Dawidziak adds Civil War to his repetoire

       PD and former BJ entertainment critic Mark Dawidziak and wife Sara Showman, who have toured the area with Largely Literary Theater Company productions about Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens, have added the Civil War to their presentations.



Sara Showman, Mark Dawidziak

        Company co-founders Sara and Mark will present their new touring show, “Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War,”  at the Nordonia Hills Branch of the Akron-Summit County Library and the Cuyahoga Falls Library.



Performed by Showman (from the South) and Dawidziak (from the North), this hour show blends literary selections with ghost stories from Ohio and other states. The literary interludes include poetry by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, as well as a terror tale by Ohio native and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce. The show also features a special section about Abraham Lincoln.

The free “Shades of Blue and Gray” performance at the Nordonia Hills Branch Library at 9458 Olde Eight Road in Northfield will be 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. For additional information, contact the library at 330-467-8595 or go to nordoniahillsbranch.akronlibrary.org. 



The free performance at the Cuyahoga Falls Library  at  2015 Third Street  will be 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17. For information, contact the library at 330-928-2117 or go to cuyahogafallslibrary.org.

Another stop for “Shades of Blue and Gray” will be the historic Kelton House in Columbus on Sunday, Oct. 20.



The duo also is touring “Ghosts By the Tale,”  its two-part presentation that opens with Showman telling a romantic ghost tale and a not-so-romantic ghost tale – two looks at relationships from a supernatural point of view. Showman’s segment ends with a cautionary tale about three old witches who selfishly deny aid to a stranger – and live to regret it.  Dawidziak shifts to personal stories about spirits connected to Akron-area locations.  



 Specializing in faithful adaptations of great literary works, the Largely Literary Theater Company was founded in 2001 to promote literacy, literature and live theater. The troupe also performs “Twain By Three,” a two-act adaptation of humorous sketches by Mark Twain;  “The Tell-Tale Play,” a two-act collection of poems and stories by Edgar Allan Poe; and its version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” 



The company’s managing director, Showman performs several storytelling programs, including “Animal Tales,” “Earth Tales” and “Holiday Stories with Mrs. Santa Claus,” at area schools and libraries. She performs “Eve’s Diary” and portrays other characters in “Twain By Three.”  She plays 15 roles in “A Christmas Carol”  and performs “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Bells” and “Alone” in “The Tell-Tale Play.” 



The company’s artistic director, Dawidziak plays Mark Twain and Charles Dickens in Largely Literary productions. He has been the television critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer since July 1999. During his fifteen years at the Akron Beacon Journal, he held such posts as TV columnist, movie critic and critic-at-large.



Also an author and playwright, his books include the 1994 horror novel “Grave Secrets” and two histories of landmark TV series: “The Columbo Phile: A Casebook” (1989) and “The Night Stalker Companion” (1997). The author of “The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula” (2008), Dawidziak teaches the Vampires on Film and Television course at Kent State University. He edited and contributed essays to the 2006 collection “Bloodlines: Richard Matheson’s Dracula,” “I A Legend” and “Other Vampire Stories”. And he has penned horror short stories and comic book scripts.

 For information about bookings and other shows, call 330-923-8350 or go to largelyliterary.com.