Holding the Mirror Up: New Works and a Room Full of Neighbors

On Sunday, October 25, Alleyway Theatre will present Women+ on the Edge of Democracy, a nationwide initiative commissioned by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Vermont in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Readings and gatherings are taking place across the country from October 23 through November 3.

The national project brought together 34 new short plays and monologues, and each community chooses how many to present. Some are reading a handful; others are presenting the full collection.

Full disclosure, I’m heavily involved, as president of Alleyway’s board and the director and curator of these readings. Of 34 new works, I chose 13 pieces to share across two readings in a single day. The writers include Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, Ife Olujobi, Sarah Ruhl, Lauren M. Gunderson, and Scotland’s Rona Munro. Their stories take us into a library, an airport interrogation, a high school graduation, a historic election, and a home where an expected baby has vanished from everyone’s account but one woman’s.

We’ve had two rehearsals, and I’ll be honest, these plays are not easy. They made me cry. They made me laugh. By the end, there was a real sense of community catharsis in the room. The cast is made up of fantastic actors and artists with deep ties to our community: Gabriella McKinley, David Mitchell, Kai Crumley, Kathleen Rooney, Spud, Rebecca Elkin, Camilla Maxwell, Marc Anthony, and Victoria Pérez.

I have always been a proud Shakespeare nerd. Currently, I serve on Shakespeare in Delaware Park’s Artistic Review Panel, and every week I participate in an online Shakespeare workshop. Whenever conversation turns to how relevant these 400-year-old plays still feel, our instructor points to the moment in Hamlet when the prince stops to coach a company of traveling actors and tells them the purpose of playing is “to hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature,” to show “the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”

I think about that line a lot. Artists have always been observers and critics of the world around them, and many believe art exists to reflect the moment we’re living in back to us.

In his day, Shakespeare’s audiences would have recognized so many references that have since been lost to time. What I love about new work is that it’s ours. It’s written in our language and for our moment. Modern writers, composers, and poets have a way of hitting on something that is specifically and uniquely us.

Earlier this month, I sat in Kleinhans for the world premiere of Francis: An Oratorio in Nine Scenes, with music by Richard Danielpour and a libretto by Sr. Margaret Carney, marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death. JoAnn Falletta conducted the piece, and the performance brought together the BPO, the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and the Fredonia Chamber Choir. When Danielpour and Sr. Margaret walked out on stage, I felt awe and a connection with my neighbors, a whole hall of us hearing something for the very first time, together. There is magic in that.

I think we all need a little magic right now. Sitting in a room with other people, hearing the same words at the same moment, makes life feel less heavy. A piece doesn’t have to be uplifting to lift us. Sometimes the comfort is simply knowing the person next to you is there, sharing the experience.

I hope to see you around town, in person. Either way, feel free to drop me a note. Where do you go in Buffalo to hear something new, or to have an in-person conversation? Email me at Jessica@buffalorising.com.

​Women+ on the Edge of Democracy

Sunday, October 25 | Alleyway Cabaret, 1 Curtain Up Alley
Part One: 1 p.m. | Part Two: 6 p.m.
Free, but seating is limited. Come to one part or both.
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After each part, Alleyway board member Karen King, PhD, who is the Erie County Commissioner of Public Advocacy and Executive Director of the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, will invite a conversation with the audience.
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​RESERVE YOUR SEAT
​ Learn more about the national project at democracy.flynnvt.org.

More places to listen and talk this month:

• Voting Is Your Superpower: A Celebration of Democracy | Tuesday, Oct. 20, 5 to 8 p.m. | Buffalo History Museum. This free, nonpartisan evening, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Buffalo Niagara, includes gallery access, cider and donuts, and a 6 p.m. talk, “The Power of a Voice,” by public historian Melissa Parker Leonard. RSVP​
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• Buffalo 101: How History Shaped the Queen City (Session 3) | Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | Buffalo History Museum. A lecture series on how Buffalo became Buffalo; this session covers the Pan-American Exposition. Details​
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• Beyond Boundaries: TCB, The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing | Thursday, Oct. 29, 6:30 to 9 p.m. | Burchfield Penney Art Center. Filmmaker Louis Massiah presents his documentary about writer and cultural organizer Toni Cade Bambara, told as lessons from her friends, colleagues, and students. Part of Buffalo State’s free Beyond Boundaries Screening & Discussion Series. Details​
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• The Rabble Acoustic Roots Orchestra at the Carnegie Art Center | Thursday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. | 240 Goundry St., North Tonawanda. A free evening of Americana, blues, ballads, and Celtic-style music in the Rotunda Gallery, no registration needed. Details