“The Porch on Windy Hill” is billed as a new play with old music. The music is mostly country style folk music, many of which I knew from other versions sung by singers of the 1960’s. It opens with a young couple leaving New York, where they’ve been cooped up during the pandemic, as they explore the different musical venues of the Southeastern United States. He is working on his doctoral thesis on the changing of music over time. She is a violin player who, having lost her job during the pandemic, is accompanying him. What they find at one of the concerts after their car has broken down, is an old performer- her estranged grandfather, who she hasn’t seen in eighteen years. It is a beautiful, heartfelt story that reveals itself while the three play many songs on their stringed instruments.
Let me begin by saying that I am not a big fan of bluegrass music, but the songs they play range from ballads to classical and these three are amazing performers playing banjo, guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, erhu, and violin. It is a joy to both listen and watch them. And Mira’s performances blew me away.
Mira (EJ Zimmerman) is half Korean. Her grandfather Edgar (David M. Lutken) is white. When his daughter Ruth married a Korean, there was racial stereotyping from Edgar’s family, his brother having fought in the Vietnam War. They were not kind to Mira. The story of what emerges during the play is heartbreaking.
And then, there are the constant musical interludes. The songs do not attempt to narrate the story. There are for the most part, a break from the narrative while they create a parallel play, a musical of camaraderie as they sing and play together.
In between the songs, we hear the young man Beckett (Rob Morrison) analyze and explain the background of the music. He is the scholar. Edgar has little use for the stories. He says, “just play it.”
Even the term hootenanny is examined. When musicians in the south get together to shindig, they call it a pickin’ party. “Hootenanny,” exclaims Edgar, “is a northern word.”
The musicians are outstanding. Their voices are wonderful. The story is compelling. The sheer entertainment is delightful. What an incredible collection of talent!
“The Porch on Windy Hill” by David M. Lutken, Sherry Stregack Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, and Morgan Morse at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, PA 19355, 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org Thru October 20, 2024
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 