Review by Neal Newman
September 25, 2024
The great news for today is that every Thursday at about 9:15 after the performance of THE PORCH ON WINDY HILL at People’s Light in Malvern, the talented musicians of the three-person cast will host a hootenanny of all kinds of country music. All are invited for free, and those who wish to play can bring their folk instruments. This event celebrates music and culture; everyone is welcomed with open arms. I’m a 60’s style folkie myself who wouldn’t miss it, but considering the skill of these performers, I’ll leave my guitar at home.
The story of WINDY HILL began during the pandemic when a group of theater-attuned musicians met and began to jam. They were David M. Lutken, a versatile musician on guitar, dulcimer, and banjo; Sherry Stregack Lutken, a director and all-round musician; Lisa Helmi Johanson, a skilled violinist/fiddle and dulcimer player of Korean descent, and Morgan Morse, a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, banjo, and mandolin. This unique blend of talents not only created new orchestrations for many familiar and unfamiliar country classics but also a play entitled “a new play with old music.”
The play’s themes revolve around the evolution of folk music and the continual prejudice and harassment of Korean Americans, especially during and after the pandemic. Sherry Stregack Lutken would direct, and the others would make up the cast. David Lutken would play a lovable grandfather with great musical skills and hidden prejudice. Morse would portray a doctoral student studying the enthnology of Appalachian music, while Johanson, would play his Korean girlfriend returning to the South Carolina porch where she grew up and abandoned for New York eighteen years ago.
THE PORCH ON THE WINDY HILL has received an impressive reception, having played in Connecticut, near Chicago, and Vermont, and now landing as the opening production of People’s Light’s 50th season. The original cast has been abetted by newcomers Rob Morrison as Beckett, the student, and EJ Zimmerman as his girlfriend, Mira. Lutken remains as Edgar, the grandfather, as does the director, and it is impressive that they all have such varied abilities. As actors, they are grounded in their characters and immensely likable. The audience’s affection transfers to their music, demonstrating that great artists make “that which is incredibly difficult look incredibly easy.” And they do it with such joy.
The play takes place in Western North Carolina and involves Mira’s long-delayed return to where she grew up. She is reunited with her estranged grandfather. The first act involves the three getting to know each other through their music, and their singing and playing evolve as they become more comfortable with the help of some old-time moonshine. The act’s themes involve Bekett’s belief that folk music must continuously grow through its culture, while Edgar does his best to keep it the same as he learned it. They are both right.
The second act turns to a different theme: can the love of music conquer racism? There is less music and more talk in this act, and I didn’t warm to it as I did in the first act, despite Zimmerman and Lutken’s performances. There is much discussion of characters who do not appear and the suffering they endured, while the play’s climax involves a telephone. Bring back the music.
The scenic design by Mara Ishihara Zinky creates that dilapidated porch right down to the broken rain barrel. Costumer Gregory Graham’s clothing reflects the truth that these visitors are from the North. Sound Designer Sun Hee Kil gets those crickets going along with the offstage automobile. Lighting designer Dawn Chiang skillfully moves us from afternoon to evening to morning, while music director Lutken, again, brings it all back home.
My quibbles did not matter to the overjoyed audience. I can’t wait for next Thursday’s “hoot”.
THE PORCH ON WINDY HILL plays through October 29th at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA. Tickets can be obtained at peopleslight.org or by calling 610-644-3500.