Austin College to host Claudia Stevens in one-woman show focusing on famed Victorian female paleontologist Mary Anning
By Austin College
Nov 5, 2009
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SHERMAN, TEXAS — Austin College will host actor and playwright Claudia Stevens as she presents a solo play in one act, Blue Lias or the Fish Lizard’s Whore, about the early 19th century English paleontologist Mary Anning on November 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Beardsley Arena Theatre of Ida Green Communication Center. A discussion will follow. The event is free and open to the public.
In Blue Dias, Stevens deals with confrontations of gender, class, religion, and science in 19th century England, given expression by the life, personality, and career of famed fossil collector Mary Anning amidst the changing times when Charles Darwin’s theories first came to light. The play’s music was composed by Allen Shearer.
In an interview before a previous performance, Stevens commented that the play description might sound dry and scientific but that the play is far from those descriptors. She described Mary Anning as an extraordinary personality. Anning (1799-1847) was a woman in a man’s world and made many significant contributions to the field of paleontology.
Trained as a pianist, singer, musicologist, and composer, Claudia Stevens holds degrees in music from Vassar College, the University of California at Berkeley, and in piano from Boston University. Her academic positions have included Williams College and the College of William and Mary, where she has been appointed Visiting Scholar in Music. A composers’ pianist in the 1980s, she championed the music of Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Elliott Carter in performances at Carnegie Recital Hall and other leading venues, and was the featured artist in several “Performance Today” broadcasts on National Public Radio. She has created a unique body of interdisciplinary works for her own solo performance, which have been presented at the national and international level since the early l990s. Stevens has made previous visits to Austin College to present other one-woman shows.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges that Change Lives.
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