The hurricane that devastated southern Louisiana in 2005 has become a symbol of human folly, injustice and resilience. Katrina was the poster-storm for the multiplying ravages of global warming, soon joined by siblings Irene and Sandy, which made sobering visits to the Atlantic coast and New England. Official responses to Katrina, from the mismanagement of disaster relief to police shootings of desperate refugees, remain bleak omens of future emergencies. And, less publicized but perhaps most important, certainly most heartening, the almost 10 years since Katrina made landfall in New Orleans have seen a convergence of spirit, cooperation and determination to rebuild homes, lives and communities.
As the New Orleans-based artists behind Cry You One put it, “The future arrived here first,” and the lessons of Katrina and its aftermath apply to us all. This weekend, performances of the multidisciplinary immersive music/theater/storytelling experience cap a two-week residency in southern Vermont, part of Sandglass Theater’s Voices of Community series. The show is a one-mile, two-and-a-half-hour, rain-or-shine procession in rural Guilford, described as “part eco-tour, part love song, part ensemble-based performance” by Nick Slie of Mondo Bizarro, one of the two NOLA artistic collectives that created the piece. (There’s a “concert version” on Friday for the slow of foot or faint of heart.)
“We want to take people to the land,” says Slie, “so they can witness for themselves what’s happening.” The project’s publicity makes the point that we in the North are connected to the Mississippi delta by “everything that has trickled down from y’all’s homes. … We are simultaneously mourning, remembering and celebrating this connection.”
Cry You One, concert version, Sept. 19, 7 p.m., Evening Star Grange, Dummerston, Vt., $15; outdoor performances, Sept. 20 & 21, 2-4:30 p.m., Broad Brook Grange, Guilford, Vt., $18-$15. Tickets and info at sandglasstheater.org or (802) 387-4051.
