Stories
- Karen S. Ripley, Oh No, There’s Men On The Land!
- Daniel Ari, ask me whether what i have done is my life
- Cassie Cushing, Scylla – Youth Undone
- Erica Lann-Clark, Still Shopping for God (excerpt)
Music
Sund of Sirens: Americana, country blues, folk, ragtime
About the Performers
Karen Ripley has been performing for over 35 years as a comic and improviser. She came on to the gay comedy scene in 1977 in San Francisco. From the cover of the East Bay Express (Berkeley, CA) with Whoopi Goldberg to Ms. Magazine’s top 100 Lesbian Comics.
Daniel Ari’s forthcoming book, One Way to Ask (Zoetic Press), combines poems in an original form with art by more than 65 artists including Roz Chast, R. Crumb, Henrik Drescher and Wayne White. Daniel leads creative writing sessions at his home in Richmond and performs improvisational storytelling and movement with Wing It. Look for him at The Moth GrandSlam in San Francisco this coming September.
Cassie Cushing tells myths and folktales for modern adult and young adult audiences. She finds the personal in the traditional and creates unique retellings for the contemporary audience, entering the world of “Once upon a time” to go beyond happily ever after. She is opening a storytelling coffee shop, Kaleidoscope Coffee, in the quaint, artistic neighborhood of Point Richmond.
Erica Lann-Clark was born Jewish on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Austria. She and her family ran from country to country to Brooklyn, where her parents told her vivid tales of vanished worlds. Their kitchen table tales inspired a passion for the power of story. This play asks: Can we reconcile with people we’ve hated for years—or even with those we’ve loved forever—like our families? And can we finally change God’s pronoun from He to She? That’s what her pissed off, aging, feminist show is about and its why she’s taking it on tour while she’s still strong enough to go on the road.
Sound of Sirens, like the mythical sea maidens of old, are mesmerizing audiences with scintillating vocal harmonies and intricate instrumental arrangements. From traditional music and original compositions to modern hits, their performances include music by such diverse composers as Paul Simon, Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Jelly Roll Morton, Vandaveer, and more. As a finely-woven ancient fishing net, the Sound Of Sirens music will capture and hold you riveted from start to finish.