Night Calls & The Sudden, Unexpected Sweetness of the Orange

I often think of Write Out Loud as the company that snags the San Diego's middle brow literati's attention despite the seduction of a sunny San Diego weekend afternoon. Some of the best shows in town find that task daunting. After a quiet, a devoted audience quietly enters Cygnet's

Rolando Theatre. A slightly yet charmingly flustered Veronica Murphy takes the stage for the precurtain speech (a sniggley tradition that appears to be a unique San Diego phenomenon). Ms. Murphy works the front of house, directs, performs and serves as dramaturge for Write Out Loud's, at times uncommon, readings. She is WOL's Artistic Director.

In 1986, I experienced a similar routine as an Artistic-Producing Director when we opened Diversionary Theatre at the notorious W.C.P.C. disco: assisting in setting-up scenery, giving actor notes, "cashing in" the box office, selling tickets, handling the press, house managing, giving the "go" for the curtain and such. We also had an actor that occasionally drank before the show and needed to check-up on his sobriety. Ms. Murphy's touch of frazzle is not unseemly; rather, it endears her audience.

Walter Ritter, Executive Director and Ms. Murphy update us on their company's program, "What in the World," a global quilt of disenfranchised voices and the company's enterprising expansion.

Note: Besides their producing association, Walter and Veronica are "life partners." They responded to questions in intermittent "dove tailed" style, subsequently, answers are designated by company name.

# # #

Espresso Refill: How did the for your upcoming program subject come about?

Write Out Loud: We wanted to include stories from diverse cultures and decided that putting them in one program would force us to do it. As it turns out, the voices are not as unfamiliar as we had expected.

ER: What led you to choose the particular voices for the pieces?

WOL: We knew from the minute we read the (Isabel) Allende piece ("The Little Heidelberg") from her collection ("The Stories of Eva Luna"). This particular story is also about a collection of displaced people in another part of the world.

I fell in love with Lara Vapnyar's stories about Russia and Jewish immigrants. Tess Link, who ran a similar program at Fairfield University, also introduced us to "Night Calls" by Lisa Fugard (daughter of South Africa playwright Athol Fugard) and was instrumental in Lisa agreeing to read for us.

The (Isaac Bashevis) Singer story is also about a collection of displaced people in another part of the world. There were so many other stories that we wanted to include, especially two from India, but they got bumped for various reasons, one being that we don't have an Indian reader in our pocket.

ER: So, it was imperative you cast a cultural native per each country's representative work?

WOL: We did not have an actor in-hand who had good command of an Indian dialect. I am also not certain that was the biggest issue that led to cutting the Indian stories. We also needed to keep the program under 2 hours.

ER: Is WOL expanding its programming?

WOL: In April we did a program for the Grossmont College Literary Arts Festival, they have invited us to return next year, an all Irish program in association with Ion Theatre, a reading of the play "Mary & Myra" for the League of Women's voters, "Poems from Guantanamo" for International Museum of Human Rights. a program for the Moonlight Cultural Foundation, a program about Nancy Drew at UCSD library.

ER: What is your process for choosing the readings?

WOL: We read and read and read. We have literary advisor's who suggest stories/authors and we turn to them when we are looking for a specific theme or idea. As I mentioned, we also have friends who suggest stories, themes, etc. The final decision is mine.

# # #

The line-up of stories is still in process for this Saturday's program. Letting go of possibilities for WOL is troublesome. And that is a good thing.

NORCO-S GET LIT

North County (NorCo) Vistites continue their singular literary foray with WOL's engagement at the Avo Playhouse on June 22 at the Recession price of free. Included is the story "The Sudden, Unexpected Sweetness of the Orange" by poet, arts writer and theatre critic Charlene Baldridge.

Ms. Baldridge's work is reprised for this Moonlight Cultural Foundation program. Out of the total 84 stories performed over two years, Baldridge's story is the only piece renewed for performance. "The story is set in San Diego and it's a beautiful story and the right length." More specifically, the story's Balboa Park elicits further interest.

Following is an excerpt from the curiously titled creative­nonfiction inspired by the writer's encounters with a psychotic and ulcerous crack addict.

"The Sudden, Unexpected Sweetness of the Orange"

By Charlene Baldridge

All are homeless these days. We who are older search for purpose beyond procreation, beyond relationship, beyond love as we have known it. The common sight of people less fortunate affects all who feel deeply. Some are unable to turn away from hunger and need.

Robert is a tall black man who wears an afghan around his waist. He looks somehow noble, like a Masai warrior, even when he's standing outside the theater with a paper cup, begging passersby for money.

I've talked with him. That's how I know his name. He has soft brown eyes and an engaging smile. He wears his hair in dreadlocks. His feet are bare, dry and dusty.

# # #

Photos (top to bottom): Veronica Murphy, Artistic Director, WOL; Walter Ritter, Executive Director, WOL; Lisa Fugard, Writer; Charlene Baldridge, arts writer-poet

# # #

"What in the World"

June 6, 2009 at 2:00 pm

Cygnet Theatre/Rolando Stage 6663 El Cajon Blvd

Tickets: $12, $10 for Seniors & Students

Reservations 619-297-8953

writeoutloudsd@gmail.com

Write Out Loud at the Avo Playhouse

Wordswork's "Right Here, Right Now"

June 22, 2009, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: Free

Avo Playhouse

303 Main St., Vista, CA

760-630-7650

Lisa Fugard information is available at http://lisafugard.com/

For more information on Ms. Baldridge go to http://sdtheatrescene.com/

For her poetry, http://newolderwoman.blogspot.com/