Month: May 2021

Categories
Arts Culture

Baby bonding

Ed Helms and Patti Harrison exude chemistry as an unlikely pair on the journey to childbirth in Together Together. Photo from Apple TV

The world is always changing, and the stories we tell need to change with it. While the circumstances in Together Together might feel like a modern phenomenon, the emotions and connections within it are timeless.

The film begins with Anna (Patti Harrison) meeting Matt (Ed Helms) for the first time. This is not your typical Hollywood meet-cute, where they bump into each other on the street or mistakenly try to grab the same bunch of flowers at a florist. Matt is interviewing Anna to be his gestational surrogate and carry a child for him. The meeting is awkward, but their anxiousness comes across as endearing. Matt is doing this on his own, with no wife or partner. Anna is young and needs the money, but she’s not desperate. Matt tells Anna he has chosen her, and Together Together gets on its way.

Much of the humanity and the tenderness of Together Together comes from the simplicity of its plot. There are no significant roadblocks or gotcha moments that feel cruel to the audience or the characters. No unnecessary drama falsely enhances the already complicated emotions in their world. Thanks to gentle writing and stellar performances, the film is quiet and paced in a way that gives us time to get to know the characters and their motivations.

Both Matt and Anna are written as honest, forthcoming people who want to do well by one another. Matt wants a child more than anything, and he seems to want to understand Anna’s life. Anna, a little more guarded, is still open and forthcoming, and her relationship with fertility is complicated. Together Together is a far cry from Baby Mama: These are two mature, reasonable people who have been brought together by their circumstances.

The characters’ connection is at the core of Together Together. There is a push and pull between them as they bump up against boundaries and share their visions of what the future holds. Matt hopes for a deeper connection and more time with Anna and her womb; Anna tries not to get too attached to a friendship she knows is temporary. They each owe it to themselves to act in their own interests, but they’re also the only two people who understand what they’re going through.

Toeing the line between comedy and drama, Together Together joins the club of low-key films made by very funny people. Skeleton Twins, Adult Beginners, and Obvious Child all let comics show off their acting chops by highlighting vulnerability and human connection.

Helms, best known for “The Office” and The Hangover trilogy, has been dipping into sentimental parts for some time. Harrison, the newcomer, started out in stand-up comedy. Both performances are unguarded and poignant. Harrison’s acting shouts volumes in the midst of this quiet film, and shines as she reacts to Matt’s overeager but well-meaning nature.

One aspect of Together Together that does take some adjusting to is the passage of time. Going in, we expect that at least 40 weeks will pass during the film’s 90-minute running time. There is no embarrassing insemination scene or other trite milestones that we are used to seeing in pregnancy-focused movies. While this omission is mostly refreshing, it does put the onus on the audience to assemble the timeline.

Together Together never asks you to relate to surrogacy or what decisions you would make if you were in this situation. It’s a view into humanity and friendship that results from the connection of two uncommon lives.

Categories
Culture Food & Drink Living

Slinging mud

The sleek new Mudhouse space on 10th Street is a departure from the more rustic approach the owners have taken with their other coffee cafés. Photo by Stephen Barling

Visitors to the new Mudhouse Coffee Roasters shop on 10th Street may find themselves unsure they’re in a Mudhouse location at all. The striking, sleek space is a departure from the more rustic approach proprietors John and Lynelle Lawrence have taken alongside their design team at Formwork Architecture for their previous cafés.

According to John Lawrence, the contemporary approach came about for two reasons. One, the previous Mudhouse locations went into buildings constructed in the 1890s, while the 10th street facility was newer. Two, java is going in some badass new directions.

“Coffee has been around for centuries,” Lawrence says. “But we work with specialty-grade coffee, and what folks are doing with it now is working a lot on the process of fermenting the cherries to amplify and bring out existing inherent flavors—amplify what’s there already. If we think of that as a more modern feel, well, we want to offer a more modern experience for our coffee drinkers.”

The 10th Street Mudhouse design also vibes well with the cutting-edge equipment installed at the location, Lawrence says.

Beyond the obvious modern flourishes, the new Mudhouse space’s design is highly intentional throughout. As patrons enter it, they’re greeted by bright colors intended to call to mind life on the coffee farm—the greens of the fields in wall hanging tapestries, the orange-yellow of the sun in bespoke hanging sculptures designed by local artist Lily Erb.

“John and Lynelle approach coffee and the people that grow that coffee on an individualistic, case-by-case basis,” says Cecilia Nichols of Formwork. “They have an intimate relationship with the beans and the people involved in getting the beans into that coffee. Our work in many ways mirrors that. We care a lot about the details and respond to the assets of each site we work on.”

As customers continue to advance through the new Mudhouse space, the design team introduces them to photographs and text, becoming more specific about the coffee-making process, before they get to the barista and place their order.

Above the main floor of the coffee shop is another unique spot: a rooftop sitting area bedecked by a large faux grass bed. “We were working with Cecilia—she was sketching out the seating and benches,” Lawrence says, “and we had this turf, and we all thought, ‘Let’s just make it a big bed.’ It’s fun.”

For Formwork’s Robert Nichols, the new space was a logical next step for Mudhouse, which grew from a humble coffee cart to its current portfolio of three cafés and a roastery. The location is closer to the University of Virginia than the other Mudhouses and lended itself not only to the modern design, but also to a segmenting of space that allows students and other groups room to spread out.

“[John and Lynelle are] constantly taking steps to keep their business vital and new and educating themselves and their customers,” Nichols says. “When we work with them, we have lengthy conversations, and they usually revolve around new thinking and reassessing just about everything.”
Find Mudhouse’s hours, menu, and more at mudhouse.com.

Categories
Arts Culture

Home stage

Charlottesville native Kate Lambert came home to quarantine and found success with livestreamed comedy. She will host “Very Punny,” a live, 60-minute online “pun-off” on May 24 at 6pm. For more info, go to rushtix.com. Publicity photo

By Haines Eason

Working from home. Telehealth. Online shopping. Which pandemic trends will remain, and which will fade? Charlottesville native Kate Lambert, a comedian whose resume includes The Second City and Chicago Improv act The Katydids (which sold the hit “Teachers” to TV Land), is part of something that producer Jill Paiz-Bourque of the livestream site RushTix bets will survive.

“When the pandemic hit, auditions and productions shut down,” Lambert says. “People couldn’t be in the same room anymore, so you had a bunch of creative people by themselves, looking for outlets.” She chose to quarantine with her parents at their home overlooking the Rivanna Reservoir.

“It was so difficult for so many, and I think humor is so critical in a time like this,” says Lambert. “I participated in a virtual sketch show and, since I was quarantining with my family, my brother and sister-in-law helped me film.”

Performers like Lambert went to great lengths to find their audiences, and audiences wound up discovering new acts and coming back for more. Paiz-Bourque signed several new clients, and her strong move into this new realm drew the attention of The New York Times, which recently published “Is Livestreamed Stand-up Here to Stay?” On May 24, Lambert will host RushTix’s “Very Punny,” a 60-minute “pun off” for audiences worldwide—however, it will also have a live audience, something RushTix claims comedy is all about.

So if even a streaming comedy production company acknowledges that a live audience is an important part of the experience, where does the future lie? Opinions differ. For UVA Drama instructor Marianne Kubik, the future is on the stage, in front of people. Kubik notes that challenges faced this year led to creative solutions and opened up more opportunities to integrate technology, and she sees faculty and students experimenting with livestreaming original content in the future, but “there is nothing quite like being in a room shared by storytellers and witnesses to that event,” she says. “I think we’re all yearning for the collective dialogue that comes with sharing the same space.”

During the pandemic, Kubik and her department focused on capturing the details of their performers’ work, choosing to pre-record, edit, and present one-off shows rather that stream the performances.

“If we streamed multiple performances, none of these would have a live audience in the room for the actors to sense and respond to,” Kubik says. “We take that ingredient for granted when considering live performance, and its loss can be challenging to the theater actor. An audience feeds the actor, just as having others bear witness to our own choices and actions feeds us. Theater is not for the actor, it’s for the audience.”

Both RushTix and Kubik might agree on the importance of the audience, but Paiz-Bourque sees her platform as the future, noting Netflix and Spotify “eclipsed” television and radio because the streaming services are always available and have unlimited reach. In the Times story, she claimed “RushTix could eclipse Live Nation because it’s streaming, it’s global, it’s unlimited.”

Lambert has appeared on “Reno 911!,” “The Last Show Left on Earth,” “Today” and “Last Call with Carson Daly,” all of which are built around teamwork and a set. She has an established life in Los Angeles, yet she returns to Charlottesville often. A horse lover, Lambert says her favorite way to clear her head is to escape on long drives through central Virginia farm country.

“My parents recently moved back to Charlottesville,” she says, “and when I come to visit, I always feel like the people you grew up with know you in a way a newer friend can’t. I mean, they knew you when you peed your pants playing hide and seek in preschool and had to wear underwear from the lost and found. That really happened to me. The ’80s. What a time,” she says, laughing.

Place clearly matters to Lambert, and so do the people who make it home. But her art matters, too, and time will tell if she and others find their audience through a glowing screen or the haze of a darkened club. Or maybe both.

Categories
News

Inching forward

Dozens of local residents protesting and holding signs across the stress from the Charlottesville Police Department
Activists hope to transform the energy from last summer’s protests into real structural reform of local law enforcement. PC: Eze Amos

Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Review Board continues to disagree with city officials over how much power it should wield.

Shortly after August 2017, in response to demands for increased oversight of law enforcement, City Council committed to the creation of a Police Civilian Review Board, a body that would give area residents some checks on the police’s power. In the years since, the board has been caught in bureaucratic limbo, as its members, elected officials, and law enforcement have quarreled over how much power the board should have. The drawn-out process has frustrated those hoping to see local criminal justice reform.

This summer could offer clarity, as a new law—passed by the state legislature in the wake of last summer’s racial justice demonstrations—explicitly grants broad power to police civilian review boards across Virginia. In an April 27 work session, Charlottesville CRB members proposed a new set of rules for the board, and city councilors expressed concerns. 

Under the new law, the CRB is allowed to receive, investigate, and issue findings on complaints of serious misconduct and incidents involving use of force. It also has the power to subpoena documents and witnesses. If the accused party is found guilty of misconduct, the board can issue a binding disciplinary ruling for cases involving “serious breaches of departmental and professional standards” after consulting with the police chief, including demotion, suspension without pay, or termination.

The new law also gives the board power to review less serious internal affairs investigations, as well as evaluate department policies, practices, and procedures.

Since December, a group composed of current and former CRB members, as well as members of the activist group The People’s Coalition, has worked to align the current ordinance with the new state law, researching various police oversight models and consulting with the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.

“I have real serious problems,” said Councilor Lloyd Snook of the proposed ordinance. “I have no problems with a good strong review board. But I don’t see this draft as creating a review board, [but] a substitute disciplinary board.”

Councilor Heather Hill and Police Chief RaShall Brackney claimed that the board had not collaborated enough with CPD on the ordinance. Brackney worried there would not be due process for officers under both the CRB and CPD’s disciplinary processes.

“We’ve been taking advice from the acting city attorney and our independent counsel. They both reviewed the draft ordinance and neither of them have raised the issues that Chief Brackney did,” responded CRB vice-chair Will Mendez.

Both Councilors Michael Payne and Sena Magill pointed out that the board’s investigations may not be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which could discourage community members from coming forward with complaints. 

“Right now we cannot promise that members of the public that their personal information can be protected. That is definitely a detail that needs to be worked out,” said Acting City Attorney Lisa Robertson.

City Council has had plenty of time to have investigated and done the research to find out what models would work for Charlottesville.

Rosia Parker, initial CRB member

Several councilors expressed concern over the operating procedures for the board’s investigations, but CRB chair Bellamy Brown explained they could better address these specific concerns once an executive director is hired. The city is actively searching for a board director, and has received 64 applications for the position. 

Mayor Nikuyah Walker questioned what a proper collaboration between the board and department would look like. “When we’re talking about transforming a system, there’s only so much that the individuals already a part of that system can bring to the table,” she said.

During public comment, initial CRB member Rosia Parker criticized the councilors for their unfamiliarity with the new legislation and focus on the rights of police officers. “City Council has had plenty of time to have investigated and done the research to find out what models would work for Charlottesville,” she said. 

“I’m not sure why there is fear for breaking ground and why you should have any fear of creating oversight of the police,” said lawyer Teresa Hepler. “People of color being followed, harassed, and injured by the police are afraid. So how can you be scared to do something different?”  

Walker responded that she is “not against anything,” but that she wants to know exactly how the revamped board is going to work before she votes on the ordinance. Payne and Magill agreed that the city must get the ordinance right the first time around, or other localities may be deterred from creating their own powerful review boards.

After further discussion, council and the board agreed to have multiple full-day work sessions to go over each specific power in the draft ordinance with the board’s legal council and Robertson.

Moving forward, initial CRB member Sarah Burke hopes that council will get “up to speed” on the new legislation, and will listen to the community as it works with the board to provide meaningful police oversight.

“What I saw the other night was the City Council grilling the CRB on the model without seeming to have a lot of their own background and research on the issue,” says Burke. “I [also] don’t understand this idea that somehow the CRB should be chastised for failing to listen to the police officers who haven’t engaged with the work.” 

Parker also urges council to be open-minded, transparent, and willing to change.

“We as the people, we’re going to keep pushing,” she says. “It’s time for change, and the time is now.”

Categories
News

Going green

Grassy field located on Panorama Farms on a sunny day with hay bales in the background
The Murray Family hopes to open a 20-acre natural burial ground at Panorama Farms, their property in Albemarle County. PC: Supplied photo

In 2009, Dr. Latham Murray of Earlysville passed away at age 59 at his childhood home, Panorama Farms. His family decided to take care of the funeral themselves, building him a homemade coffin and burying him in their family cemetery. Without knowing it, they had given him a natural burial, free of toxic embalming chemicals, exotic wood caskets, concrete burial vaults, and other elements of traditional funerals known to harm the environment.

After performing more natural burials for their parents, Jean and James Murray, the next generation of Murrays now hopes to add a natural burial ground to their Albemarle farm, giving other members of the community the option to say good-bye to their loved ones in a greener way.

“This is a profoundly meaningful way to care for and respect the dead,” says Chris Murray. “This would be a wonderful thing for the community.”

During a green burial, the deceased are typically placed in a simple wicker or woven casket, or covered with cotton shroud or blanket, all of which are biodegradable and allow for natural decomposition. After they are lowered into the ground and buried under several feet of soil, their graves are marked with a flat stone marker or native plants, in lieu of concrete or plastic memorials. Some natural cemeteries even offer organic burial pods, which turn decaying bodies (or ashes) into trees.

“My parents were enthusiastic environmentalists. This is a way to maintain their legacy of environmental stewardship,” adds Murray, whose family has owned Panorama Farms for nearly 70 years.

According to the Green Burial Council, there are currently around 250 green cemeteries in the U.S., including three in Virginia. With the approval of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Panorama Farms could become the first green cemetery in the Charlottesville area.

The 20-acre burial ground would also help raise revenue to sustain and preserve the family farm.

This is a profoundly meaningful way to care for and respect the dead.

Chris Murray

Natural burials have been the norm in Jewish and Muslim communities for thousands of years, and were common in the United States until the Civil War, when wealthy Northerners started paying for their deceased soldiers to be embalmed and shipped home. After he was assassinated in 1865, Abraham Lincoln was embalmed and paraded across the country, leading to the birth of the modern American funeral industry, reports the Smithsonian. 

“We’re essentially going back to that principle in Judeo-Christian tradition, which is literally ‘dust to dust,’” explains Murray. “The current conventional funeral and burial practices, the body basically never turns to dust.”

Natural burials cut out dangerous embalming fluid—a known carcinogen. And they’re greener than cremation, which releases nearly 600 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air and can vaporize harmful metals from dental fillings or surgical implants. They also save money, costing an average of $2,000 to $3,000, compared to the average $9,000 traditional American funeral.

According to Murray, the board of supervisors has until March 2022 to rule on the special use permit application, but the family hopes to hear back by late summer. 

“We love the idea—but it’s not a slam dunk until we actually get the special use permit,” says Murray.

Categories
News

In brief

A crane puts a black shroud over Charlottesville's Jackson statue while seven people watch
Community members are urging the city to immediately cover the Lee and Jackson statues, as it did in 2017. PC: Eze Amos

“Speed is of the essence”  

This week, eight former members of Charlottesville’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials, and Public Spaces released a letter urging the city to immediately shroud the downtown statues of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and to take steps to ensure that the monuments are permanently removed from public view.

In 2016, the commission, made up of academics, researchers, and activists, recommended that the city remove or re-contextualize its Confederate monuments. Now, both the state legislature and the state Supreme Court have given Charlottesville’s City Council the green light to get rid of the statues.

“The statues embody ideologies of white supremacy and are rallying points for those who embrace violence and hatred. They have no legitimate place in any public sphere,” reads the letter. “The murder of Heather Heyer and the injuries inflicted on scores of others will forever be associated with them.”

The former commissioners also emphasize that moving the statues to a less prominent location would be an insufficient measure because it might allow them to retain their sinister symbolic meaning.

“The last few years have shown that few, if any, museums or other institutions that are capable of properly re-contextualizing the nation’s Confederate statues and memorials are willing to accept them,” the letter reads. “Council must ensure that the statues are never again displayed in public.”

At Monday night’s council meeting, half a dozen speakers echoed the points laid out in the letter. “Speed is of the essence,” said former city councilor Kristin Szakos. “This community has waited for four years to remove these statues, and has seen the harm that they continue to bring to our community with their message of white supremacy.”

The city plans to follow the process for statue removal outlined in the 2020 law passed by the Virginia legislature. Under that law, City Council has total discretion on what to do with the statues, though it is required to solicit public feedback before making any decisions. Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the statue removal process in early June.

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Quote of the week

“They need to be melted down and transformed, as our culture needs to transform.”

—local resident Lena Seville, urging City Council to permanently destroy the Lee and Jackson statues

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More name games 

Charlottesville City Schools have begun the process of evaluating the names of all their facilities, in hopes of removing Confederates, eugenicists, and other scoundrels from the faces of public school buildings. First up in the audit are Clark Elementary, named for General George Rogers Clark, and Venable Elementary, named for Confederate officer Charles S. Venable. The schools held a public hearing this week. 

No longer acting

After a week of interviewing potential city attorneys, City Manager Chip Boyles recommended City Council permanently hire Acting City Attorney Lisa Robertson during Monday’s meeting. Robertson defended Charlottesville in the yearslong court battle over the infamous Lee and Jackson statues, ending with the city’s victory at the Virginia Supreme Court last month. How’s that for a job interview!

A Joy-ful day 

May 3 is now Joy Johnson Day in the City of Charlottesville. Johnson, a longtime public housing resident and advocate for her neighbors, won the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award in April. In the city’s official proclamation, it thanked Johnson for “her unwavering perseverance to housing justice over the past twenty years.”

Joy Johnson in a floral jacket and black shirt
Joy Johnson PC: Eze Amos

GOP face off

Virginia Republicans will choose their nominee for governor at a nominating convention this weekend. Candidates include businessmen Glenn Youngkin and Pete Snyder, former Speaker of the House of Delegates Kirk Cox, and wild-card state senator Amanda Chase. Check back here next week for a full rundown of the convention results.