Editor's Note: Writer's Block is a space for Virginia writers to share personal essays, fiction, memoir, and works that fall somewhere in between. In Stay Hungry, Richmond local Eric Kalata looks back on a cross-country tour and the restless optimism of...
Richmond’s own Black VA Theatre Alliance brings this month’s second outing of a Dominique Morrisseau play to a local stage, following Firehouse Theatre’s excellent production of Detroit 67. Like Detroit 67, Sunset Baby explores the living room dramas that persist against the backdrop of social unrest, activism, and disenfranchisement. We are...
Last weekend in Church Hill, Richmond did something that only Richmond can do — it let history walk and talk right in front of us. Inside St. John’s Church, the scene was familiar. A reenactor delivered Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech to an attentive audience, a ritual that’s been part of the city’s cultural calendar for...
Twenty years ago, RVA Magazine and Gallery5 came to life together—two DIY efforts launched with no budget, no blueprint, and no permission. What they shared was a vision: that Richmond’s creative culture was worth showing up for, amplifying, and celebrating. On First Friday, April 4th, both organizations come together to mark their...
I flew in under the wire to catch 5th Wall Theatre’s final performance of Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City at Richmond Triangle Players' impressive stage in Scott’s Addition. This play is a curious hybrid, a bifurcated cryptid if you will, as its first and second acts are paced in startling opposition to each other. The play begins in time-lapse...
Sixty-five years ago, a group of brave young Black Richmonders walked into a department store, sat down at a lunch counter, and refused to leave. That’s what they did. That’s what got them arrested. They just sat in a segregated space where their presence alone was considered a crime. https://vimeo.com/9827740?share=copy That moment—the...
I’ve given up on trying to write reviews of plays I see at the Firehouse Theatre immediately after leaving the show. Maybe I’m slow, but there is always so much to process that “sleeping on it” is the only way I’m going to unpack the turmoil they’ve left me with as I walk out the door.Detroit '67, currently showing, is no exception. The Firehouse...
If English is your first language and you own at least 100 books, I’d lay even odds that one of them is the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Even if you’ve never read it. Shakespeare’s kung fu grip on the GOAT trophy is impressive for its 400-year title retention and his distant-as-all-hell competition in the rearview. When someone gets to...
Merenda Cecelia, a Richmond-based artist and instructor, was recently dismissed from her teaching position at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) after reading a statement aloud in class. She describes the statement as a personal expression of artistic and academic freedom, which led to the termination of her contract just three days later....
Richmond has long been home to a thriving arts scene, with well-established membership-driven spaces like Artspace and the long-running 1708 Gallery providing vital platforms for artists. However, as the city continues to change, younger creatives are seeking new ways to carve out their own space within the arts...
