Susan Banyas to bring encore performance of 'The Hillsboro Story'
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
One of the rare pleasures of working at an independent, locally owned newspaper is that each day brings something a bit unexpected and more than a little bit interesting.
And the more unexpected the day is, the more likely it is somehow connected to Hillsboro City Council member (and former Hillsboro City Schools board member) Mary Brown Turner.
Mary is a dear friend. Four or five years ago, in successive months, Mary introduced me to two great piano players. One of them was Betty Jackson Cotman, the other David Ornette Cherry.
Mary had invited David Cherry and Susan Banyas to my office for a brief get-together. I was and will always be very appreciative for that introduction.
David and Susan, for several years now, have been bringing history to life through their words and music.
From the Civil War in the 19th century to the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, their performance of “No Strangers Here Today” relates the many stories of the Underground Railroad and the people – black and white – who put personal morals and convictions before federal rules and regulations and family traditions.
Their on-stage performance has been accurately described as “a stirring poetic ‘monologue-with-movement’ about political engagement that dances between personal memory and American history from the Civil War to the present.”
A diary kept by Susan’s great-great-grandmother, a Quaker named Elizabeth Edwards, is the source for “No Strangers.”
Susan is a former resident of Hillsboro (older residents might recall Banyas Buick).
She lives and works in Portland, Ore., where she co-founded Dream Wells Studio. She is a member of the Maya Angelou Writers Guild.
David is a West Coast jazz musician. No big deal, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.
Then, after our introductions, Mary mentioned that Don Cherry happened to have performed with John Coltrane. And "original thinker" Thelonious Monk. That got my attention. In a hurry.
We've all heard of the trivia game Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon? Loosely translated, I guess it suggests we’re all just six people away from everyone else.
Well, to have the chance to be only two degrees from John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk without even leaving my office, man, that was “Somethin’ Else,” as David’s father, jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, may have said.
Susan will once again be in Hillsboro in search of an audience or two this fall. Without a doubt, it is our good fortune.
Susan has performed “No Strangers...” at Southern State Community College, at the the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, the International Society for the Study of Time Conference in Cambridge, England, and at ALOUD LA, a literary performance and lecture series funded by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
"The Hillsboro Story," a sequel to "No Strangers Here Today," will be performed at Hillsboro City Schools and Southern State Community College as part of Susan's Fall 2012 tour, tentatively set for September/October. "No Strangers Here Today" will be presented at the Hillsboro Middle School.
According to her website, www.susanbanyas.com, "The Hillsboro Story" is "a warm-hearted, hard-hitting narrative, set in the writer's hometown (of Hillsboro) during one of America's most powerful turning points.
"The story opens in Hillsboro, Ohio on July 5, 1954 when the "colored" elementary school went up in flames. The fire sparked a "school fight" led by five African American mothers who became the first test case for the Brown v. Board of Education decision (May 1954) in the North.
"Ms. Banyas was in the third grade, and the memory of those times sparked this cultural detective story – a lively weaving of spoken word, movement, monologues, and visual images, backed by an evocative original music score. The work is a sequel to 'No Strangers Here Today,' a story of the Underground Railroad. Both works are set in Highland County, Ohio 100 years apart, and celebrate bi-racial resistance movements that are core to maintaining democracy and upholding human rights."
These local performances are scheduled again this year, Susan told me when she walked into The Highland County Press office last week. That's a good thing for local residents.
Susan wasn't overwhelmed by her reception by some city administrators, but I'm confident that can be remedied. (When she asked me a specific question about one of them, I did say it was an unusually warm day for this time of year. She didn't press the matter!)
David and Susan bring a message of open, honest dialogue about who we were, who we are, and who we may become in the manner in which we treat and respect each other.
Hillsboro is most fortunate that one of its own chooses to give back to her community, and offer a bit of historical and cultural enlightenment along the way.
If you have the opportunity to attend their production of "The Hillsboro Story" or "No Strangers Here Today," I encourage you to do so. Susan and David are wonderful people and I'm happy to know them, courtesy of Mary Brown Turner.
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
And the more unexpected the day is, the more likely it is somehow connected to Hillsboro City Council member (and former Hillsboro City Schools board member) Mary Brown Turner.
Mary is a dear friend. Four or five years ago, in successive months, Mary introduced me to two great piano players. One of them was Betty Jackson Cotman, the other David Ornette Cherry.
Mary had invited David Cherry and Susan Banyas to my office for a brief get-together. I was and will always be very appreciative for that introduction.
David and Susan, for several years now, have been bringing history to life through their words and music.
From the Civil War in the 19th century to the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, their performance of “No Strangers Here Today” relates the many stories of the Underground Railroad and the people – black and white – who put personal morals and convictions before federal rules and regulations and family traditions.
Their on-stage performance has been accurately described as “a stirring poetic ‘monologue-with-movement’ about political engagement that dances between personal memory and American history from the Civil War to the present.”
A diary kept by Susan’s great-great-grandmother, a Quaker named Elizabeth Edwards, is the source for “No Strangers.”
Susan is a former resident of Hillsboro (older residents might recall Banyas Buick).
She lives and works in Portland, Ore., where she co-founded Dream Wells Studio. She is a member of the Maya Angelou Writers Guild.
David is a West Coast jazz musician. No big deal, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.
Then, after our introductions, Mary mentioned that Don Cherry happened to have performed with John Coltrane. And "original thinker" Thelonious Monk. That got my attention. In a hurry.
We've all heard of the trivia game Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon? Loosely translated, I guess it suggests we’re all just six people away from everyone else.
Well, to have the chance to be only two degrees from John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk without even leaving my office, man, that was “Somethin’ Else,” as David’s father, jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, may have said.
Susan will once again be in Hillsboro in search of an audience or two this fall. Without a doubt, it is our good fortune.
Susan has performed “No Strangers...” at Southern State Community College, at the the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, the International Society for the Study of Time Conference in Cambridge, England, and at ALOUD LA, a literary performance and lecture series funded by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
"The Hillsboro Story," a sequel to "No Strangers Here Today," will be performed at Hillsboro City Schools and Southern State Community College as part of Susan's Fall 2012 tour, tentatively set for September/October. "No Strangers Here Today" will be presented at the Hillsboro Middle School.
According to her website, www.susanbanyas.com, "The Hillsboro Story" is "a warm-hearted, hard-hitting narrative, set in the writer's hometown (of Hillsboro) during one of America's most powerful turning points.
"The story opens in Hillsboro, Ohio on July 5, 1954 when the "colored" elementary school went up in flames. The fire sparked a "school fight" led by five African American mothers who became the first test case for the Brown v. Board of Education decision (May 1954) in the North.
"Ms. Banyas was in the third grade, and the memory of those times sparked this cultural detective story – a lively weaving of spoken word, movement, monologues, and visual images, backed by an evocative original music score. The work is a sequel to 'No Strangers Here Today,' a story of the Underground Railroad. Both works are set in Highland County, Ohio 100 years apart, and celebrate bi-racial resistance movements that are core to maintaining democracy and upholding human rights."
These local performances are scheduled again this year, Susan told me when she walked into The Highland County Press office last week. That's a good thing for local residents.
Susan wasn't overwhelmed by her reception by some city administrators, but I'm confident that can be remedied. (When she asked me a specific question about one of them, I did say it was an unusually warm day for this time of year. She didn't press the matter!)
David and Susan bring a message of open, honest dialogue about who we were, who we are, and who we may become in the manner in which we treat and respect each other.
Hillsboro is most fortunate that one of its own chooses to give back to her community, and offer a bit of historical and cultural enlightenment along the way.
If you have the opportunity to attend their production of "The Hillsboro Story" or "No Strangers Here Today," I encourage you to do so. Susan and David are wonderful people and I'm happy to know them, courtesy of Mary Brown Turner.
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]