Two new gallery exhibits that opened this weekend explore ideas about the environment in very different ways. One is a video and installation about an underground coal fire. The other, quite timely with the BP Gulf Coast disaster, is a meditation on oceans and streams expressed in paintings and drawings.
'black damp' by Lydia Moyer
Lump Gallery, 505 S. Blount St., Raleigh; 889-2927, www.teamlump.org
The term "black damp" refers to a nonexplosive mine gas. Moyer uses installation and single-channel video to draw on the story of Centralia, Penn., where a fire has been burning underneath the town for 40 years. The work stems from her series of experimental nonfiction videos. Moyer, who received a master's degree in fine arts from UNC-Chapel Hill, runs the new media program in the art department at the University of Virginia.
'Water Matters' by Marty Baird
The Mahler Fine Art, 228 Fayetteville St., Raleigh; 896-7503, www.themahlerfineart.com
The exhibit documents in drawings and paintings the artist's experience with four North Carolina rivers and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The idea began with hikes along the California coast and then on North Carolina trails, followed by a period of drought, heavy rains and floods around the country. A United Arts grant allowed Baird to explore this state's rivers more closely.
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The Justice Theater Project's " Molly Daughter," opening tonight, explores how the wives and daughters of Irish coal miners in 1870s Pennsylvania managed after a coal town boss executed 20 men for protesting his exploitations. 
Four New York-based pianists will be in Clayton this week, ready to share their mastery of the 18th century instrument with a modern twist. 
PlayMakers Repertory Company has been demonstrating its estimable resources (and chutzpah) recently with annual two-part productions. 
"Dry Run: Defining Determination, Testing Reconstruction," an exhibit featuring visual mythologist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier, is on display at UNC-Chapel Hill through April 30. 
PlayMakers Repertory Company takes on another two-part production with "The Making of a King," consisting of Shakespeare's "Henry IV" (Parts I and II abridged into one play) and "Henry V. 
Punk rock and the Broadway musical might seem polar opposites, but "American Idiot" proves their fusion can work. 
Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern never does anything by halves, with some productions rivetingly imaginative and others frustratingly over the top. "Donald," the company's inventive piece about former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is one of its very best. 
Imagine walking from South America to North Carolina, traversing undeveloped swamps, evading poisonous critters and the threat of drug war violence. What to do? Find out with out free entertainment newsletters, delivered straight to your inbox!
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