A new downtown independent literary scene kicked off with charm and poignancy as the normally reclusive J.D. Salinger and scifi fabulist Ray Bradbury both visited town Thursday night. Their fictional voices did, that is, as channeled by actors Steve Scarpa and Jeremy Funke.
Twenty people gathered at Koffee? on Audubon for the inaugural event of “Listen Here!” The reading series is bringing local actors to four area coffee shops every Thursday night between now and Thanksgiving to read two short story classics by modern masters.
Click on the play arrow at the top of the story to listen to the New Haven Theatre Company’s Jeremy Funke (at right in photo with Scarpa) inhabit the opening lines of Ray Bradbury’s “Have I Got a Chocolate Bar for You!” It’s a tale of a crotchety priest nearly overcome by the aromas arising from his confessional as a mysterious penitent admits to being an obese chocolate junkie.
Scarpa read J.D. Salinger’s famous “Laughing Man” from the author’s Nine Stories collection. It features within its faux shaggy-dog adventure tale for boys a romance with one Mary Hudson, a kind of androgynous love interest who in 1949, when the story was published, displays not only beauty but a remarkable baseball acumen.
Listeners followed Scarpa’s subtly effective adaptation of voice from character to character. Barbara Fussinger (pictured) laughed aloud when Mary Hudson, told she would have to bat ninth, declares, “Well, then, hurry up.”
Bennett Lovett-Graff, publisher of the New Haven Review, one of the series organizers, determined the selections based on length. Two need to be read in a single hour. And they all must have an understandable narrative line easy for listening. So there’s no fancy meta-fiction here. Just good old fashioned story-telling, done by talented actors. As one listener commented, “It’s nice to hear something come alive.”
“I’ve done a lot of reading to. It’s nice to get read to,” added Fussinger, who was the founder and longtime director of the Children’s Pre-School on Whitney.
The two kick-off stories were ones Lovett-Graff (pictured) particularly loved because, in part, they are full of a poignant yearning.
The rest of the series comprise mostly modern American tales by athors including Philip Roth, John Cheever, Amy Hempel, and Woody Allen. For a touch of the 19th century, there’s Ambrose Bierce’s Twilight Zone-ish “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and for a touch of the Irish, James’ Joyce’s moving childhood awakening story “Araby.”
Lovett-Graff said that his aim, and that of series co-creator David Brensilver of the Arts Council, is to “raise visibility of the literacy scene of New Haven.”
Inspired by the famous Selected Shorts Series at Symphony Space in Manhattan, Listen Here!, organizers pointed out the New Haven series unlike the New York City model, is democratic and free. It is also low budget, with volunteer actors, editors, and the four area coffee shopsthrowing open their doors. In other words, “of, by, and for the community. Very Lincolnesque,” Lovett-Graff said.
Each week also has a theme. Leading up to the high holidays, next Thursday night’s offerings, which will be presented at Blue State Coffee, include Philip Roth’s “The Conversion of the Jews” and Melvin Jules Bukiet’s “The Golden Calf and the Red Heifer.”
The two other venues are Lulu’s on Orange and Manjares Fine Pastries in Westville. Click here for a full schedule.
Great!