Author: Michael Witthaus

Writing Gallery opens in Concord

By Michael Witthaus

mwitthaus@hippopress.com

A new space featuring works of art accompanied by text both inspirational and challenging, The Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery opened in downtown Concord ahead of November’s First Friday Art Walk. Passers-by are drawn in by a modern white nightstand stacked with books and topped by a small pumpkin, with a wooden letter K on the floor underneath it.

Hung on the wall to the left of the arrangement are collages of book covers and pages from works by different authors. In the back of the foyer room are two chairs, one with postcards and artful photos on it, the other with pencils and notebooks. They surround an alcove with a sign reading, “Kismet: Defining Patterns.”

The overall effect is warm and welcoming, as well as an invitation to the creative imagination. There are writing prompts tucked into the free notebooks. “What signs and symbols do you see all the time?” reads one, others asks for a paragraph on “an amazing coincidence” or “a wish for one thing to manifest.”

Its intent is to unify images and phrases — and build a community around them.

“We affirm that all the arts are in dialogue with each other; our mission is to start the conversation,” owner Jocelyn Winn wrote in late October. The gallery, she continued, “champions the written word and elevates the creative vibration within the … arts community through monthly text-art exhibitions, workshops, and literary events.”

It also offers professional writing and editing services, something Winn has done as owner of The Eleventh Letter since it opened in 2014. The Writing Gallery, across from the Statehouse on North Main Street, is the first retail location. In a sit-down interview during Art Walk, Winn talked about how it came to fruition.

“It’s always been my dream to have a brick-and-mortar space where people can actually come in and enjoy writing,” she said. “So this is sort of a play on the idea that writers are artists … everything here, every piece, is art, but it has to have a word or text element to it.”

There are two exhibits currently running at the gallery. One features erasure and collage works by artist in residence Laci Mosier. Many are provocative, like “Froot Loops: The Fungus Among Us,” which combines the cut-up profile of a naked woman and a boy on a tricycle with phrases like, “How much Windex do men go through to create history?”

“Kismet” is Winn’s artwork. On one piece, “Manifest,” a framed photo of cut-up lemons sits next to a few paragraphs delving into the title’s etymology — manus combined with festus, two words that respectively mean “hand” and “joy” — and how its meaning has shifted since it was first coined in the 14th century. It ends with a meditation on ellipses.

Winn is big on vision boards. She calls them “manifestation posters,” and the path to opening a writing gallery was lit by hers.

“I got very specific,” she explained. “I said I want a Main Street space. My name is Jocelyn Winn. It’s in Concord, New Hampshire, 03301. A couple months later, I could see these spaces opening up, and so I took my chances.”

An array of activities is ahead in the coming weeks, like a workshop on making holiday cards, a class on the art of letter writing, and a session on appreciating winter, perfect for folks prone to seasonal affect disorder. “It’s based on the book Wintering, about how to love winter,” Winn said. “Which is my favorite season, true.”

There are also two free events: a writing circle led by local arts writer Rachel Wachman, and Solstice Open Mic, which invites writers to read their work. “Five minutes each, and everyone is welcome, even if they’re not reading,” Winn said.

In January there will be two six-week sessions, on fiction and nonfiction writing.

“The gist is every month there’s an array of workshops for advanced writers as well as those looking to start or curiously dip their feet,” Winn said. Along with classes, the gallery will have a monthly main exhibition with a local writer-artist, with works from an artist or writer in residence showing for three months.

“I do have a lot of opportunities and plans for the future, bringing writing to the community,” Winn said. “I think a lot of people are maybe scared of writing, or they shy away from it.” She hopes her workshops, along with the writer’s utensils she’ll be selling soon, will inspire many to the impulse of turning words into art — and vice versa.

The Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery
Open: Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: 146 N. Main St., Concord
More: theeleventhletter.com

Upcoming Events:
The Art of Letter Writing – Wednesday, Dec. 3, 6-7:30 p.m., $22
Winter Is My Favorite Season – Monday, Dec. 8, 6-7:30 p.m., $33 (includes free copy of Wintering by Katherine May)
Holiday Card-Making – Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m., $40 (led by Art Plus NH owner Karen Hicks)
Writing Circle – Wednesday, Dec, 9, free (led by local arts writer Rachel Wachman)
Solstice Open Mic – Wednesday, Dec. 17, free (five minutes each, all welcome even if not reading)

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Icehouse is hilarious, with a heart

If Lake Wobegon had a Hallmark stage division it might come up with something like Icehouse, a Bedford Off Broadway production with three more performances through Nov. 16. Making its first New England run, the Peter Bloedel farce is a funny, heartfelt and warm look at friends helping a friend.

The end-of-the-20th-century comedy is about a Minnesota ex-pat, now living in Florida and lonesome for the cold air, and his buddies, as they try to build an epic ice chateau and keep it a secret from their wives.

There’s a great line toward the end of Act I that sums up the haplessness of five buddies trying to lure a sixth pal back for an ice fishing holiday, only to stumble due to kind-hearted incompetence.

“Every village needs an idiot,” one of them tells his suspicious spouse. “Ours just has more.”

What makes the play succeed is a solid cast that plays well off each other even while managing set changes throughout the production. The family-friendly farce centers on Oskar (Rich Hurley), trapped in Florida with Ingrid (Deb Lund) after she has coerced him to move there for her many climate-related maladies.

When Oskar and Ingrid return for the wedding of Erik (Tigran Kotsinyan) and Michelle (Abby Lefebvre), his friends Arn (Glen Grimard) and Conrad (Declan Lynch) share their plan to build a structure fit for an ice-fishing billionaire, with a full kitchen, sleeping quarters and sauna, an idea they got during a fishing conversation.

Oskar’s in and the six are soon working on their respective co-conspirator tasks.

The machinations employed to get Oskar home again are comedy gold in the hands of Wilhelm (John Decareau) and Lars (Matt Bader). Conrad, Arn and reluctant recruit Erik persuade them to concoct a story to fool Ingrid, delivered from a pay phone (back when they were common) in fake voices.

Of course, the effort only makes things worse — albeit funnier.

Let’s just say that Wilhelm takes his method acting task a bit too seriously, Lars starts to share his enthusiasm, and the two have the audience thoroughly entertained. The pair’s across-the-wire shenanigans, with hilarious support from fellow cast members, are aided by the impressive set design of director Judy Hayward and Daro Fuchs.

The hallmark of a great community theater is often its ability to do a lot with a little, and BoB achieves this with Icehouse. The play opens with a spare set; a couple of hardware store bucket stools for Arn and Conrad to sit on while they fish later becomes a series of different furniture. Then the wall behind the stage moves and it’s all transformed.

The wives, first fooled out of Middle Creak, Minnesota, by Oskar, who turns out to be talented at subterfuge, will find their fury when Lars and Wilhelm’s stunt backfires. Camilla (Lisa Colburn), Helen (Deb Curtis), Rita (Natasha DaCunha-Lund) and Sarah (Julie Shea) all have great moments confronting their respective husbands.

Claire Fry, as mother of the bride Lenora, deserves praise for helping to give the play its heartfelt quality. She’s the wild card. To know what that means, one needs to buy a ticket, but rest assured the experience leaves a sweet finish.

Ultimately it’s chemistry that carries Icehouse to the finish line. It’s Judy Hayward’s first time directing a BoB show and during rehearsals in September she praised the cast while rehearsals were underway.

“One thing that’s nice about it is that everybody pretty much has an equal part,” she said. “It’s quite an ensemble show.”

The opening night crowd agreed. The smiles began with an introductory explanation that the play was being performed in a foreign language (Minnesotan) and continued as the show bounced along merrily through laugh after laugh. With a cast working at a very high level, and a script that’s new to these parts, Icehouse is a must-see.

Icehouse – A Comedy by Peter Bloedel
When: Friday, Nov. 14, and Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m.
Where: Bedford Off Broadway at Bedford Town Hall, 70 Bedford Center Road, Bedford
Tickets: $15 ($12 seniors and students) at brownpapertickets.com

Featured photo: Icehouse. Courtesy photo.