A bare-bones theatrical afternoon at Bird & Beckett!

Jeff DeMark headlines the program with his trademark mojo bunkum trance dance of mystery and poetic balderdash. Jeff has written and widely performed five theatrical monologues, two of which are available on DVD. He has performed his work at Bird and Beckett three times over the years. Though he lives in the small town of Blue Lake in Humboldt County, he lived for three years right here in Glen Park in the late 1980s. In addition to this monologues and other theatrical work, Jeff is also a songwriter and plays guitar in a group called LaPatina Band. He sometimes performs his stories with the group’s musical backing. He writes his own form of narrative/imagistic poetry and will read some of those, too. There may be an additional guest or two for this show. It will be free flowing.

In Spoken Duets, Chris Kammler and Susan Dombroff collage words into a riff, a rumble, and a rant, and speak them in syncopated and unsyncopated time. They surf through the day-to-day of these tsunami times with poetic and improvisational collaborations. They attempt to untwist and untangle language weaving in and out of the personal and the political, engaging the audience with their fierce honesty and delightful artistry. They offer prayers, love, and humor, as they nurture our collective resilience to garner our humanity back. CKammler is a writer, director, performer, and drama therapist working in a psychiatric hospital. She and Susan Dambroff have spun words together since the 90’s. Her written work has been performed in Europe and SF. She practices Qigong and energy arts to anchor the light in these turbulent times. Dambroff is a poet, performer, teacher, and mother. She is drawn to the detailed placement of words, the alchemy of timing and sequence. Her poetry has been published in many literary journals, and her chapbook, “Conversations with Trees” has been accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press.