Newark Holiday Art Markets

Stained glass by Greg Baldwin

On Friday after work, I pulled in to the parking lot near Newark Natural Foods to check out the multiple Christmas art markets on either side of the cooperative.

My first stop was the Newark Arts Alliance. The decorated windows gave a great view of the beautiful and varied items on display: jewelry, weaving, art, ceramics, stained glass, silk clothing and lovely cards. Works by Julie Darrow, Carole Fox, Marian Howard, Karen Hornor, Ingrid Jackoway, Robanne Palmer, Melissa Paquette, Lisa Pilchard, Wendy Shipman, Doortje Shover and Paulette Visceglia are featured in their Holiday Art Market. The site is so small, quiet and full of light which dances through the lovely glass works and shines off the ceramic glazes and luminescent silver jewelry.

Buying a gift from a local artist helps our community thrive economically and -- if you live in the Newark area – this also means you do NOT have to brave the frenzy of I-95 to find something unusual, beautiful and unique. The Newark Arts Alliance will keep this market open until January 2. Not only that, but they are offering free gift wrapping (now that is a deal!) and will have ornament projects for your children to entertain themselves with while you are shopping.

But wait, that was only the first art show in this very spot! Just across the way, Open Studio artists were meeting and greeting visitors to their second annual Christmas art show. It is being held in THE MEADOWS, which is on the west side of Newark Natural Foods. Don’t worry; there are plenty of signs to show you the way.

Greg Baldwin has many varieties of stained glass pieces of all sizes and prices. Ray Briscoe has some humorous woodcarvings of trolls and funny farmers with heads of open pods in the brightest of pea green. Frances Hart has many of her very delicate watercolors of flowers. Susan Schulz’s jewelry is sleek and silvery, with smooth workings to set off delicately polished stones. MCEI’s weaving has intricate detail. She, too, has smaller works like elegant hot pads if your wallet is feeling too puny to buy one of her larger woven pieces. But for me, the highlight of the afternoon was talking to Paula Camenzind as she sipped spiced tea from one of her elegant blue/pink luster cups.

The Open Studio will be open again on Saturday, December 4 from 10 to 5 and Sunday, December 5, from 10 to 5.

See www.newarkartsalliance.org.

An Afternoon with Distant Voices

The young man's words conveyed a range of feelings, from confusion to anger, and, sometimes, momentary happiness. His name was Hiroaki Nishimura, an American citizen interned in the Japanese American Internments camps during World War II. He is also the father of Julie Nishimura, who co-founded Distant Voices Touring Theatre her husband, Danny Peak, who turned Hiroaki's journals into a moving live performance. "Distant Voices" is presented as a reading by Peak with details from newsreels and historical documents read by David Stradley and Michelle Jacob adding context to what was happening. The 15-minute excerpt from the 70-minute piece simply told Hiroaki's firsthand story -- parts of it -- without commentary. It's a powerful piece that begs many questions; and in all presentations of "Distant Voices," whether at a school or library or museum, includes a question and answer session.

At the DVTT Salon on November 21, the discussion was largely centered on anger. Hiroaki's journal entries showed disappointment and resentment, but no anger and little despair. Guest Hiro Nishikawa of the Japanese American Citizens League shared more stories of young interned men revolting, sometimes leading them to harsher, high security camps, and of men -- Americans, remember -- refusing service when their draft numbers came up even though it meant giving up more freedom for prison. Yet many men did serve, even while their families remained in camps. It's easy to see how the discussions can cover days, as it does when DVTT brings the show, along with pre-preparation sessions, to schools.

The second part of the show brought us into the 2000s, with an excerpt from the post 9/11 piece "September Echoes." The full show explores the aftermath of the attacks from several points-of-view; the 15-minute excerpt focused almost exclusively on a young Syrian in Seattle named Nadin. Nadin's family's home was raided by Immigration and Naturalization Services after 9/11 and she and her parents were held for nine months. Her story was taken from a speech she had given, delivered powerfully by Michelle Jacob. There are some obvious parallels between Nadin's and Hiroaki's stories, as well as contrasts.

Distant Voices offers educational programs for middle and high school, including workshops and a 45-minute show. often free of charge. To help fund these educational programs, DVTT will be holding a wine tasting benefit on Sunday, December 19 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at Deerfield Fine Wines in Newark. The event will include a selection of 25 wines, entertainment, free child care and a discount on wine purchases for a $10 suggested donation. For more information on the benefit or to find out more about the outreach programs, contact Danny Peak at dpeak@udel.edu.

Comic Potential at the Chapel Street Players

From the moment the lights go up, you can’t help but notice Jacie (Courtney Wallace) give a broad but quiet smirk as she plays the nurse on a hackneyed production with the unctuous doctor, the sobbing mother and the son who is being told he will have to lose his foot.

And suddenly, the doctor is not only unctuous, but full of ‘u’s, reassuring the mother and son that he will ‘umputate just below the unkle’….and then the exasperated director rants that his techs must fix this actoid, a robotic actor. And make sure he stays away from the fax!

Wallace’s Jacie is the light that keeps the stage going as she plays an actoid with a heart – a heart that begins to warm to the company director’s nephew. She is wonderful, spewing past scripts on cue for any event she had not been prepared for, and the results are fantastic – like pushing a button on a Chatty Kathy.

This futuristic comedy had a slow start on opening night but everyone seemed to warm up to the enthusiastic audience. Courtney Wallace has that rare ability to act like an actoid and really act within her spurts of role – including outrageous hamming and miming.

Mike Freeberry as Adam Trainsmith had perfect pacing – first keeping a shy and quiet demeanor as he visits his uncle’s production set and then blossoming into an inventive writer as he falls for Jacie the actoid and realizes his own Comic Potential.

Dina Bogino and Bill Starcher not only provided excellent comedy in the smaller roles, but their synthetic actoid acting was perfectly done – with exact repeats and total freeze motion.

The set was brilliant. Joseph Pukatsch built a great backdrop of moveable pieces that converted into different sets in seconds with excellent work by Robert de Remigio’s crew. This absolutely made the second act – allowing us to zip back and forth between scenes as if we were watching the sort of futuristic television production playwright Alan Ayckbourn envisioned.

See www.chapelstreetplayers.org.