Get to know a literary icon Saturday evening at the Williamsburg Regional Library.
Ryan Clemens will perform the one-man show “Meet Mark Twain,” sponsored by the Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk. The show will include first-person tales from the life of a beloved author, humorist and storyteller.
Born in 1835, Twain went on to pen “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” “Life on the Mississippi” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” He published more than 30 books total in his lifetime.
Clemens is a relative of Twain – whose real name was Samuel L. Clemens – and will start the show with an introduction regarding that relationship. He will then demonstrate the complex transformation of hair, makeup and costume that take him from modern actor to timeless writer.
Saturday’s performance benefits the Virginia Shakespeare Festival, the Commonwealth’s official festival celebrating the bard, now in its 36th year. VSF comes to Phi Beta Kappa Hall this summer with performances of “Illyria” and “Julius Caesar.”
Clemens has appeared with VSF in productions of “Richard III,” “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Hamlet,” “Comedy of Errors” and “As You Like It.” His last Mark Twain show last June sold out.
The upcoming show is suitable for all ages and will include new material.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. They can be purchased at the Phi Beta Kappa Hall box office at 221-2674 today, or starting at 6 p.m. Saturday at the WRL Theatre. Tickets are also available online.
Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.
