions of detailed specifications for the development of complex software components. Minimum of Master’s degree or foreign equiv in Computer Science, Engineering, or rltd + 5 yrs exp in job offered or rltd required. EE reports to LexisNexis USA office in Raleigh, NC but may telecommute from any location within US. Interested candidates apply by mail to T. Hayward, RELX Inc; 1100 Alderman Dr, Alpharetta, GA 30005