Since I have moved across the country and spent a few months in my new home, I have been pondering what it means to be part of a community. Is it being in a group of people who simply happen live in the same place or can it be so much more? I don’t consider where I live at the moment to be my only community, as I consider myself to be part of many. I surrounded myself with part of my new local clique when I went to the Whiteside Theater last month. The people who gathered at this event were those who value the strength of words, nature, and culture. They helped in giving back by donating the money they didn’t need. Through the power of story, I was able to discover that where I am right now is where I’m supposed to be.
The Magic Barrel: A Reading to Fight Hunger, sponsored by OSU’s Center for the Humanities, was a night which tugged at my heartstrings and provoked much thought. The premise of the evening was to have various authors read excerpts of their works to bring a focus back to community and engagement. Through “the Power of Story,” the hope of the hosts was to raise money and awareness for Linn Benton Food Share.
The MC of the night, Karelia Stetz-Waters, captured the crowd gathered under the Whiteside Theatre’s Roof with her open personality and wit.
A Night of Readings
The first reader, Clem Starck, gave an emotional, thoughtful, and true to life reading of his poems which contained humor as well as wisdom.
Another author, David Turkel, presented to the audience a quite unique piece: a one-woman show, monologue-driven rendition of Agamemnon set in West Virginia, originally produced for a French audience by a British theater company. What started off as a humorous setting, with the accent and all, the writer delivered an emotion-packed monologue of the one-woman show with the feel of the original Greek tragedy. A difficult feat marvelously pulled off.
Poet Bonnie Arning read poems from her newly released work Escape Velocity. The pieces she read were powerful and true, mainly explorations of her own experiences.
John Daniel, an author who awoke the Oregonian in me when he said, “rain wakes the land/rain is home,” is also an Oregonian wannabe, yet he described the landscape like a true native.
The showstopper of the evening, Kathleen Dean Moore, local celebrity, was an absolute delight to see on stage. If you already knew Kathleen Dean Moore as a writer, you need to experience
her as a performer. Kathy read from her work Piano Tide as Audrey Perkins sang and hummed next to her. I discovered that the best way to read a work by Moore is to heave her read to you with the accompaniment of Audrey’s clear voice. If you can’t have the real thing, at least read her works with her voice running through your head, it is not the same experience, but it’s close enough.
By the end of the evening, over $9,000 were raised which equates to over 64,000 meals for the food share to donate.
