Claudia Stevens: Blue Lias

BLUE LIAS – or the Fish Lizard’s Whore
A solo play written and performed by Claudia Stevens, music composed by Allen Shearer

Performed Tuesday, September 23, 8:00 pm
CenterStage, ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance, Williams College
Admission is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved by
phone or picked up in advance at the ’62 Center’s box office

Blue Lias deals with confrontations of religion and science in nineteenth century England–as well as issues of class and gender–given expression in the life, personality and career of famed fossil collector Mary Anning (1799-1847). Anning, who is sometimes credited with discovery of the first fossils ofIchthyosaurus, received little credit for her path-breaking work from England’s male-dominated scientific community.

Stevens also portrays Anning’s nemesis, the eccentric, humorously self-important William Buckland, who often helped himself to her work. A clergyman as well as an Oxford geologist, Buckland, like many of his contemporaries, wrestled with the fossil evidence disclosed by Anning and others, attempting to reconcile scientific discoveries with biblical accounts. Through musical and dramatic performance, and using letters and impressions by contemporaries, Stevens enriches her depiction of complex and significant characters and issues in the history of science.

About Claudia Stevens. Claudia Stevens creates unique and complex interdisciplinary pieces for her solo performance as musician-actor. Her recent published solo plays with music encompass topics of bio terrorism (The Poisoner on the Train); science, gender and religion; hate crimes and reconciliation (Dreadful Sorry, Guys). Earlier work draws from literature, history, hidden family past, the Holocaust, and issues of identity. She also has become a recognized thinker and speaker on ethics and the arts. Trained as a pianist, singer, musicologist and composer, Claudia holds degrees in music from Vassar College (summa cum laude), California at Berkeley, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in piano from Boston University under Leonard Shure. Her academic positions have included Williams College and the College of William and Mary, where she has just accepted a new appointment as Visiting Scholar in Music. A composers’ pianist in the 1980s, she championed the music of Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions and Elliott Carter, in performances at Carnegie Recital Hall (New York Composers’ Forum production) and other leading venues, and was the featured artist in several “Performance Today” broadcasts on National Public Radio. Many works she commissioned have been published. The Aaron Copland House in New York and several other libraries hold collections focusing on her advocacy of new music.