Also this issue:

Fringe, Interrupted
A Fringe hoax causes a stir at this year's festival.
-Debra Auspitz

That's a Wrap
A mini-guide to Fringe';s last weekend.

The World Famous Pontani Sisters
-Juliet Fletcher

Cats
-Debra Auspitz

David Zippel
-Steve Cohen

How They Got In
A surprisingly rosy view of the college admissions process.
-Justin Bauer

Book Quicks
-M.J. Fine

September 12-18, 2002

artpicks

Why I Live at the P.O.

Martha Kemper was performing Eudora Welty before most people even read one of her stories. At the age of 9, she made her professional acting debut in The Ponder Heart, based on Welty's novel, and hasn't stopped making the Mississippi writer's crackling, eccentric Southern world her own. This summer, Kemper gave Philadelphia audiences a sneak peek at her solo performance of the bitterly funny "Why I Live at the P.O." in a showcase by Theater Catalyst's Eternal Spiral Project. Now, she adds to the package "Clytie," about a spinster descending into insanity, and "Where is the Voice Coming From?," written by Welty after she listened to radio news about the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1963. Kemper, also an associate professor of theater at Penn State Abington, portrays Welty's characters -- from the embattled and defiant Sister in "P.O." to the desperate and misunderstood Clytie -- in a tribute to a woman whose prolific life came to an end just last year.

“Why I Live at the P.O.” and Other Stories by Eudora Welty, Sept. 18-22, $12-$15, 2nd Stage at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-4330.

—Lori Hill