The Book Dragon is Hosting Author Summer N. England

The Book Dragon Shop is pleased to host an author event celebrating The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England. Join them for an evening featuring a book talk with Summer, followed by a book signing. Summer holds both an MLitt and MFA from Mary Baldwin University and is also an actor and digital content creator. We’re excited to welcome her to share about her beautifully written novel and creative journey. Small refreshments will be served. This is a ticketed event. Your ticket includes a copy of The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne, which Summer will be happy to sign for you! Seats will be limited, so be sure to grab your ticket and join them for what promises to be a magical evening at The Book Dragon Shop

Oh My Quad! Live Roller Derby Quadruple Header

Virginia Roller Derby Network and the Rocktown Rollers are thrilled to announce our next live action roller derby event! Coming to Augusta Expo on April 18, we’re bringing you FOUR exciting match ups! 10:30 a.m. – River City Roller Derby vs. DC Roller Derby 1:00 p.m. – Rocktown Hits vs. Fredericksburg Roller Derby A 3:30 p.m. – Charlottesville Roller Derby vs. Ghost Fleet Roller Derby 6:00 p.m. – Rocktown B-Sides vs. Fredericksburg Roller Derby B Get your tickets for a full day of roller derby, food trucks, merch, pics with your favorite skaters, and so much more at the Augusta Expo Center in Fishersville! Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Bring your own chair to get trackside seating and be as close to the action as you can get without strapping on your own set of wheels! Tickets: Adult Ticket – $15 presale/ $20 at the door Child Ticket (ages 10 and under) – free, as always! 2-Pack Ticket Special – $25 presale/ $30 at the door 4-Pack Group Special – $45 presale/ $50 at the door  

A Bold Stroke for a Husband at The American Shakespeare Theatre

“Handsome and bold — you are the man for my lady.” — Act V, Scene III In Madrid, scandal is never far away. Don Carlos has lost more than his heart—he’s accidentally signed his fortune over to his mistress, Laura. Now, desperate to win it back, he teams up with his old friend Don Julio, whose return to the city sparks a tangle of flirtations and mistaken identities. Meanwhile, Olivia, a sharp-tongued heiress who refuses to be married off, keeps every suitor guessing—including her music-loving admirer and her exasperated father, Don Caesar. When her cousin Victoria arrives in disguise to reclaim her straying husband, secrets unravel, plans backfire, and love turns the city upside down. From secret letters to midnight encounters, Hannah Cowley’s A Bold Stroke for a Husband is a witty whirlwind of scheming lovers, clever women, and social satire. This rediscovered comedy comes to the ASC through Expand the Canon, an initiative uncovering and uplifting overlooked classic plays by women.

Staunton Books and Tea is hosting International Book Club: Archipelago by Natalie Bakopoulos

Doors open at 6:30 pm – stop by early to get your tea brewed; the conversation begins at 7 pm. Join us for an intimate evening of conversation as the International Book Club discusses Archipelago, a spare, lyrical novel that traces borders – geographical, emotional, and artistic. Set in motion by an unsettling ferry encounter en route to a translation residency on the Dalmatian coast, the novel follows an unnamed narrator through a hazy summer of translation, memory, and desire. A reunion with an old friend, who has written her into his own novel, blurs the boundaries between art and life, leading to a wandering journey across borders and an impulsive return to Greece, and to the uneasy idea of home. Drawing subtle inspiration from The Odyssey, Archipelago reimagines homecoming through an ecofeminist lens, exploring translation, authorship, femininity, and memory while centering middle age as a moment of transformation rather than resolution. Natalie Bakopoulos is the author of Scorpionfish and The Green Shore. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, Tin House, Granta, The New York Times, and O. Henry Prize Stories. A former Fulbright Fellow in Athens, she is an assistant professor at Wayne State University and a faculty member of Writing Workshops in Greece. We’re delighted to welcome a special guest for this discussion: Johan Westenburg, the alter ego of Big Pappy Turtleneck of WQSV. Johan will bring his distinctive perspective and curiosity to a conversation ranging across literature, culture, identity, and the shifting stories we tell about ourselves.

BaroqueFest: La Bella Italia

Staunton Music Festival presents its fifth annual BaroqueFest this April! BaroqueFest 2026: La Bella Italia assembles 28 superlative musicians for a sumptuous journey to Italy, including music by Italian masters and those who traveled to and through Italian lands. Featured works include Handel’s brilliant first oratorio “Il Trionfo del tempo e del Disinganno” (1707); Vivaldi’s “Magnificat”; concertos by Bach, Handel, Geminiani, and Vivaldi; a celebration of music at Dresden, the “Venice of the North”; and chamber and vocal music by A. Scarlatti, Pasquini, Lully, F. Caccini, Marenzio, Corelli, Monteverdi, and many others. All concerts feature acclaimed period-instrument performers. Nine programs include music for voices, orchestra, and chamber ensembles and feature historical keyboards. Plus enjoy a deep-dive into Handel’s Italian journey with an extended lecture over coffee and dessert just prior to the finale concert.