The Book of Life
7:30 p.m., June 1; 6 p.m., June 2; 2 p.m., June 3; 7 p.m., June 4. Festival Hall.
Led by Odile Gakire Katese, Rwanda’s first-ever all-female drumming ensemble celebrates healing after trauma and the resilience of the human spirit in the U.S. premiere of The Book of Life. Music and spoken word explore the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide in this moving performance based on letters from survivors and perpetrators collected by creator, writer and performer Katese.
Out of Chaos
5 p.m., June 7; 7:30 p.m., June 8; 8 p.m., June 9; 3 p.m.
and 6 p.m. June 10; 2 p.m., June 11. Festival Hall.
After sold-out runs at Spoleto Festival USA in 2014 and 2018, the Australian physical theater company Gravity & Other Myths returns, this time with the U.S. premiere of a show called Out of Chaos. The troupe describes the work as their most ambitious yet, “a spectacular exploration of circus and its relationship to order and chaos in our lives.”
A Poet’s Love
5:30 p.m., May 26; 2 p.m., May 27; 4 p.m., May 29; 7 p.m., May 30. Queen Street Playhouse.
Returning to the festival after starring in last year’s opera Omar, James McCorkle brings A Poet’s Love to the Queen Street Playhouse (in its first year as a Spoleto venue). The work is based on Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, a tragic and romantic composition which portrays one man’s pursuit of the woman he loves. Expect stunning stagecraft and projections by award-winning artist Miwa Matre.
Kishi Bashi
9 p.m., June 3. College of Charleston Cistern Yard.
Multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi (a.k.a. Kishi Bashi) takes over the Cistern with his unique sound. He’s collaborated with some of the biggest names in indie music, like Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche and of Montreal. Since going solo in 2012, Bashi has “transformed into a mad pop scientist, giving life to earworms by looping together Eastern sounds, Philip Glass improvisations and ’70s prog-rock inspiration,” according to a review by NPR.
Festival Finale featuring Tank and the Bangas
5 p.m., June 11. Firefly Distillery.
Pack a picnic, gather your blankets and head to Firefly Distillery in North Charleston for the Spoleto finale event with New Orleans R&B/soul band Tank and the Bangas, the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner and a 2022 Grammy nominee. Gates open at 5 p.m., show starts at 6 p.m. A fireworks display will end the evening. —Chloe Hogan
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