Music’s healing power in “The Porch on Windy Hill”

The cast plays old time American folk tunes in “The Porch on Windy Hill.” Photo by Rob Aft Photos.

WESTON, Vt. – Woven within a toe-tapping score of traditional American folk songs, this story of a Korean American classical violinist and her boyfriend, a bluegrass musical savant, touches on many themes – family, race, war, trauma, guilt, and forgiveness.

The young couple, Mira and Beck, are driving south in a broken-down van to escape Brooklyn during the Covid pandemic, on a quest to meet up with some authentic folk musicians and attend a rally in Atlanta. When they come upon an old-fashioned pickin’ party, Mira recognizes the man playing the banjo, and tells Beck for the first time, “That’s my grandfather.”

The Porch on Windy Hill is ultimately about the power of music to forge human connection and heal deeply seated wounds. Set in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina in late spring 2021, the story unfolds on the front porch where Mira spent many days as a young girl playing music with her grandpa Edgar, known as “Gar.” The awkward introduction soon leads to the trio bonding over their shared love of American folk music and its rich history and heritage.

Gar’s gruff demeaner softens as the three musicians sing and perform folksy classics such as “Down in the Valley,” “Pretty Polly,” and “Sail Away Ladies,” laughing and sharing stories and jokes. They swap instruments, while Beck runs back and forth to the van bringing out more until they are performing on banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and harmonica. A dulcimer, once belonging to Mira’s grandma, and an erhu, a Chinese bow and string instrument, are two of the most unusual.

It is late in the second act before Mira finds her voice and confronts Gar about their painful past, and the reason for the decades-long estrangement is revealed. Of course, Gar is a man haunted by his own demons of remorse and regret for actions (or inaction) that cost him his relationship with his daughter and her family.

This is a complex yet relatable story, conceived and directed by Sherry Stregack Lutken, and written by Stregack Lutken with Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse, and David M. Lutken, who also plays Gar and serves as music director for the production. Inspired by the horrific shooting spree that occurred in Atlanta in March 2021, primarily targeting Asian women, Stregack Lutken said the story is “about family, and the strength of love and honesty in the face of racism and ignorance, the healing power of music, and the possibility of redemption, forgiveness, and hope for the future.”

Lutken’s easy, southern drawl and casual delivery feel comforting, and act as an anchor for the performances, even if his carpenter’s pants and flannel shirt look a bit too fresh for an old farmer/banjo picker.

As Mira, EJ Zimmerman is making her debut with the Weston Theater, as is Rob Morrison in the role of Beckett (Beck). All three cast members are gifted and versatile musicians, and together the most fun to watch kick up a jig, perform the traditional melodies, and sing the sometimes silly, often heartbreaking lyrics that tell the stories of the old South, and the hardship, heartache, poverty, hunger, joy, and salvation familiar to rural Americans.

“This play grew out of Covid isolation,” said Stregack Lutken. “We all felt the loss from not being able to gather, and not experience art in one another’s company.”

The authors hope that the connectedness felt by audiences during the show can “continue even when the music stops,” relayed Stregack Lutken.

In that spirit, the digital cast album can be purchased by visiting www.theporchonwindyhill.bandcamp.com, and a portion of the proceeds will go to Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), an organization whose “mission is to advance civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.”

Visit www.westontheater.org for tickets to “The Porch on Windy Hill,” which runs through Sept. 1 at Weston Theater Company’s Walker Farm.

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