Triangle theater roundup: Hidden Voices and more

Victims of domestic abuse unite for performance

Vimala Rajendran says she spent 16 years silently enduring abuse from her former husband. But for the ensuing 14 years, she has been anything but silent.

Rajendran counsels other women in similar situations, and she made an educational documentary on family violence called "Breaking the Silence."

So when she heard about "Speaking Without Tongues," a theater project by the social service-focused nonprofit Hidden Voices, she promptly signed on.

The performance, opening with shows at ArtsCenter in Carrboro on Oct. 10 and 11, features true stories gathered from women all over the state who have been, or are still being, abused. Some of the women appear in the show; others must remain anonymous.

The show also features music. And a related photo exhibit opens at ArtsCenter on Friday and runs through Oct. 20.

Hidden Voices director Lynden W. Harris shaped the script over 18 months, gathering participants through state social service agencies, online forums, posters and the media. She used storytelling exercises to draw out their experiences. And she wove them together with a fairy tale told worldwide called "The Armless Maiden" or "The Girl Without Hands." Kathryn Hunter Williams directs.

The cast includes women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Rajendran, 49, moved to the U.S. from India when she was 21. She says she is disturbed to see a rise in domestic violence against South Asian women and hopes "Speaking Without Tongues" can help curb it. She works with a group called Kiran -- or "ray of light" in Hindi -- that helps South Asian women locally. And she is quick to note that men can be victims, too.

Rajendran is now happily remarried. She says she hopes the performance will teach people how to avoid violence and encourage others who have been abused to seek help.

"I don't think any survivor can do it alone," she says. "This show is going to bring home the point that you are not alone. It's going to tell the community that we can break the silence and that there's something the community can do to take responsibility and be there for one another."

Admission to next weekend's performances is by donation. Shows are at 8 p.m. The troupe goes to N.C. Central University for a free show at 7 p.m. Oct. 21. On Oct. 28, there will be free shows at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the UNC-Chapel Hill student union. For details, go to www.hiddenvoices.org.

Sinatra show canceled N.C. Theatre has had to cancel its cabaret-style Sinatra show mid-run, after losing its venue. Raleigh's Prime Only Steakhouse, which housed the Rat Pack Lounge -- where N.C. Theatre staged the Sinatra and a previous Sam Cooke show -- closed down this week, N.C. Theatre said in a press release today. The theater will give refunds to ticketholders for the remaining two weeks of the run.

Baseball-themed readings

It's game season again at Chapel Hill's Deep Dish Theater. That means an evening of sports-themed readings, this time about baseball.

For a $5 suggested donation or a nonperishable food item, you'll hear fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The program includes James Thurber's "You Could Look It Up," A. Bartlett Giamatti's "The Green Fields of the Mind" and Ernest Thayer's "Casey at the Bat."

The performance is Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the theater at University Mall in Chapel Hill. Proceeds will go to the food pantry at Carrboro's Inter-Faith Council for Social Service. Details: 968-1515 or www.deepdishtheater.org.

Robert Chapman at NCSU

Opera fans will have to head to a brothel to see singer Robert Chapman's latest performance.

Chapman, a bass-baritone who has performed with The Opera Company of North Carolina and elsewhere, will play the governor in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" at N.C. State University.

The musical, presented by University Theatre, runs through Sunday at the school's Stewart Theatre. Tickets are $12 to $16. Details: 515-1100, www.ncsu.edu/arts.

Auditions

Nosi Dance Theater is seeking dancers for this season. Auditions will be Sunday at 10 a.m. (apprentices) or noon (company) at Legacy Studios for the Performing Arts, 608 N. Duke St., Durham. Go to www.nosidance.com for information.