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By ROB SHERWOOD
Rappahannock Newt Contributing Writer
Laurie Marshall’s moving theatrical presentation Stories From the Dust in the Corner premiered this past weekend at Rappahannock County High School.
In a multi-media ensemble of darice, song, dramatic recitation, and slides or artwork, Marshall and her co-creators — seven children and four adults — presented a poignant testimonial about facing our mortality with a spirit of hope and renewal. Inspired by the lessons in life and courage in death of women and men she has known, Marshall dedicates Stories From the Dust to the memories of ten people, five of which are from Rappahannock.
These people include her mother, who taught her lessons about “sweeping the dust from the comer” as she lived a full activist’s life, and a woman from Bosnia who shared visions of spiritual renewal as she succumbed to cancer in The Plains.
“I came away from the play,” said Linda Orfila, who has collaborated with Marshall on previous artistic projects, “being amazed by the woman (Marshall), how focussed she is, how she is able to tap into people and absorb their qualities and interpret them. The word ‘Ambassador’ comes to mind...The play tells us that death is not a loss — but an achievement. Dying people are giving us their wisdom.”
The choreography by Marshall and her four fellow “song sweepers” incorporates many movements with brooms as accompaniment. Sweeping with brooms and gestures of dusting during dance routines become the leitmotifs of the play as the dancers ritually “sweep out” their lives with gestures that speak of renewal.
The “song sweepers,” who dance, sing, recite, and dramatize different people, are uniformly excellent: Jeanne Drevas, Carol Lucking, Nina Moore, and Mike Dunnigan. Their
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