Watchhouse—formerly known as Mandolin Orange—came of age as a band in Chapel Hill, with now-married duo Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz producing nine albums since 2009. It’s always a special occasion to see the band, which tours quite prolifically, play a hometown show. At this weekend’s two-show sequence, the duo is joined by regional roots favorites Magic Tuber Stringband (Friday) and Viv & Riley (Saturday). Watchhouse’s most recent album, Rituals, was released on May 30 of this year; Magic Tuber Stringband and Viv & Riley also both have recent albums—and if you’re new to these bands, you’re in for a treat.
To See
The Thanksgiving Play
Friday, November 14—Sunday, November 23, various times | Church of the Nativity, Raleigh
How does one throw a politically correct Thanksgiving? In this satirical play by Larissa FastHorse, a group of four individuals, led by a well-meaning drama teacher, attempt to stage the perfect educational play for elementary school students. Mishaps, white guilt, and hijinks ensue in this Justice Theater Project production. After debuting in 2018, The Thanksgiving Play became quite popular and was one of the most produced plays regionally between 2019-2020, years before the identity politics backlash brought on by the second Trump administration. The November 14 production features a pre-show “meet the director” (Jeff Aguiar) opportunity, the next night features a “cast talkback,” following the show, and a November 21 performance will feature a pre-show presentation, Community, Culture, and Connection: An Indigenous Lens on the Arts by John Scott-Richardson. There should be plenty to talk about.
To Do
The 9th Annual Liberty Arts Pour
Saturday, November 15, 4 p.m. -9 p.m. | Durham Central Park, Durham
This annual event is perhaps figuratively Durham’s hottest event, and it certainly is, literally. Every November, non-profit organization Liberty Arts hosts an Iron Pour in Durham Central Park, where thousands gather to watch artists build furnaces to heat pieces of iron. Per the event description, during the event, which begins at 4 p.m. and runs for five hours, “thousands of pounds of molten iron will be poured into molds in an exciting fiery display, creating iron tiles designed by the public and sculptures made by NC artists,” and will also feature food trucks, craft beer, and more than 20 local vendors. This is a free event, but its goal is to raise money for the Liberty Arts Iron Heroes program, so you might consider a donation. Bring on the heat.
To report Liberating Abortion, published in 2024, abortion activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone interviewed 50 people of color—including two Black members of Jane, the underground reproductive services network that operated in Chicago between 1969-1973—about their abortion experiences. The result is a text that couldn’t be more timely, with perspectives on sex education, pivotal figures in the movement, and more. In this conversation at Letters Bookshop, Bracey Sherman joins Durham reproductive justice organizer Maya Hart in conversation.
If you want to exacerbate your Sunday Scaries by feeling pierced by longing, a Sunday evening of Townes Van Zandt covers by a slate of local artists should do the trick. Van Zandt is the troubled, pensive Texan behind songs like “Pancho & Lefty” and “If I Needed You,” whose lyrics, as the writer William Hedgepeth wrote in a 1977 feature, come across “like messages from the outside, dealing not with causes but with solitary passions and undefinable desires.”
Hedgepeth continued that van Zandt’s plaintive songs don’t offer comfort so much as the assurance that “here is someone else who is every bit as alone at the core as you yourself have always felt but can’t ever quite find the words for.” At this event, local acts Severed Fingers, Sugaree String Society, Lonnie Rott, John Rodney, Amelia Riggs, David Prather, and Kym Register will cover a mix of hits and B-sides.
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