Everything Nac

Agatha Christie’s one-act play “The Patient” will be presented by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 27, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

Fairfield senior Eric Gibson directs the play in which a woman, Mrs. Wingfield, falls from a balcony, leaving her paralyzed and unable to speak.

“She must determine the cause of the accident, with the help of her doctor,” Gibson said. “The suspicion is that Mrs. Wingfield was pushed. It is now up to the doctor and an inspector to get to the bottom of who tried to murder the patient.”

The cast includes Houston freshman Aaron Herrera as Lansen; Houston junior Richard Scott as Inspector Cray; Dallas sophomore Dominique Rider as Dr. Ginsberg; Mesquite senior Brandon Hood as Mr. Wingfield; Longview sophomore Tanner O’Neal as William Ross; Brenham senior Bianca Stein as The Patient; Beaumont sophomore Angel Williams as Nurse Bond; Baytown junior Chelsea Denard as Brenda Jackson; and Houston junior Karen Rush as Emmeline Ross.

The production staff includes Marley Graham, Port Neches junior, stage manager; Taylor Dobbs, Baytown junior, scenic designer; Kathleen Easterling, Nacogdoches junior, costume designer; Kassandra Poindexter, Whitewright senior, lighting designer; Jessica Skidmore, Nacogdoches junior, sound designer; Celeste Galey, Dallas junior, properties designer; and Lincoln Smith, Venus junior, hair and makeup designer.

Faculty production advisor for the play is Laura Rikard.

Gibson is a theatre performance major and cinematography minor at SFA. Upon graduation, he plans to move to New York City to pursue his dreams of acting, modeling, directing and producing.

Tickets are $4. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu “The Patient” is recommended for mature audiences (teens or older).

Dr. Nathan Nabb, professor of saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State University, will perform selections from his upcoming performance tour of Taiwan and China when he presents a recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Collaborating with him on piano is Dr. Chialing Hsieh, faculty piano accompanist at Morehead State University. The two are longtime duo partners, performing together regularly since 2005. They will present pieces by David Maslanka, Takashi Yoshimatsu, Richard Lavenda and Piet Swerts.

Maslanka’s Sonata for alto saxophone is considered to be a major work for the instrument and a mainstay in the saxophone repertoire, according to Nabb. “A champion of the saxophone, Maslanka writes works very large in scope, often highlighting the full range of its expressive and technical capabilities,” he said.

Yoshimatsu’s “Fuzzy Bird Sonata” draws influence from a number of different musical sources, Nabb said. “The first movement, ‘Run, Bird,”’ features swirling, syncopated lines in unison with piano, reminiscent of jazz,” he explained, “while the second, ‘Sing, Bird,’ is a very lyrical movement, almost vocal in nature.”

Lavenda’s “Rhapsody Tropes” is the newest work on the program and is for solo tenor saxophone. Written for a former bass clarinetist and saxophonist with the Houston Symphony, Richard Nunemaker, this piece explores the lyrical, expressive capabilities of the instrument, Nabb said.

Closing the concert with “Klonos” by Swerts, Nabb says “‘Klonos’ is a very exciting and technically demanding concert closer, which first became popular as an imposed piece in the Adolphe Sax competition in the late 1990s.”

Hsieh has appeared as an active solo and collaborative pianist with a large range of repertoire for solo, instrumental and chamber music recitals and concerts in the U.S. and Taiwan. She has performed as a soloist in Taiwan, Austria and the United States.

Admission is free. For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Interfraternity Council will host the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” awareness event at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, at the Baker Pattillo Student Center on SFA’s campus.

The SFA council has adopted sexual assault awareness as their philanthropy, and this year’s event is the International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.

IFC is seeking donations of high-heel shoes, which will be utilized by all participants. Drop boxes for the SFA community are located in the Involvement Center and the Greek Life office in the BPSC, Room 3.300. Additionally, there is a community drop box at the Women’s Shelter Thrift Store – Family Crisis Center of East Texas, 4610 North St., Nacogdoches.

SFA male students will be encouraged to attend the event, sport their favorite pair of high-heel shoes and walk a mile across campus to raise awareness.

“This is an opportunity for our Greek men to get the campus and community involved in something they really care about,” said Dare Chronister, SFA Greek adviser. “The men are somewhat nervous about walking in high-heel shoes, but excited to have fun while raising awareness about sexual assault.”

This event will shine light on sexual violence that occurs on college campuses and also will show that members of the SFA Greek community are ready and willing to take a stand and make a change.

For more information about the event or to donate, call Chronister at (936) 468-6292 or email dchronister@sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s chapter of the National Association of Environmental Professionals will host its second annual environmental symposium from 9:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the Forestry Building, Room 117, on SFA’s campus.

This year’s event, “Invasive Species: Environmental Menace,” will present a range of experts from SFA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas A&M Forest Service and the University of Texas at Arlington, who will address the history, effects and status of invasive species locally and across the country.

“We use the symposiums as a way to spread awareness of important ecological topics throughout the community,” said Elena Thomas, NAEP president. “Invasive species are one of the most important issues affecting both our local and global community.”

Thomas and NAEP vice president Mallorie Nicholson said the symposium also will focus on viable solutions to the problems posed by invasive species. Individual species to be addressed include: exotic earthworms, zebra mussels, soapberry and the emerald ash borer.

Dr. Shiyou Li, research professor and director of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Crops in SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, also will discuss his groundbreaking research on endocide usage to effectively control giant salvinia, as well as its potential for broader applications in invasive species management.

Lunch will be included in the $10 non-student and $8 student registration fee. Tickets may be purchased on the college’s website atcofa.sfasu.edu, or on campus in the Forestry Building, Room 103. The final day for registration will be Wednesday, March 25.

For more information, contact Thomas at telena92@yahoo.com or Dr. Kenneth Farrish, Arnold Distinguished Professor and director of SFA’s Division of Environmental Science, at kfarrish@sfasu.edu.

The paintings and sculpture of Felice House and Dana Younger will be featured in the exhibition “Re-Western” showing March 25 through May 2 in Griffith Gallery on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Hosted by the SFA School of Art, the exhibition “views ‘The West’ through a post-modern lens that both challenges and honors this most American of genres,” according to the artists’ statement.

Through painting and sculpture, husband-and-wife artists Younger and House ask the audience to re-evaluate the archetypes, mythology and values of “The West” while reveling in its richness.

“Simultaneously playful and incisive, Younger and House come together to offer a new look at the Old West,” said John Handley, director of SFA art galleries.

In large-scale paintings, House, assistant professor at Texas A&M University, questions the male stereotype as portrayed through classic Westerns of Hollywood. “She projects contemporary women into iconic scenes from Western movies. By placing women in the heroic roles occupied by men, she points a finger at the limited access of women to power in the Western genre,” their statement reads.

Through installation and sculpture, Younger, co-founder of Blue Genie Art Industries in Austin, looks at the cost of Western expansion. “His work juxtaposes established Western conventions with real people and damage associated with westward expansion. The sculptural processes of traditional bas-relief, computer aided machining and toy manufacturing all contribute to the dialogue,” according to their artists’ statement.

The painting portion consists of seven large-scale paintings re-casting women in the starring roles of classic Western movies. Sculptures included are “The End” series, which is a set of computer-generated bas-relief sculptures referencing the end titles of Western movies. Hand-sculpted and cast bas-relief portraits of American presidents wearing Lone Ranger masks make the “Legends of the Lone Ranger” series. Finally, “The Feast” is a rustic table and three chairs piled with bison skulls, plaster six-shooters and rope.

An artists’ reception will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in Griffith Gallery. Admission to all exhibitions and receptions is free.

“Re-Western” is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Junior Forum and the Friends of the Visual Arts. Griffith Gallery is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.