The Fayette County Public Library invites the public to attend “Listening to Characters with True Grit,” a readers’ theatre performance of scenes from “True Grit,” the 1968 novel by Charles Portis. It is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m.
Admission is free, but seating will be limited. Audience members will be served a complimentary “breakfast for dinner” meal including “true grits,” among other homestyle favorites.
The evening’s presentation will consist of two scenes extracted from the text of the novel.
In “A Hard Bargain,” 14-year-old Mattie Ross haggles relentlessly with a world-weary horse trader over the future of her late father’s livestock. Fayette Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Carlotta Ungaro reads the part of Mattie, with software support engineer and library advocate Johnny League reading the part of the stock trader Colonel Stonehill.
“Frontier Justice” is a courtroom scene, in which Mattie first encounters Deputy U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, giving testimony regarding his latest crusade against wrongdoing in Indian Territory. Readers in this scene include Jon Kohler, Barry Stoltze, Craig Vincent, and Irv Wardlow.
Both scenes exemplify the humor found in the book, at the same time that they provide a revealing introduction to the two primary characters. The Atlanta Tap Project will help to create an Old West dancehall atmosphere with tap-dancing interludes before and after the scenes.
This theatrical evening is the grand finale event for the 2016 “Fayette on the Page: One Book, One Community” program, now in its ninth year. Since 2008, librarians have annually selected a book for all Fayette County residents to read, and planned public events to enrich and supplement the reading experience. This year’s selection, “True Grit” by Arkansas writer Charles Portis, has offered readers throughout the community an opportunity to think about some of life’s big questions and have fun doing it.
“The novel is most of all a comedy, and its western setting makes it inviting and accessible,” said Sarah Trowbridge, a public services librarian at Fayette County Public Library. “Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn are two of the most memorable characters in 20th-century literature. Their epic journey is so entertaining that the depth of its message sneaks up on you, and you find yourself thinking about it long after you’ve closed the book.”
All “Fayette on the Page” activities are free and open to the public, made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Fayette County Public Library. Copies of “True Grit” are available for checkout to PINES library card holders at the Fayette County Public Library. Any Georgia resident who does not already have a PINES card can receive one on the spot by showing proof of current address and filling out a brief application.
The Fayette County Public Library is located behind the Fayette County administration complex in downtown Fayetteville, at the southwest corner of Highways 85 and 54. For additional information about “Fayette on the Page: One Book, One Community,” contact the library at 770-461-8841 or visit www.fayettecountyga.gov/public_library.
Pictured above is Carlotta Ungaro. Photo/Gina Martin.
