Empty Step: Poetry & Spoken Word
Event Details
Join us for an evening of poetry and spoken word at 7pm Saturday, December 2, 2023 in The Gallery at Towngate Theatre!
Empty Step is a three-part spoken word event that includes a featured poet, play reading, and an open mic. The December 2 program features poetry and prose from Wheeling writer and artist Christina Fisanick and readings from the play “In Terminal Decline.”
Admission is $5. Purchase tickets online or call 304-242-7700.
Sponsored by Main Street Bank.
About Empty Step: Poetry & Spoken Word
Take a mesmerizing journey with a featured poet. Listen to local actors bring stories to life through theatrical readings from selected plays. Most of all, explore the connections between spoken word and personal expression.
You can discover and develop your own voice, too. After the featured readings, an open mic session closes out the evening. Poets and storytellers, new and experienced, shy and bold, bring their poetry and prose and read aloud to the audience.
“Empty Step” was created by Towngate veterans Maribeth Thompson and the late Tom Stobart in the 1980s to give our local poets and actors an opportunity to have their works and voices be heard.
Program for December 2
Poetry: Eating My Heart Out
Wheeling writer and artist Christina Fisanick will explore her ongoing recovery from binge eating disorder and body dysmorphia in this moving performance of her poetry and prose, including excerpts from her memoir, “The Optimistic Food Addict.”
Dr. Christina Fisanick is the author or editor of more than 30 books and dozens of articles, essays, and poems. Although she focuses primarily on memoir and Wheeling history, she is currently working on an historic novel which takes place at Moundsville’s Fostoria Glasshouse in the years immediately following WWII. In addition, Christina is an English professor and an internationally recognized scholar in the teaching of digital storytelling, a genre that allows her to merge her passions for art and writing. She lives in Wheeling with her son and two cats. Find out more at her website: christinafisanick.com.
Play Reading: “In Terminal Decline”
Actors Tim Thompson, P.D. Gregg, Dee Gregg, Vince Marshall, John Reilly, Makayla Carney, and Rachel Thompson will read from Tom Stobart’s play “In Terminal Decline.”
This serio-comedy attacks intense issues such as alcoholism and its triggers and effects; the complexities of personal relationships; how certain events can alter our lives forever and our ability- or inability- to deal with change. The full play was staged at Towngate in 1984 and 2013, both times drawing record-setting crowds.
Open Mic
Those wishing to participate may bring any poetry or prose they would like to read.
Towngate Theatre is more than theater…
Towngate’s Second Season enhances Wheeling’s arts landscape with literary programming, spoken word performances, live music, improvisation and more. Programs often feature works by emerging and/or local authors, playwrights, songwriters, and poets.
