Monologues -- Tell me your story; I will listen.

River Country Monologues was one of those dreams that caught the wind of the Spirit and took off! When I first talked with Jheny Nieto and Daniela Zehr about the idea of collecting stories from our local community, I thought, "If there are sixteen people sitting around on Sunday evening, August 23rd, listening to a few good stories, I will be satisfied."

You can imagine the joy and excitement of fourteen readers, ages 6 through 60-something, when the room of about 100 chairs at Trinity Episcopal filled last Sunday evening. Goshen College students, friends of the Domestic and Sexual Assault Shelter, Florencians, family, friends, World Fare loyalists, and Trinity's own pastor Lilvis and friends made a diverse crowd. Though some of the pieces were challenging, either due to the demands of poetry or of emotional and ethical stretching, the audience followed as each story was shared.

Readers tried to find "the voice" of each writer. The found "rage" (even more powerful in Spanish), playful sexuality, agonizing inter-generational squeeze, and the damage done by relationships gone awry.

Skylar Perkins (age 6) lightened the night by reciting the nursery rhyme, "Ladybug, ladybug" before her grandmother, Jane Bowers recited the poem, "Ladybug Motherhood."

Many kudos go to Daniela and Jheny for spending hours on fliers, in meetings, and especially in translating most of the pieces into Spanish. This made a truly bi-lingual evening possible.

One of my greatest thrills was to see who signed up with "further interest" in gathering and hearing women's AND MEN'S stories. Ten women and seven men left contact information. I will be sharing this with those who are intersted. I am hoping that maybe we can have another performance of River Country Monologues -- either in February, when many communitites host this kind of event -- or next summer. Stay tuned.

Here is the program:

RIVER COUNTRY MONOLOGUES

ACT ONE

If your vagina could talk…

All

Smoking Lesbian Fruit

Julie Keefer

Beautiful Daughter

Debra Abel

One woman’s experiences of walking over the years:
Women Walking 1

Emma Fenton-Miller
Women Walking 2

Emily Welty
Women Walking 3

Karla Kauffman

Here and There

Jheny Nieto -Spanish

Carli Thompson -English

Ladybug, Ladybug

Skylar Perkins

Ladybug Motherhood

Jane Bowers

Virginity

All

Longing for Moontime

Kathy Rabbers

ACT TWO

Womanly Frustrations
All

Caring for a Parent

Peggy Deames

War on the Women of Iraq

Karen Haye

Rage

Daniela Zehr -Spanish
Carli Thompson -English

He’s Asleep

Kathy Rabber

Two stories of experiences of the same woman:
Believe

Katie Houston

Julie Keefer