Appalachian Summer Theater Series at UNC Asheville’s OLLI to Premiere Barbara Bates Smith’s One-Woman Show, Aug. 7

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNC Asheville will present the premiere performance of A Lee Smith Patchwork, a one-woman show by Barbara Bates Smith, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7 in the Reuter Center on campus. This performance, which features musical accompaniment by Jeff Sebens, is free and open to the public.

A Lee Smith Patchwork features characters with a flair for storytelling all created by North Carolina novelist Lee Smith. The writer is no relation to the performer, Barbara Bates Smith, who portrays a mountain girl from Fair and Tender Ladies, a country singer from The Devil’s Dream, an evangelist snake handler’s daughter from Saving Grace, and a rural newspaper columnist from a story in Cakewalk.

Barbara Bates Smith’s touring repertoire includes performances of a Ron Rash sampler and Go Granny D! Smith is a winner of a Southeastern Theatre Conference Best Actress award, and has recently played featured roles in regional productions of Wit, Hamlet, Doubt, August: Osage County, and most recently 4,000 Miles at North Carolina Stage Company.

A Lee Smith Patchwork is the final show in OLLI’s 2016 Appalachian Summer Theater Series. For more information about OLLI events and programs, visit olliasheville.com or call OLLI at 828.251.6140.