The Ojai Playwrights Conference (OPC), one of the nation’s most acclaimed new play development programs, announces two extraordinary “Intersection” events during its annual New Works Festival, including an opening night cabaret with original works and performances by twelve OPC playwrights and a special performance event with new plays by Jon Robin Baitz and Bill Cain and new music theatre piece by Quetzal.
The Ojai Storytelling Festival will present Scott Ainslie as one of the featured tellers at the 18th annual festival, Oct. 25-28. Ainslie is a man who can speak about the Blues with the same compelling passion and authority that drives his musical performances. On stage, he brings the African and American roots, history, and soul of the music. During the Ojai Storytelling Festival, Ainslie will be featured as a solo artist, but he will also be showcased with poet Glenis Redmond in “Southern Voices: Black, White and Blues”. The two performers will weave stories, poetry and music together in a presentation of power and depth that features the works of Muddy Waters and Zora Neale Hurston; Robert Johnson and Fannie Lou Hamer.
A Cancer Prevention & Healing Class Series will be held on August 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th
from 7-8:30PM at Healing in America 107 W. Aliso Street.
Food Medicine Chef Bianca Rose will share the most powerful cancer fighting foods, spices, herbs and teas to boost the immune system and support natural abilities to heal the body. Includes talk and live cooking demo. Please visit compassionateating.com/classes or call 805-701-9858 for information and sign-up.
Pascal Baudar, author and renowned professional forager for L.A.’s top chefs, will return to Ojai as Herb Walks with Lanny Kaufer’s special guest on Saturday, August 11, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a workshop on brewing wild beers with local plants. He will demonstrate techniques described in his latest book, The Wildcrafting Brewer. A limited number of copies of both books will be available for sale and signing.
Baudar will get back to the basics of making beer. During this workshop, participants will learn about plants that have been used during history as brewing ingredients, how to extract wild yeast, creating sugar sources from fruits and berries and much more.
After the walk, the group will go back to a community kitchen where Pascal will show the group the process of making a simple wild beer on location. The $75 fee includes the walk and all foods and beverages to be sampled. To register, visit www.HerbWalks.com, or contact Lanny Kaufer at 805-646-6281 or [email protected].
Quin Shakra and Goda Trakumaite will visit the Ojai Library on Saturday, August 11, at 1 p.m. to deliver a free workshop titled How to Save Squash Seeds. Shakra and Trakumaite are offering this free seed saving workshop to celebrate the release of their comic Adventures in Seed Saving #1: Squash.
The workshop will cover the process of seed cleaning, extraction, pulp removal via water, seed fermentation, and winnowing and cleaning dried squash seed.
Jill Swaim will visit the Ojai Library on Saturday, August 18, at 1 p.m. to deliver a presentation entitled Road Scholar: Adventures in Lifelong Learning. Do you love to travel? Do you enjoy learning new things, exploring interesting places, and meeting people who share a love of adventure? Join us for a lively discussion of the many programs offered by Road Scholar, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to inspire adults to learn, discover, and travel.
Road Scholar is the world’s largest—and America’s first—educational travel organization for adults, offering nearly 5,500 affordable programs each year in about 150 countries worldwide.
For additional information, contact Ron Solórzano, Regional Librarian, at (805) 218-9146. The Ojai Library is located at 111 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai.
