News & Events

Elisabeth Gray Stages Benefit Performance of "Southern (dis)Comfort" at UNC Asheville

August 30, 2010

Writer and performer Elisabeth Gray will stage a special performance of her solo show, "Southern (dis)Comfort," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, at UNC Asheville's Belk Theatre. Proceeds from the event will benefit UNC Asheville's scholarship program and Gray's New Umbrella Inc., an Asheville-based multidisciplinary arts organization.

"Southern (dis)Comfort" is a new, dark comedy about life and death in the American South, with stops along the way ranging from Cracker Barrels and nursing homes, to beauty pageants and church gymnasiums. The performance, in the form of a series of monologues, focuses on Southern trial and tribulation.

" 'Southern (dis)Comfort' evolved out of my desire to explore the humorous, tragic and honest vision of the South and the wonderful Southern characters who inhabit the landscape," Gray said.

Gray, a New York-based equity actress, graduated from Asheville High School and went on to study drama at England's Oxford University. She premiered her first one-woman show, "Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath," at Asheville's Fringe Arts Festival in 2007, which went on to win the Fringe First Award for "Innovative and Outstanding New Writing" and a British Stage Awards nomination for "Best Performance in a Solo Show." She has toured extensively and is the recipient of the UK Juliet Bernard Memorial Prize for the "Most Promising Young Actress."

A dessert reception follows the performance. Tickets are $40 and are on sale through September 7. To purchase tickets, call Amy Johnson at the UNC Asheville Foundation, 828.251.6525 or email her at acjohns2@unca.edu.