Drama Teacher Jesse Hawley Takes the Stage

Raise the curtains, Drama Teacher Jesse Hawley is presenting an original production as part of Providence Fringe Festival! At last night's opening night, several staff, faculty, and students came out to support Hawley and enjoy her performance of CVK: Extended Play.

"Campy, critical, playful and serious, I was very impressed by how Jesse Hawley and James Stanley's performance of CVK: Extended Play wove so much content into a short, minimalist theatrical/musical form," says Kevin Arnfield, Visual Arts Teacher at Tabor. "Lots of fun seeing Tabor's impressive Ms. Hawley in action outside the classroom!"

The show follows legendary but short-lived New Wave duo CVK, also known as Clever and Vainglorious Kings. CVK achieved a cult status among audiences for their live shows, in which their musical performances were interwoven with political commentary, tales from their own personal narratives and, most quizzically, theatrical reenactments of Greek myths. After their disbandment and subsequent disappearance, CVK has re-emerged to complete their 1986 studio album, “Extended Play,” resuming their roles as “light-bringers in an ever-darkening world.”

“Jesse and James’s CVK: Extended Play wove these tensions together with ideas of truth, love, expression, and the power of art to produce a smartly funny, spoofy but serious social critique – all of this filtered through the lens of the arty, angsty and comic, post-punk duo the Clever and Vainglorious Kings,” exclaims Arnfield. 

Jesse and CVK co-creator James Stanley developed CVK: Extended Play with support from SPACE on Ryder Farm, lighting by Andy Russ, and movement by Ali Kenner-Brodsky.

Hawley and Stanley will be performing CVK: Extended Play at the Wilbury Theatre in Providence tonight and tomorrow night. For more information on showtimes, the artists, and how to get tickets, click here.