New Play About Culture of Fear

- by Jon Devin, Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

New Moon Theatre members rehearse The Empire Builders.

The name Boris Vian doesn’t ring many bells in the new millennium, but in 1950’s France, Vian had his day. Something of a Renaissance man, he wrote novels, plays, essays, translations and even jazz music making him one of the more prolific writers in wartime Paris. Sadly, many of his works sold poorly, discouraging publishers. He is best known for two novels, Heartsnatcher andFroth on the Daydream. He later invented an American persona and wrote under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan.

One of Vian’s last works to be published in 1959 was the three act play, The Empire Builders.

“I describe it as a deeply disturbing essay on the culture of fear,” says Gene Elliott, who directs the play for New Moon Theatre Co. “It exposes how easily a society becomes the prisoner of its own paranoia.”

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Unique Boutique

- by Peggy Rowland, Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Peria Gober in her boutique.

Immediately after graduate school, Peria Gober, at age 24, returned to the Midtown Memphis of her childhood to make a long-held dream of opening her namesake business a reality. Located at 1680 Union Avenue, Peria, an upscale shoe and accessory boutique, is situated just a few blocks from where Gober grew up.

While pronouncing the store’s name may be a little confusing to first-time customers, there’s no mistaking Peria’s allure once inside the doors. In Gober’s words, “It’s a very girly, inviting place to come and accessorize.” What ice cream shops are to children, Peria probably is to women who love shoes and accessories. The boutique owner says that the compliment she hears most frequently from customers is, “You have beautiful things.”

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