Archive of Facebook event: click here | For optional donations: click here.

Come on in! To download program, use the button below:

Milwaukee – Marquette University’s Center for Peacemaking, in partnership with local social-service agencies The Alma Center and Safe & Sound, will host Chicago-based performance duo Megan Corse & Paul McComas, plus special guest Darryl Alan Reed, on line in a free, real-time staging and discussion of scenes drawn from the work of John Steinbeck, on Friday, June 5, 2020 at 7:00 PM.

Eight decades after the publication of “the great American short novel” Of Mice and Men (1937) and the epic Depression-era protest novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the show offers a fresh look at both masterpieces along with three other Steinbeck books: Cannery Row (1945), East of Eden (1952), and Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1962).

McComas—also an author and literary/media scholar—developed the 75-minute program a decade ago and since has presented it as a solo show 20 times across the Midwest, to large audiences and critical acclaim. June 5 marks its first-ever duo performance. Viewers can “e-ttend” on Facebook, or via Zoom, on line or audio-only by phone. Optional pay-what-you-can donations will benefit the three hosting organizations.

Says Milwaukee native McComas, “Megan and I enact scenes from all five classics, and I analyze the Salinas, Calif. native’s work, with emphasis on Steinbeck’s status as a matchless chronicler of, and avid advocate for, ‘the have-nots.’ His themes, agenda, and craft have long been major influences on me, as both a writer and an activist, and I’m honored to keep his legacy alive through this show.”

Like the leadership of the civil rights movement he chronicled in his Travels with Charley, Steinbeck openly advocated nonviolent, patriotic, communitarian revolt against, in his words, “tyranny whether it comes from the schoolyard bully, the foreign dictator, or the [domestic] demagogue.” Adds McComas, “With his unflagging insistence that each of us is, indeed must be, our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper—and especially given the ever-increasing marginalization of ‘the least of these’ by the current COVID-19 crisis and its mishandling at the top—Steinbeck 80 years later could hardly be more timely or more necessary.”

One highlight of the show will be the duo’s live performance of Bruce Springsteen‘s stirring Grapes of Wrath-inspired song “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (1995): “Wherever somebody’s fightin’ for a place to stand / Or a decent job, or a helpin’ hand / Wherever somebody’s strugglin’ to be free / Look in their eyes, Mom: you’ll see me.” They will also perform X’s (John Doe & Exene Cervenka’s) Cannery Row-themed “Delta 88 Nightmare.” 

A live 45-minute Q&A/talkback, co-moderated by one representative each from the three hosting organizations, will immediately follow the show.

Says Patrick Kennelly, Director of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking, “This project reminds us that building community is at the heart of peacemaking. It is imperative in times of struggle, isolation, and injustice to join together as peacemakers and community builders.”

“Stress is high, and so many entertainment outlets have been taken away,” says Terri Strodthoff, PhD, Founder and Executive Director of Alma Center, Inc. “We appreciate this opportunity—and the relevance of the theme of ‘the have-nots.’ We are delighted that Paul & Megan are sharing their talents with our community during this time.”

Shares Safe & Sound Executive Director Joe’Mar Hooper, “This performance is an opportunity to come together and understand that if we expand resources for all residents and work to bridge the gaps between neighborhoods, we will come out of this situation stronger than ever. We’re excited to welcome our friends and constituents to attend the virtual performance of John Steinbeck: Scribe of Social Conscience and, as seen in Steinbeck’s novels and this performance, to recognize that if we help those most marginalized during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are creating a better community for everyone.”

About the Performers:

Megan Corse is a film, theatre, and television actor who is often seen performing monthly readings of new works at Chicago’s iO Theater. Look for Megan at (virtual) film festivals in Parent Teacher Conference and the newly award-winning short, Birthday B*tch. Also a musician, she loves incorporating music into her world of performance with musical theatre, live music shows, and these wonderful duo programs. Megan was raised in Eau Claire and Stoughton, WI, and obtained her B.A. in English Literature spends her and Media Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When not performing, Megan spends her time practicing yoga and cuddling with a Burmese-mix cat named Andy, a chinchilla named Bob, and her musician-songwriter-author husband, Phil Circle; they live in Rogers Park, Chicago.

Paul McComas is a two-time Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice honoree in Theatre & Performance and the award-winning author of six books of fiction. He’s also an American Film Institute- and international- prize-winning filmmaker, a media/literary scholar with a film book under contract, and a recording artist: in 2017, CAUDog Records released the soundtrack to his and Maya Kuper’s stage musical Unplugged: A Survivor’s Story in Scenes & Songs, adapted from Paul’s acclaimed ’02 novel. An educator in cinema / media, creative writing, literature, theatre, and bass guitar, he’s won teaching awards from Northwestern and National Louis universities. With a career focused on the overlap between the arts, healing, and progressive activism, Paul serves on both the National Leadership Council and the Speakers Bureau of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). He is an Event Chair for The Kennedy Forum for mental health; founded and performs in both Rock Against Depression and the Fool for Love Sam Shepard memorial/ALS-benefit project; and was recognized for his arts-driven advocacy by the WI state legislature. He has partnered with and performed alongside Michael York, done screenwriting for his friend Ed Asner, and collaborated with RAINN co-founder Tori Amos, all for charity. Paul plays in three bands: the Dayna Clay Project, a RAINN benefit band; the “alt-Western/jazz-dive” quartet Badlands Lounge; and punk-poppers The Daves, founded in 1982 and “still kickin’.” The Milwaukee native lives in Evanston, IL with wife and fellow writer Heather and their rescued champion-racer greyhound, Sam. Says Paul, “I feel infinitely blessed to share the stage with magnificent Megan and devastatin’ Darryl–two of the best performers and people I know.”

Megan & Paul kick off, with this performance, their fifth full year of collaboration, which began when he cast her in his stage musical Unplugged. They soon spun off into a variety of popular duo work—the Fool for Love Sam Shepard memorial/ALS-benefit project; their three-part Best of the Bard: Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits performance-and-analysis program; multiple performances each February of A.R. Gurney’s one-woman-one-man play Love Letters; and live performances of original and cover songs, dramatic scenes, and literary readings—in theaters, cabarets, and learning-in-retirement programs, and at Racine, WI Correctional Institution. Booking/info: Paul, (224) 343-6484, paulmccomas@mail.com

Darryl Alan Reed is a Chicago native whose acting career has been filled with variety and notable projects. He has received numerous theatre awards, including the Joseph Jefferson, Ovation, NAACP, Gay Chicago Magazine, Black Theater Alliance, and AUDELCO. Television credits include memorable character turns as Wallace in Martin, Rondo in Rizzoli and Isles, and Carl Douglas in the O.J. Simpson Miniseries American Tragedy; his most recent TV credits includeAdam Ruins Everything and John Singleton’s Snowfall. Darryl has appeared in films that have been nominated for Oscar, Golden Globes, SAG, and People’s Choice Awards: The American President, Sweet and Lowdown, and (500) Days of Summer. As a pitchman, he has appeared in numerous national commercials that have launched new product brands for McDonalds, Nike, and GEICO.” Says Darryl, “I am excited to be involved in this project that includes two of America’s prolific voices: John Steinbeck and Paul McComas. I am especially blessed to work again with brother and friend, Paul, who through the years has nurtured for me our shared love of language, music, and activism.”

About the Milwaukee nonprofits:

Marquette’s Center for Peacemaking

The Marquette University Center for Peacemaking fosters research and action for the promotion of peace, human dignity, and justice. The center’s programs provide students with opportunities to develop peacemaking skills and faculty with avenues to research nonviolence. The center’s impact reaches near and far beyond campus, through social action projects based in Milwaukee to international partnerships in Afghanistan, El Salvador, and India. www.marquette.edu/peacemaking/

The Alma Center

The Alma Center works to heal, transform, and evolve the unresolved pain of trauma that fuels the continuation of cycles of violence, abuse, and dysfunction in families and community. We work primarily with men at-risk or involved in the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on men who have a history of domestic violence. Our vision is that healing-focused care becomes a leading approach for re- imagining the criminal justice system, particularly in regard to intervention and prevention of family violence, and moves the system toward more restorative and effective models. www.almacenter.org

Safe & Sound

Safe & Sound’s mission is to unite residents, youth, law enforcement, and community resources to build safe and empowered neighborhoods. With a vision for a safe neighborhood for everyone in Milwaukee, Safe & Sound works to increase collective efficacy, the strength of the social fabric of the neighborhoods we serve. To do this, Safe & Sound employs a three-part approach: community organizing, youth organizing, and neighborhood safety efforts. In 2019, Safe & Sound engaged 30,783 youth and adults in 1,199 community events and meetings to strengthen neighborhood bonds. www.safesound.org

###

For press: for contact information click here.