The curtain fell on another wonderful spring conference here at the National Willa Cather Center. Centering around Willa Cather’s love of theater and her role as a drama critic in Lincoln early in her writing career, several presenters spent the weekend engaged in thought-provoking discussions about how we understand Cather’s own writing against a theatrical backdrop. Before the main events were underway, the center hosted several free events open to the public. These events celebrated the return of Cather sites and artifacts to ownership by the Willa Cather Foundation, the launch of a new capital campaign, and the unveiling of a maquette of a Willa Cather statue by Nebraska sculptor Littleton Alston that will become part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. upon completion.

Events on Friday began with our scholarship recipients reading their winning essays and a spirited discussion with educators and students about the essential value the humanities hold in education and beyond in the workplace. After lunch, Nebraska public television legend Ron Hull shared memories of Willa Cather Memorial Prairie founder Mildred Bennett, while conference co-director A.P. Andrews and theater directors Julia Hinson and Bonnie Morris engaged conference goers in a talk about adapting Cather’s work for the stage. L. Kent Wolgamott drew intriguing comparisons to Cather’s time as a critic to his own career as a critic in Friday’s final presentation.

Kolache and coffee kicked off Saturday, along with a beautiful handbell performance by Bell-issimo at Grace Episcopal Church as part of our annual service. After our annual “Passing Show” panel, which this year covered how theater influenced Cather’s overall career, Mark Robison put on a spirited quiz show where contestants answered questions about Cather’s involvement in the theater, both as an actor and a critic. Conference events concluded with theatrical readings at Cather sites and a screening of the 1936 film Camille, adapted from the play that Jim Burden and Lena Lingard see in My Ántonia. Later, the Saturday banquet followed by Julia Hinson’s Cather-inspired production, A Little Pleasure, provided a lovely finale for the weekend.

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