The evening was kicked off by Kathleen Hill, whose beautifully written and highly acclaimed novel, Who Occupies This House, tells the story of one Irish-American family, read from a piece she’d recently completed, “My Apple Tree, My Brightness.” It’s an elegy for her father, a man haunted by his own grandfather, John Ryan, who left County Clare during the Famine to settle in New York City: a meditation on the complicated, sorrowful meaning of the Famine to Irish Americans and their attachment to Ireland. An evocative, thought provoking beginning to the evening.
Spoken word artist, Koro, a grad student at Hofstra University, performed four short works, “Heritage,” “Grandmother,” “To the Woman in India Who Got Hurt by a Thousand Men” and “Michele.” It was a line from “Michele,” however, a poem about Michele Obama, that was on the tongue of many during the intermission: “The way you walk with the strength of three-hundred Greek warriors.” Of Koro, AWoW member Jim Rodgers said, “The genuine article and a pure mixture of high octane talent and literary genius. Koro is the heart and soul of Charles’s vision for Artists Without Walls. We witnessed beauty on Tuesday night.”
Mary McPartland, the celebrated Irish traditional singer and long respected figure on the Irish folk scene, stilled the audience with three songs about “place.” She opened with “The High Walls of Derry,” about her mother’s homeland of County Tyrone to the place where she grew up in County Leitrim. She explained that her mother’s life and her home have given her the source of her music and song. The second song, “Sanctuary,” depicts the landscape of the local hills of Drumkeering, where she grew up, and the images of the men and boys coming home from the Arigna mines and the hardships she and others endured. Mary ended with a song of hope and idealism called “Rainy Night in Soho,” written by Shane McGowan. A wonderful performance from this fiercely talented woman.
Niall McKay and Marissa Aroy of the Emmy award winning production company, Media Factory, presented a video trailer, Delano Manongs, a soon to be released film for PBS. Delano Manongs tells of the plight of Filipino farm workers, many of whom came to California in the 1930s, and the development of the United Farm Workers. Many, including this writer, had mistakenly believed that it was the Mexicans and Ceasar Chavez who were the impetus beyond the Farm Workers’ movement. Delano Manongs, beautifully written and co-produced by Niall and Marissa, who was recently named one of the most influential Filipina women in the United States, serves notice that the UFW was a collaboration between the Mexicans and the Filipinos. This highly anticipated documentary is certain to draw a huge audience.
Screen and TV actor Jack O’Connell found his natural calling and became purple royalty for the night. Wonderful as ever, he played the King with a bone to pick with the mischievous Cardinal in an excerpt from Brendan Connellan’s dark comedy, “Pompa Pompa!” Jim Rodgers knocked the cover right off the ball in playing the Cardinal, his first role on the stage in, let’s be kind, twentyish years. Now that he’s worn the red hat, he might just have to wear in the courts and see if it sways the judges.
Stephanie Silber read a strong excerpt from her new short story, The Lemon Tree, which follows a little girl through an eventful day with her grandmother in a 1960’s era New York cityscape both alluring and menacing. She promised to read more from it at future Showcases if the crowd liked it; from the response, it was clear that they did.
Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington said that her grandfather said of Ella Fitzgerald that “She was ‘BEYOND CATEGORY.” Mercedes added, “And I would like to say the same of Antoinette Montague that she is ‘beyond category’.” Antoinette, accompanied by pianist Bertha Hope, an active force in improvised music from the 1960’s, sang three tunes: “Let The Good Times Roll,” Nina Simone’s “Four Women,” Abby Lincoln’s “Caged Bird” and she walked off singing “The Saints Go Marching In.” Smooth and soulful, range, phrasing and taste, Antoinette and Bertha had the audience calling for more.
The multi-talented Seamus Scanlon – a blend of Tarrantino and Joyce some say – finished the night with a new story ‘Perfect Sin’ which continues the theme of his collection As Close As You’ll Ever Be. A great ending to a fascinating evening.
The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase will be at The Cell on March 26. To join Artists Without Walls click on “Membership” above. For more information on Artists Without Walls write to info@artistswithoutwalls.com
