Everything Nac

In many ways, Mae Johnston is a typical sixth-grade student. She plays the drums in her school band, and she’s on the swim team. She plays piano, watches YouTube and listens to music. She enjoys playing video games on her phone, and she loves Pinterest, “because Pinterest is best.”

Most of her friends are guys, because “you know, guys are less drama,” she said.

Her interest in the theatre and acting was sparked when she began attending Junior Jacks summer theatre camp at Stephen F. Austin State University and garnered the leading role in a play her first year.

“It was really fun, and I loved doing that,” she said.

Her performance skills caught the eye of camp director CC Conn, associate professor of theatre at SFA, and of the theatre students who worked with Mae during the camp. As a result, Dr. Rick Jones, professor of theatre and interim director of the School of Theatre, cast Mae, 12, in the role of 7-year-old Josie Kilbride in Marina Carr’s “By the Bog of Cats,” which Jones is directing as part of the SFA School of Theatre’s 2016-17 Mainstage Series.

The Irish play is loosely based on Greek mythology’s Medea legend. It opens with the play’s protagonist and Josie’s mother, Hester Swane, receiving prophecies at dawn that she will die before dusk on the very day her former common-law husband and father to her daughter is to marry a younger and wealthier woman. The play tells the story of that day.

Although Mae doesn’t have the experience or maturity as her college-age counterparts on stage, she is “remarkably intelligent” and she has “a good handle on things,” Jones said, including the violence contained in the play’s storyline.

“This is an adult play, and death is involved in the plot,” he said. “Someone Mae’s age – and as smart as she is – can understand and handle that.”

Jones has made a few rehearsal adjustments as a result of working with a younger cast member.

“Our rehearsals are at night, and we want to get her out in time for bedtime, then the rest of us have another hour-and-a-half in rehearsal,” Jones said. “It’s not a big deal, but it is something we have to work around. We need her to get enough sleep and be able to do her homework. My standard practice is to rehearse on Sunday night, but it’s a weekend, so we rehearse on Sunday afternoon. We’re making those kinds of accommodations.”

Mae describes her character as “very naive.”

“She persists with everything,” she said. “Her mother is basically everything she cares about. She’s made friends with people in the Bog, and she seems to be the only child there.”

Mae is looking forward to attending Junior Jacks again next summer, and she hopes to eventually take drama classes in school. But, for now, her focus is getting ready to perform “on a big stage” in “By the Bog of Cats.”

“I like being in front people; I can talk for hours,” she said. “I love the feeling of being on a stage in front of a ton of people.”

“By the Bog of Cats” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 15 through 19, in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus. The play is recommended for mature audiences. A content advisory may be viewed at www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

A reception and post-performance interdisciplinary discussion in the Griffith Gallery featuring SFA faculty from theatre, folklore, classical studies and psychology will follow the Thursday night performance.

Single tickets are $15 for adult, $10 for senior and $7.50 for student/youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Office of Multicultural Affairs is encouraging the campus and Nacogdoches communities to submit community work projects for the seventh annual MLK Day of Service scheduled for Monday, Jan. 16.

The deadline to submit a project is Friday, Dec. 9. Volunteers are needed and can sign up to work now through the morning of the event.

“OMA’s reason for hosting this event annually is to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. through service,” said Veronica Weaver, OMA director. “The event has done very well in past years and has brought the campus and Nacogdoches communities together for a great cause.”

SFA will partner with the African American Heritage Project to help restore the Clay House, the former Zion Hill First Baptist Church parsonage, and with SFA’s Food for Thought to help organize the on-campus food pantry’s inventory. Other service projects will be conducted at public parks, private homes and a variety of other sites. Hundreds of student volunteers are expected to take part in projects such as painting and landscaping. Participants will receive a free lunch and event T-shirt.

People wanting to participate have several opportunities to do so.

“Community members wanting to get involved can submit projects for students to work on. Volunteers must be able to complete the project in four hours and the needed major supplies must be provided,” Weaver said. “Community, faculty and staff members also can sign up to be site mentors and assist the students with projects.”

Helena Abullah, a Nacogdoches community leader, will serve as the keynote speaker during the event’s opening ceremonies. She will speak at 11 a.m. Jan. 16 about the effects of the Civil Rights Movement.

Congress passed legislation in 1983 to commemorate the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. In 1994, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on the third Monday of January, was named a national day of service and is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

The first MLK Day of Service at SFA in 2010 focused on helping Nacogdoches schools prepare for the new semester. Each of the first few years focused on different projects, including painting benches, creating leadership-themed art projects, revitalizing landscaping, and assisting at nursing homes and senior centers. Any type of work project will be considered this year.

For more information, contact Weaver at (936) 468-1073 or email oma@sfasu.edu.

Organized by Stephen F. Austin State University’s geography program within the Department of Anthropology, Geography and Sociology, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund will serve as guest speaker for the 2016 Geography Awareness Week taking place nationally Nov. 13 through 19.

Steven Moore’s presentation, titled “Legal History of the Peyote Religion and Its Connections to Texas,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Dugas Liberal Arts North, Room 142, on campus. The event is free and open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities.

“Mr. Moore is a senior lawyer affiliated with the Native American Rights Fund, which is an internationally recognized group supporting Native American rights,” said Dr. Darrel McDonald, SFA professor of geography. “His presence on campus provides SFA with access to an expert in the field of Native American law policy. The event also adds to the university’s mission to broaden student access to diversity issues as well as build relationships for the future.”

A 1979 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, Moore joined NARF in 1983 as a staff attorney. This past May, he received an Honorary Order of the Coif award from his law alma mater for his service to Native Americans and the Indian Law Program at UC.

“I feel Mr. Moore’s presentation will provide folks in attendance a better understanding of the positive social value that the Native American Church has on tribal members,” McDonald said. “Also, I think the discussion will increase understanding of the struggles church members have had to endure to practice their religion during this past century.”

Begun by National Geographic, the theme for Geography Awareness Week is dedicated to national parks, which are celebrating their 100-year anniversary. In addition, the week and Moore’s presentation coincide with American Indian and Native Alaskan Heritage Month, which occur each November.

“The purpose of the event is to provide attendees an opportunity to become more aware of geography research and how it inherently becomes interdisciplinary in nature,” McDonald said. “In particular, the talk illustrates an example of how geography connects places and people as well as how social perspectives impact religious practices in the United States vis-a-vis the legal system.”

The geography program partnered with the SFA Pre-Law Club and Office of Multicultural Affairs to make Moore’s presentation possible.