Rachel and Emory will be sharing a very unique perspective on the performing arts: that of a mother and son! Team Kasten will be providing critiques and feature articles on family-friendly and youth-related arts in Chatham County and beyond!

A little bit about the dynamic duo:

Rachel Kasten believes that access to live theatre strengthens communities. She is happy to be back home in Raleigh after a whirlwind decade of living and performing in Ohio, Florida, and British Columbia. She was a professional background actor for 7 months in Vancouver and thinks it’s an experience everyone should have, but only once, and not in the snow. Although she has been frequently typecast as a witch or wicked stepmother (Cinderella, Macbeth, Into the Woods, Shrek...seriously, a lot of witches), she actually thinks she’s an okay mom.

Most recently, Rachel discovered that she enjoys producing even more than being on stage, when she produced These Shining Lives for the Women’s Theatre Festival. Outside of theatre, she serves as a Graduate Program Coordinator at N.C. State and is an active participant in dismantling white supremacy. Rachel is looking forward to sharing something she loves with the person she loves the most.

Emory Kasten is 6 years old and in 1st grade. Emory loves musicals because they have singing and dancing, which are two of his favorite things. He takes jazz and tumbling at Triangle Academy of Dance so that he can perform in Newsies someday. Emory is also a proud Cub Scout. His favorite show is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat because it’s weird, colorful, and silly, like him. Emory wants to see more plays because sometimes they’re really funny. P.S. He wants everyone to know that his favorite animal is the red fox.

We are looking for knowledgeable and creative guest writers and guest photographers in Chatham County and surrounding areas (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, etc.) to contribute locally-centered material about:

• Performing Arts
• Fine Arts
• Gardening & Farming
• Food & Drink

We are also open to other topics. Let us now what you're passionate about! 

We would love to share some local photography with our readers and Instagram followers as well.

We welcome materials from all locals, but we are very interested in hearing from women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks in our community. Make your voices heard!

If you would like to join the team on a regular basis, or just throw some fun content our way,  please email us at chathamlifeandstyle@gmail.com or use the Contact Us form at the bottom of the page.