A musical play by local playwright Marty Durlin debuts in Paonia this weekend. The new work brings together the words and stories of five women activists from different eras of American and global history.
“Outspoken" will be performed at the Blue Sage Center for the Arts on Friday, September 4, at 5 p.m., and Sunday, September 6, at 2 p.m. Both performances are free.
Durlin said she struggled to find a title for the piece before settling on “Outspoken,” which she felt captured the spirit of the women featured in the show.
“You really have to say it loud and clear if you're going to be a successful activist,” Durlin said.
The piece connects the experiences of five activists whose lives span nearly 200 years: abolitionist and suffragist Lucy Stone; socialist and prison reform activist Kate Richards O’Hare; anarchist Emma Goldman; Northern California environmental activist Judi Bari; and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Durlin said she was struck by the similarities between the issues these women confronted decades or even centuries apart.
“When I started researching it, I found that the injustices they were fighting 200 years ago are not that different — and in fact, sometimes exactly the same — as what women are still fighting today,” she said.
Goldman and O’Hare were both imprisoned for speaking out against aspects of World War I, particularly the military draft. Bari, meanwhile, fought in the 1980s and ’90s to protect Northern California’s remaining redwood forests from logging.
Thunberg began speaking publicly about climate change as a child. Now 23, she started worrying about the climate when she was just 8 years old.
“Outspoken” is not a fully staged musical theater production. Instead, Durlin describes it as a musical experiment and a preview of a piece she hopes to fully stage in the future.
The performers will remain “on book,” meaning they will read from scripts while performing into microphones. But many of the cast members have already memorized most of their lines and songs.
The show combines music and humor with the activists’ own words. Durlin said much of the dialogue comes directly from the women themselves, with their words often set to music.
“You really hear the way they were speaking and what they were saying and why they’re outspoken,” she said.
The production features an orchestra of Pam Peterson on piano, Eames Peterson on guitar and former KVNF staff member Jeff Reynolds on upright bass. Peterson also created the vocal arrangements.
The cast includes Ellen Hutto, Marion Pierce, Christy Eller, Sally Kane, Lenore Cambria and Violet Peterson.
Durlin has worked with most of the performers previously. Violet Peterson is a new collaborator, and happens to be the granddaughter of Pam and Eames Peterson.
The Sunday matinee will be followed by a talkback, giving audience members an opportunity to respond directly to the work and ask questions about its development. Durlin said that feedback is particularly valuable because “Outspoken” is still a work in progress.
“I’m really eager to hear people’s responses to what we’re doing,” she said. “The talkback is an opportunity to say, ‘Why did you do this?’ or, ‘I didn’t understand that,’ or, ‘I like this, but I didn’t like that.’ That kind of critique of it would be helpful to me at this point in the process.”
The Friday, September 4, performance begins at 5 p.m. at the Blue Sage Center for the Arts in Paonia and will be followed by a reception. The Sunday, September 6 matinee begins at 2 p.m. Both performances are free.
