For those of us tucked up in the Northeast part of the country, Hurricane Katrina is a distant memory, a tragedy of nearly a decade ago. But for those still feeling the effects down South its presence is constant. Siobhan O’Louglin gives a voice to the personal stories in her solo show, The Rope in Your Hands (playing at The Red Room). Through thirteen different first-hand survivor accounts, O’Loughlin deftly moves through the before and after of one of the most devastating disasters in recent memory.

From street performers to university personnel, preachers to clean-up volunteers, the French Quarter to the Ninth Ward, O’Loughlin’s interviews span race, class, and age to bring a fully realized account of the storm and its aftermath. Morphing gracefully into each character, with specific physicality and well-practiced speech patterns, O’Loughlin is a joy to watch.

One can only imagine the mammoth undertaking that came with interviewing and mining the dramatic pith from each of her subjects. The story she tells is cohesive and focused, with a chronology and structure the audience can easily follow. She works her way up to the storm itself, and rather than dwelling too much on the actual rainfall or breaking of the levees (images oft-played on the news), she tells of the evacuations, the forethought, the packing up and shipping out for those who survived.

And then there is the aftermath: the cleanup, the re-building, the government aid (or lack thereof). Here is where O’Loughlin’s point of view begins to surface. The overarching opinion of her subjects is that the government did not do enough to help the survivors, that there should not have been a wait for food, water, and medicine. As one of her characters puts it, “When you see a man drowning in the middle of a lake, and you have a rope in your hands, you don’t debate about whether or not to throw it to him. You throw the rope, pull him out, and then debate about it.” Using the words of activists, homeowners, and cleanup volunteers, O’Loughlin shines a light on the still-in-progress re-building of one of America’s most vibrant cities.

One of the most striking elements of the testimonies is how much love and pride these people have for their city. They do not leave and start life somewhere else. Instead they come back, slog through the gutting of their homes, and try to recreate the color and wonder of the city they know exists somewhere. O’Loughlin, too, feels the same ownership over her characters, and each is presented with respect, grace, humor, and humility. It is a terrific feat, bringing that many voices to life, but she achieves it, and recognizes the importance of their words. After all, sometimes the easiest way to heal is by telling your story, and knowing that someone is listening.

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Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

The Rope In Your Hands

Written and performed by Siobhan O’Loughlin
Directed by Danielle Skraastad

The Rope in Your Hands, written and performed by Siobhan O’Loughlin, is an interview-based solo show featuring the stories of thirteen different survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Show Times:

• Wed 2/22 @ 9:30pm
• Sat 2/25 @ 8:00pm
• Wed 2/29 @ 8:00pm
• Sat 3/3 @ 11:00pm
• Sun 3/4 @ 6:00pm

Answers by Siobhan O’Loughlin
(Writer, Performer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Siobhan: The Rope in Your Hands is based on interviews I conducted with survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The title is an actual quote from a homeless man I interviewed in the French Quarter—he said to me, “You got a man drowning in a lake, huh? And you got a rope in ya hand? You don’t debate about whether or not you throw a man a rope!” For me, this embodies the show itself: if we have the ability to help each other, we should. The rope is in your hands as well as mine. It is in our hands.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
Siobhan: Honestly, right off the bat, I’d say the people I interviewed who became characters in the play. Granted, there are 13 of them, but the chance to have five would be wonderful. I’ve tried getting in touch with many of them, and their emails are faulty; or they simply don’t respond. I’ve only had one of my “characters” appear in my audience so far—Steve Hoeschele, who was an ACORN Crew Chief I worked with when I volunteered in New Orleans. He’s actually seen the show twice, and he loves it—which is a huge, huge compliment to me as a writer and performer who is trying to capture a moving portrait of a city. In the beginning of the show, I do a quick one liner from every character I have. At the end of the performance, Steve and his girlfriend were both elated—and he said to me, “I didn’t remember saying that line, but from the way you performed it, I knew it was me.”

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
Siobhan: Right now, I would say the biggest sacrifice is a daily lifestyle one. I’ve chosen to live in New York City, with little stability, basically no job security or resources. All of us performer types have many skills and talents—we could all easily get a desk job that is salaried, provides health care and even a 401k. But if we were to do that, we’d sacrifice the chance to audition, to travel on a whim for our original work, to jump on board for any and every project. Artists are some of the hardest working people I know, and also the poorest. Is it worth it? I hope so. It’s gotta be. I’m gonna keep trying, that’s for damn sure.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
Siobhan: There are constant discoveries that a solo performer makes about themselves and the world during their work. When I first created this project, I became instantly aware of how significant solo performance can be as a vessel for social change and political activism. With only one person on stage, the audience becomes the scene partner, creating an instant dialogue between the two. This is a marvelous experience and opportunity for the theatre to provide, and because of that, I think it is a greater instigator for social change and personal growth. There are very few solo shows I have seen that did not move me and inspire me immensely—and that is because I felt I was part of the performance, I felt the performer address me directly. I urge all audience members of the FRIGID New York Festival to please investigate as many solo shows as possible—I know that I will be! Solo performance is my favorite kind of theatre—it is raw, visceral, and powerful.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Siobhan: Oh, there are so many things. I hope that they are moved by the extraordinarily personal and honest stories from these brave survivors of Hurricane Katrina. I hope that these stories compel audience members to initiate more dialogues with their friends, family, neighbors—about their stories, their truths, their personal journeys, which are so often magnificent stories of triumph as well. This is all to say that I hope The Rope in Your Hands brings a sense of community to the audience, that our community is important, is notable, is worth putting time into. I suggest that the rope be in everyone’s hands, for we all have a rope that we can use should we chose to. I suggest further that it is always worth throwing the rope and engaging in our communities. Whether that means Occupy Wall Street, volunteering at a homeless shelter or an animal shelter, donating time to your child’s school or community garden, cooking dinner for your roommates once a week, travelling to New Orleans or—most recently—Alabama, to do post-disaster storm relief, or even making sure you get to know the names of all of the people in your building, and saying hello to them—I truly believe that this sense of humanity is what rescues us, time and time again. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Those who help, are helped.” I hope that The Rope in Your Hands fuels the audience with the courage to care.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?
Siobhan: Oh my goodness!! But I’m so NOT competitive! Um, okay. I guess I’d pick another solo show—there are several in The Red Room, so I’ll pick  I’m Only Explaining This Once.  I like the seemingly simple premise of this show and I can’t wait to see it. Therefore, I throw Moe a rock.

Wow, Siobhan – I kinda expected you to throw Moe a rope!  But that’s not allowed this year – only Rock, Paper or Scissors so you did the right thing, tossing over a big ole rock to I’m Only Explaining This Once. We have no idea what Moe will throw – but we do know that you’ve been challenged by Love In The Time Of Chlamydia and Judge, Yuri and Executioner. Both of them threw rock as well. SO!  Good thing you’re not competitve because both those resulted in a tie.  A tie!  How fitting for a rope.

Thanks The Rope In Your Hands for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially ROCK in any and all challenges. You may have a future win, you may not – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!

For the rest of you don’t forget to check out The Rope In Your Hands!

~~~

~~~

The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

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• The Rope In Your Hands: Katrina, In Their Own Words (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Stripper Lesbians: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• I’m Only Explaining This Once: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Man Saved By Condiments!: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
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15 months ago I had the opportunity to review 23 Feet In 12 Minutes as it premiered in the 2010 NYC Fringe Festival.   Since then this show has made it to New Orleans and back with some wonderful work-shopping in the Cape Cod Theatre Project along the way. It came back to New York as part of the All For One Festival and I was lucky enough to see the newly evolved work. While the show only had a 2 day run I thought I’d do an in-depth exploration of the piece highlighting the evolution from the version I saw 15 months ago. I hope 23 Feet In 12 Minutes will continue to be performed and developed in the future, and continue to have a wider and wider audience, because while it gives gripping stories of many of the tragic human consequences that happened following the touchdown of Hurricane Katrina, it also shows us the best of humanity.

Written by Mari Brown, performed by Deanna Pacelli, and directed by Pamela Berlin and David Travis this new revision moves from the free-flowing stream of conciousness writing and performing in the premiere version, to a well thought out piece where every action (or inaction) seems carefully weighted and balanced to tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and a NOW.  At the end I think anyone who sees this will want to do whatever they can to help prevent disasters – wherever they happen in the world – from getting this out of control again by emulating the people they’ve seen represented in this show.  Last time I wrote a review, I compared everyone to heroes.  This time I think it is more apt to compare them to saints both because the Saints are the New Orleans team, but also because I hope that these stories can help others learn to live by the examples given by Saints in the spiritual sense. The fact that all of these characters in 23 Feet In 12 Minutes came from interviews of real people makes it even more inspiring — and akin to the history of what elevates a person to sainthood.

In this new version, there is more of a sense of time passed than of time flowing.  It’s less frantic and more reflective.  We see a group of people who have been through a lot and had different ways of reacting in the end, all of them good, all of them bettering the world in small or larger ways, all seeing the world in a way that was transformed by the experience.

There seems to be more power done with less story, less scenes, giving the audience time to think and digest.  These silent omissions amplify the piece by giving us more time to think about what the story means similarly to the way the characters in this play had time to think since Hurricane Katrina.  An example of this is Robert, who lost 2 people in his family the night of the storm- his granddaughter and his mother.  The story is made some how stronger by the fact that this little girl is never mentioned after she is swept away; as if there is nothing more that could be said which could accurately sum up his grief.  Additionally, the urgency for the family to stay together and keep going is powerful enough to distract Robert, giving him no time to decompress and deal with the loss of his loved ones.  We just have just his own wonder at having arrived at his point in the future when he says in his last line:

If you had told me six years ago, when 85 % of the city was underwater that the Saints were going to win the Superbowl?  I woulda said ‘you crazy’.  But God is Good.

The recent Hurricane Irene is significant in the telling of this story in part because of its lack of significance.  Even though New York City has been hit by a number of hurricanes it has generally been very well prepared for themost contingencies with strong evacuation plans in place.  Looking at the history of hurricane damage in New Orleans, it seems it was truly a perfect storm due to the ill preparedness.

The character of Francisco seems like a perpetual tourist of sorts, so intoxicated is he by the beauty of New Orleans.  He’s never gone beyond the first dream of wanting to make it big taking pictures of the Big Easy.  This dream keeps him moving through all the odd jobs that he had to take to survive over the next 10 years.  He is so marginalized he can’t even afford  to evacuate on the $21 he has left in this world. So when the storm hits he interacts with some homeless people and is guided through the least quick way to get out of New Orleans.  Eventually he ends up as a refugee in San Antonio Texas and has lived there ever since.  Hearing how he kept a cool head throughout, and was ready to lay down his dream after surviving the nightmare is symbolic of many marginal people who either were native to New Orleans or who were attracted to its magic.

One poignant scene is when Francisco is in the airport, five days after Katrina struck.  He waits 3o hours to be evacuated with thousands of other people. Everyone filthy and exhausted by the horror of it all or running around like crazy in the ensuing anarchy.  He finds a guitar and takes it over to where a group of children are and plays “Happy Birthday” because it is the only song he knows.  The children laugh at the silliness of singing “Happy Birthday” again and again and it was the first time he laughed in a week.  Once they begin to board, everyone must go through security.  Seeing infants in dirty diapers being scanned by security greatly frustrates Francisco.  He says in his closing statement:

New Orleans is BROKE.  That’s what new Orleans is.  She is like a little old lady in a cheap fancy church hat who was walking down the street a little bit drunk who was carrying all her cash in her little white purse and she got attacked.  She got beat up.  They took all her money.  And now she has been begging in the street for six YEARS so she’s all dirty and smelly and people think she’s just totally BROKE.  And the irony is the only people who actually help are ALSO BROKE.

We can contrast Francisco with Max, our Saint of Charity, who came to New Orleans as just a tourist for his brother’s bachelor party.  The free living of New Orleans made him uncomfortable because of his devotion to being a strong Christian.  When they hear that the storm is coming they are evacuated in the first wave since they were affluent tourists with means to pay for alternate ways out.  As the disaster begins to unfold, a light dawns on Max that he should get back into the disaster.  What could he do to help?  WWJD? He stretches the truth and claims to work in Sanitation (he was in charge of trash at church).  He follows a somewhat crazed preacher, doing all matter of first aid to save those that are injured working as hard as he could to help as many people as he could.

I was scared.  The enormity of the situation was overwhelming.  But if you bring a prayer to God, you’ve got to be strong enough to leave it there.  You can’t keep running back to check on it, and ask God why he hasn’t done it yet.  You give him your burden and then you wait for his miracle to work.  That’s faith.

We see Louise, a doctor, who at the age of seven was on a ship in World War II which carried Italian soldiers whose wound were being kept open with plaster of Paris.  In her  we see a Saint of Vigilance.  Screams of agony made her very pragmatic, which she uses as her chief virtue in this story.  Whether working in a trauma ward for two days straight or arming the nurses to protect the children’s ward from looters, she is a tough character in this play.

New Orleans is my drug.  And like a junkie I will do anything to protect my stash.

Joseph and his wife made it through the initial storm surge by using a crow bar to hack a hole in their roof so they could be high up during the storm.  They are Our Saints of Collectedness (knowing when to rest). For the first days they walked with an overburdened garbage can on wheels.  They had to set it aside but were welcomed by a friendly stranger who they stayed with for the remaining days until they were evacuated to the Super Dome.  The conditions there were hellish – old people dying, rapes, lack of sanitation and sometimes children who had lost a parent.  A moment that Joseph sees as the defining moment of this time was after he put one of those lost babies onto an opened cardboard box to keep it safe. He and others surrounded the baby, added other babies, forming a ring of calm that spread out in waves throughout the whole place.  He says at the end:

And that’s what you should do if you’re in this situation.  Put a cardboard box on the ground.  You start the calm.  It’ll grow.

There is also Katie: an expert in mobilizing foreign aid, who want to go to New Orleans but is not allowed to go. She mobilizes aid which she is really good at, but is slowed down by all the layers of authorities.  She is our saint of the New Connections in a world too filled with the old and the stagnant ways of thinking.

I have ambulances from Tennessee, I have state troopers from Virginia, I have 15,000 MREs sitting in trucks outside a warehouse in Pennsylvania wating for a a fucking address from you people, I have France and Germany and SENEGAL calling me asking what they can do! BYPASS the fucking chain of command!

This emphasizes why much of the horror and deaths and damages could have been avoided by more efficient planning or by having more determined leadership.

Finally there is a singer, Delilah, who is the type of person you always expect to find in New Orleans, our Saint of Hope. Friendly, full of humor and ready to take on anything.  After she realizes no one is coming to help after  4 days waiting on their roof, and just seeing the helicopters fly by over head in reconnaissance missions, the band of people she was with decided to hotwire a bus and try to make it out.  Eventually they come to an area where there were hundred of reporters who don’t help her any at all, and clearly are there just to cash in on the misery of others.  This infuriates her.   A reporter who was drinking a bottle of water pointed refuses to share with the dehydrated people who haven’t had water in days.  “This is for me and my crew… I’m not giving you anything“. To this Delilah responded:

And you know, I had been really upbeat and trying to keep everybody happy, trying to make the kids laugh and trying to cook and feed people and do everything I could to stay positive, but when she said that to me, I lost it.  I COMPLETELY WENT MAD.

At this point a police officer, who was seeing the whole situation encourages her to go, because it is better to help save some of the people instead of being mad at others for inaction.  She just keeps driving, past  one barricade after another and sees other buses being guarded by national guardsman.  She drives and drives until almost out of gas and then finds a town, and another helpful police officer (showing again an ideal that people in authority should aim to live up to).  Finally she makes it to a place where she knows she’ll be able to start over.

The collaboration between Mari Brown’s writing, Deanna Pacelli expert portrayal of these characters, the new material added since work-shopping the piece, and the directors Pamela Berlin and David Travis have come together to create a strong piece of theatre — one that should continue to grow and evolve.  I could see 23 Feet in 12 Minutes being studied in ethics courses or being used to inspire those who feel like they are hopeless.  I wish the team putting this together all the best of luck and hope I can one day come up with a contribution to society just as good as 23 Feet in 12 Minutes. Many thanks.

~~~

23 Feet in 12 Minutes ran as part of the All For One Festival at Theatre 80 St. Marks.

23 Feet In 12 Minutes from Mari Brown on Vimeo.

Short

Related Posts:

• 23 Feet In 12 Minutes: The Death And Rebirth Of New Orleans (Fringe Festival 2010)
• The Rope In Your Hands: Katrina, In Their Own Words (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Get STUPEFIED By Paul Hutcheson
• Heather Litteer Shares Some LEMONADE With Us
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!

6 Characters Based On 60 Interviews in 60 Minutes Equals Countless Emotions

Deanna Pacelli is a hero.  Or several of them actually, and also a victim, and often enough some observers.  In 23 Feet in 12 Minutes Deanna puts on many characters and pulls stories from many moving moments as she recounts the events starting with Hurricane Katrina from the eyes of 6 characters drawn from more than 60 accounts of what happened after the storm hit, the water rose, and chaos spread.

What did everyone have in common in New Orleans five years ago?  Well there’s Katrina, but more than that is a tragedy more akin to David Brin’s novel, The Postman, where the real tragedy becomes what happens when society breaks down.  Playwright Mari Brown has done a beautiful job of meshing the stories of many perspectives in a chaotic situation into a cohesive set of story lines that switch off with a pacing so rhythmic and precise so that the intensity of the story can truly be felt by the audience as the speed of transitions between characters ebbs and flows.  David Travis the director is sure to have been expert in helping the writer’s vision become the remarkable reality created by Deanna Pacelli (who by the way was in New Orleans post-Katrina as well).

In 23 Feet in 12 Minutes we see this happen quickly at first as the destruction of the storm takes place, then more slowly but in many ways worse as the normal material of society falls apart when normal rules no longer apply.

When this happens we see two things happen: The first is the opportunity to be criminal, to do wrong upon your fellow human beings.  We see this through the eyes of characters who had been raped, or robbed or killed in fires set by roving bands during those dark times.  We see it in people whose job it is to keep order instead keeping up prisons while someone else figures out what to do.

The second is the opportunity for people to become heroic, to go outside of the normal comfort zone.  This is shown through characters who create calm where it is needed, who right injustices, who build houses and try to organize infrastructure.  Or sometimes, who simply surviving by making things seem normal and human. Little things, like offering a drink to share on their porch  goes a long way.

In both cases we see everyone become superhuman: wearing masks of either the hero, the villain or – as was the case of more than 1800 people – the martyr.

Finally when help began to arrive our heroes’ patience as well as their sanity were severely frayed and often broke as conditions and situations became more than anyone could bear.

But things were dealt with heroically by the people in Mari Brown’s play – overwhelming or not.  As was said by one character, this was his “1825th day of recovery” and rebuilding takes place every day.  As another said, “maybe we should just finish this funeral, throw dirt on the coffin and go on with our lives”.  And at last – by the blues singer who begins and end the show –  ”some day when I’m good and ready I’ll be buried in this city”.  But until then he may as well experience all there is to life.

Thankfully for many people who have been touched by Katrina throughout the 5 years since it swept through so many lives,  23 Feet in 12 Minutes gave some of them an opportunity to put on a new mask: that of the storyteller.

Hope you can all make it to one of the 3 remaining shows so a good catharsis can be had by all.

~~~

23 Feet in 12 Minutes: The Death and Rebirth of New Orleans
Word on the Street Productions
Writer: Mari Brown
Director: David Travis

1h 0m

www.wordonthestreetplays.org
VENUE #11: Players Loft
Fri 27 @ 7:45 Sat 28 @ 3:30 Sun 29 @ 1:15

Related Posts:

• 23 Feet In 12 Minutes: Redux – A Fringe Festival Success Story
• The Rope In Your Hands: Katrina, In Their Own Words (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Rope In Your Hands: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• They’re Baaaaaaaack! The Best Of Fringe Festival 2010 Returns For Fringe Encore
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