Under 30 at Out North

We went to Out North Friday night for the Under 30 performances. These are short pieces by local folks that are under 30 minutes. While some of the people of the years, maybe most, have been actors or at least people who are involved in the arts more than the average person, there are also performances done by 'normal' people. This year there were three very different pieces. Here's the description from the website:

Julius Rockwell’s
“The Sexual Behavior of the Male Red Salmon”
This nonagenarian blends science, humor, and anthropomorphism in a story that demonstrates how the mating rituals of salmon are surprisingly similar, and just as complicated, as those of humans.

Corinna Delgado’s
“Cell Therapy”
is the true prosaic story of one woman’s journey through incarceration to poetic justice.

Joan Cullinane’s
“Dive In”
is an invitation to the audience to get off their beach towels and jump in the water, even if it is mid-winter in Alaska. Joan the water witch says forget the role of the voyeur, no one really needs directors, writers and actors to play!

Imagine a ninety-year old man telling you his story about studying how salmon spawn, out in the Alaskan wilderness 50 years ago. It was interesting, informative, funny, and amazing. We learned about the different kinds of male salmon - the ones that stick loyally to their partners, the loners who dart in just when the female is about to spawn, the ones that just fight, etc. Among other things.


Corinna soft-rapped her story of incarceration and getting out. Watching her messed with my images of 'the prisoner.' A powerful performance revealing both toughness and fragility. And the battle continues. Although she is participating in prison poetry projects now, she's still having to deal with being an ex-con when looking for jobs.



Then, after intermission, Culinnane. I confess, I think she's spectacularly disarming. I could watch her wait tables or sit and read and be totally entranced. We'd seen her in a previous Under 30 and she had the same effect. I think it's the total authenticity in her performance. There's no mask. It's just her. Naked. Figuratively, and almost literally in this piece. Not only is she authentic, but she's knows stuff. She understands how people relate to each other. She's one of those people who watches other people and figures it out. And I liked that she was performing an anti-performance piece. She engaged the audience by telling us things about ourselves we don't usually admit out loud and got us into the performance. She was talking to us and even if we weren't all talking back aloud, we were all engaged. And some of us ended up down on the stage - actually a fair number. As I'm writing this, I'm still scratching my head at all the things she squeezed into 30 minutes, though I suspect it went over. The last part involved everyone deciding, in groups, where to donate $50 she was contributing. One rep of each of the five groups went down to the stage, told us what our group decision was and then they were told to mill around. One organization had to be chosen. She checked on whether they'd grouped up. Not really. Then she said, "Well, if you can't come up with something, then I'll just take my money home." Within a minute they'd all coalesced behind one charity. She was just showing us that there were other ways to make decisions. The whole piece was amazing, though I think 90% of it belongs to her ability to speak directly from her heart, no bs. Oh yes, the word 'play' came up a lot. As in playful.

Note: My pictures were taken before and after the performances, but I did sneak the one in when the audience was on stage, but with no flash.

There's one more performance Sunday afternoon at 4pm.