If you go
The next Play Pen gathering is set for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at MacCracken’s, 15 Atlanta St., Marietta.
For details, contact Woodall at joellenwoodall@gmail.com.
It’s the first Tuesday of the month at Johnnie MacCracken’s off the Marietta square, and one corner of the old Irish pub is slowly filling with an unlikely bar crowd. This group has come not just to hoist a few brews, but to present their poems, plays, manuscripts and musical creations to anyone who will listen.
A noisy pub might seem like an odd place for a literary event, but that’s precisely the goal of Play Pen, a monthly gathering of local writers and musicians who want to share their work.
“By holding this type of event in a bar, we are reaching an audience who doesn’t go to a gallery for a poetry reading,” said founder Joellen Kubiak Woodall. “The misconceptions are that literary events are serious and depressing. We have fun. It’s very informal.”
By 8 p.m., the tables around a microphone in the bar’s corner are filling with writers and their supporters. Those who want to read or perform their works need only show up and sign in, and depending on the number of participants, the event can last for a few hours.
“It’s either poets, writers or storytellers,” said Woodall. “If the artist has a book or CD, I’ll set up a merchandise table so they can promote it and hopefully sell something. It’s a very supportive environment, and that’s the goal - to get people together to support one another.”
Play Pen is the public side of “The Write Room,” an on-line magazine Woodall launched in 2008. That appeals to Spencer Reeve, an Atlanta resident who works in public relations and marketing for a game company.
“I wanted a place where I could get more exposure for my creative writing,” said Reeve, who has been participating for five years. “There seems to be more open mikes for music, but I like that this is for the written word.”
Songwriter Ethan Smith has been to a number of those open musical mikes and wanted to try out his latest works on a different group.
“I heard about this group from a play writing class I’m taking at Kennesaw State,” he said. “This is my first time with a writing open mike, but it gives me a change to try out some new songs I’ve written.”
The recent gathering also drew Jennifer Butler, a Kennesaw resident who works at Cobb County Airport and attends Kennesaw State.
“I’m an English major, so I brought a story to read,” she said. “It’s great to hear what others are working on - poems, stories or songs.”
Play Pen not only offers a venue for sharing and collaborating, said Woodall.
“I believe performing your work in public is the only way to grow as an artist,” she said. “The skills acquired through performance are transferable to other aspects of your life. Play Pen allows an artist to create a persona, audibly edit their work and cultivate a following.”
Each Saturday, we shine a spotlight on a local neighborhood, city or community. To suggest a place for us to visit, e-mail H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or call 770- 744-3042.
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