Northlight's folk-infused 'Porch on Windy Hill' benefits from crackerjack trio

Posted May 02, 2023 11:00 pm

While gathering American folk songs and stories in North Carolina, Mira (Lisa Helmi Johanson), center, and her partner Beckett (Morgan Morse), left, reconnect with Mira's grandfather Edgar (David M. Lutken) in Northlight Theatre's “The Porch on Windy Hill, a new play with old music.” Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

“The Porch on Windy Hill: a new play with old music” - ★ ★ ★

“Music has charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks or bend a knotted oak.”

Those words by 17th-century British playwright William Congreve are repeated several times during Northlight Theatre's production of “The Porch on Windy Hill,” a gentle three-hander about reconciliation and forgiveness that not only confirms Congreve's observation but also expands upon it.

In the case of this “new play with old music,” music - specifically folk and bluegrass - doesn't just assuage troubled souls, it helps heal emotional wounds and repair fractured relationships.

Lisa Helmi Johanson plays a young woman estranged from her grandfather, played by David M. Lutken, in Northlight Theatre's Chicago-area premiere of "The Porch on Windy Hill, a new play with old music" conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic by director Sherry Lutken. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

As one character observes, “music is good for getting across what you can't say.” That is certainly true of these characters - all of them musicians - who connect most profoundly during a series of jam sessions (referred to as shindigs, hootenannies and picking parties) occurring over the course of a day on the weathered porch of a North Carolina home.

The music consists primarily of American folk favorites, including the tender “Down in the Valley,” an exhilarating sea shanty “Sail Away Ladies,” the sprightly torrent of notes that is “Over the Waterfall” and the pensive “My Horses Ain't Hungry,” along with snippets of classical compositions by J.S. Bach and Joseph Haydn.

All of them are beautifully played by actor/musicians Lisa Helmi Johanson, David M. Lutken (Woody Guthrie in Northlight's 2012 production of “Woody Sez”) and Morgan Morse, who are listed as co-writers along with director Sherry Lutken.

Conceived by Sherry Lutken during the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Porch on Windy Hill” uses the national crisis to explain the presence of New Yorkers Mira (Johanson) and her scholar/musician partner Beckett (Morse) in rural North Carolina. After 13 months of quarantine, classically trained violinist Mira and ethnomusicologist Beckett have embarked on a tour of Appalachia to collect songs and stories for Beckett's doctoral dissertation on rural American folk music.

Lisa Helmi Johanson and Morgan Morse play musician/scholars collecting American folk songs and stories in Northlight Theatre's "The Porch on Windy Hill, a new play with old music," for which they also served as co-writers along with co-star and co-writer David M. Lutken. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

At a church hootenanny, they run into Edgar (Lutken), Mira's estranged grandfather who she has not seen in 18 years. Edgar invites them back to his home, a much-loved, albeit faded abode conjured with care and attention to detail by set designer Mara Ishihara Zincky and properties designer Jim Guy.

On the porch, in between jam sessions and discussions about American folk and the global influences on its evolution, the reason for the family rift is revealed. Rooted in prejudice, it stems from the marriage between Mira's Caucasian mother and her Korean father and the racism the couple and their daughter endured, including a stinging attack from an extended family member after which Mira's family quit North Carolina for New York.

In a particularly moving scene, Johanson's Mira recalls the fateful incident that made her realize that, to many, she was the Other, an outsider in her own country. Those feelings persisted over the intervening years, fueled by countless micro-aggressions and exacerbated by anti-Asian violence that spiked during the pandemic. Joining Black and Brown people protesting George Floyd's murder, Mira says she realized their struggles to be seen, accepted and respected were her struggles as well, saying “the fight has been mine my whole life.”

David M. Lutken, right, plays a man wrestling with the residual family bigotry that severed his relationship with his granddaughter in "The Porch on Windy Hill, a new play with old music," running through May 14 at Northlight Theatre. Lutken also co-wrote the show along with co-stars Morgan Morse, left, and Lisa Helmi Johanson. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

Those moments of quiet reflection are punctuated by joyous music-making courtesy of the talented, multi-instrumentalist trio who accompany themselves on the banjo, guitar, violin, mandolin, dulcimer and a two-stringed bowed instrument from China called the erhu.

Musically, “The Porch on Windy Hill” is a delight, as evidenced at an opening weekend matinee where Northlight audience members bobbed their heads, tapped their toes and patted their thighs in response to the infectious tunes affectionately played.

Had there been a savage breast among that crowd, I have no doubt it was soothed.

Location: Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300, northlight.org

Showtimes: 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday through May 14. No 8 p.m. show May 13

Tickets: $30-$89

Running time: About 2 hours, 10 minutes, with intermission

Parking: In the adjacent lot

Rating: For most audiences, references racial slurs

COVID-19 precautions: Masks encouraged

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