| THE CHILD BEHIND THE CURTAIN...
AC's 6th MAGICAL, ORIGINAL PRODUCTION! An Dorchadas A Thagann An Solas
"Out of the Darkness Comes Light" - A Gaelic Quote PROGRAM NOTES:
Do you ever joke about that fad, you know the one: “seek and know your inner child” - or are you ever reminded about the “wisdom of a child” – or have you ever happened across some wise and weathered face set with eyes that you thought disclosed a laughing child?
My Father used to say “Child is father of man.” Whether it was “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”, Gerard Manley Hopkins, or William Wordsworth, each with a different permutation of the themes, meanings in this phrase have grown with me personally and always will.
My long-time friend’s 2-year old speaks in phrases now: “can I have soda…. [say please sweetie]… PEAS.” But long before she began to expect that “please” could guarantee an open cookie jar at Grandma’s house, she clearly understood how to wield her cuteness in the combat against a low sugar situation. That’s right, at two years old, she could, we think, manipulate. So what about this childhood innocence?
Another friend works with International refugee children, typically orphaned and brought into the United States by charities after the appropriate approvals and permits. These children draw pictures about what they saw happen to their parents in war – it’s disturbing. So what about the innocence of these childhoods?
But when I pick up this adorable two year old for the ceremonial lift into the air, there is sometimes a flash of quiet – and there is nothing but joy in those eyes, and somehow we both know it, or so I think – and then immediately the burst of a giggle – one that seems eternal in its nature but so fleeting in time it could sneak into and transcend any situation.
Perhaps it is this spirit and a resilience that inspires us; or perhaps a fascination with the workings and being-ness of life and play - a world not yet divided into parts, the compartmentalization just beginning as a game of “how to talk.”
And, perhaps there are expectations that we might call “child-like” that when carried into the years of adulthood are thirsts that can no longer be externally fulfilled - and perhaps that skill in manipulation has been honed to try anyway.
Crafted by HCC’s Arts Collective, “The Child Behind the Curtain” explores these themes far beyond any hints written here. Enjoy! - Nischom Silverman |
RED
Lyrics & Music by NISCHOM SLIVERMAN I love you
I love you
It's Spring now
I need you
I want you
For all mine
You're mine
We're ours
These passionate hours | FINALE - The Child Behind the Curtain
Lyrics & Music by NISCHOM SLIVERMAN
Talk with me, let's share diverse perspectives
Let's laugh our way through endless breadth
of possibilities
Violet glows the twilight in our visions
Lush the life in emerald forests
(lest) we [might] forget
Sky, the space that, vast, unfolds the worries in a mind
Canyons, caverns, daylight warming, earthen clay
we're formed and form(ing)
Last light, sun, a peace empowering,
land begins its sigh, with mine.
We can make it
If we see it
But we must understand our wanting stare.
We will make it
When we see it
And sometimes find that we get when we give
With the courage that it takes to step out and make our offer. |
IMAGES... "THE CHILD BEHIND THE CURTAIN"... |
