Track patterns in porcelain. Glean poetry in SC parks. Grasp the universe at Citadel Mall.
Maura's Three for the Week in Charleston, 3/24/25 - 3/30/25
Sometimes, the most curative measure for what ails me is a sensory departure. Maybe it’s a Spring luncheon with friends, where a Charleston host breaks out some very good china. Perhaps it’s a rousing poetry journey through South Carolina’s national parks by way of an inspired poet laureate. You want opt to gaze at galaxies at a new planetarium, or simply have a laugh and a glass with theater people as they act their way out of a little on-stage predicament. Whatever cheers and charges you, for goodness sake, enjoy.
Meet a fine china mind of Mottahedeh
The American Theater, 446 King St., downtown Charleston, Wed., March 26, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
There are ample reasons — and still a few tickets — for a host of happenings this week at the Charleston Festival, the monthlong swell of tours, talks and events presented by Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF). Among them are Colonial Cocktails: Rum and Madeira on Tues., March 25, and the Sunset Harbor History Boat Tour on Wed., March 26. (More to come soon on the transfixing exhibition, Fragments + Facades at the Aiken-Rhett House Museum).
As a longtime devotee of Mottahedeh, which was formed to recreate historical designs, I’m setting my sights on one particular Wednesday talk. Mottahedeh’s Famille Verte is my own wedding china, and I recently inherited my mother’s Blue Canton, selections of which are sold by HCF along with a specially created Sacred Bird & Butterfly design based on originals in historic Charleston.
On Wed., Wendy Kvalheim, president of Mottahedeh, will delve into the history of the porcelain industry, exploring how Eastern craftsmanship met Western design to shape the modern dinner table that is sure to uplift us all.
For tickets and information, click here.
Follow the fabulousness of The Angel Next Door
Threshold Repertory Theatre, 84 Society St., downtown Charleston, Sat., March 29, at 7:30 p.m. and Sun., March 30, at 5 p.m.
Sometimes, an urbane escape with glammed-out theater folk is just the cure for an increasingly dystopian world. If you’re game for some Newport-based shenanigans, there are still a couple of performances left for The Angel Next Door, the infectious, screwball romp by Paul Slade Smith that makes its East Coast premiere by way of The Village Repertory Co. in collaboration with Threshold Repertory Theatre at the latter’s venue in downtown Charleston. The production taps top talent from both companies for a well-oiled, farcical foray. Here’s my review for Charleston City Paper.
For information and tickets, click here.
Stargaze at (yes) Citadel Mall
Citadel Mall, 2070 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., A-112, Charleston, various times
This one can’t help but conjure a favorite Oscar Wilde quote, from his celebrated play Lady Windermere’s Fan: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Yes, Charleston has a new, if impermanent, planetarium. And, yes, it’s installed in Citadel Mall. The Charleston Planetarium currently features an inflatable dome, spanning 23 feet in diameter and accommodating 40 padded (non-reclining) chairs, which was constructed with advanced materials and cutting-edge technology for an uninterrupted hemispherical projection surface. Tickets are available for individual show times, and venue caters to field trips and birthday parties, too. The goal of the temporary location, said College of Charleston astronomy professor Chris Fragile, is for people to realize the benefits of having a planetarium in Charleston, which could lead to efforts to help establish a permanent one.
For tickets and information, visit charlestonplanetarium.org.
One from the web: Parse SC parks with Greenville’s poet laureate
via Zoom, Thurs., March 27, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. EST
This past Fall, I was honored to join a delegation to Liverpool, England, where we all delved into developments at National Museums Liverpool, among them the current expansion of its International Slavery Museum (more to come on that).
This week, two of my esteemed fellow South Carolina delegates—Georgette Mayo, processing archivist at Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, and Glenis Redmond, poet laureate of Greenville— combine their formidable minds in a virtual discussion for the Dr. Conseula Francis Reading Circle. Honoring Women’s History Month, Redmond will shed light on poems in her collection, The Song of Everything: A Poet’s Exploration of South Carolina’s State Parks.
To pre-register, click here.