Power of words
By Cory Young, 8/4/2004
Deborah Hunter, a poet, spoken-word performer and actress, practices her spoken word piece last week at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. 4th St., where she will perform several August performances. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World
Artist uses themes of survival in her spoken-word performances
Deborah Hunter thought she was reciting poetry before she hit the stage for the first time in 1991. But a voice from the crowd told her otherwise.
"That's when someone told me I was doing spoken word and that I was a natural at it," she said.
Spoken-word performers tend to have stronger vocal inflection and act out what they are saying, she said.
Today, seasoned in spoken word, poetry, and acting, Hunter hopes to change lives through her words.
The title of the show is "My Poems Are Too Loud," which will encompass her spoken word and poetry sides.
The spoken word piece is "Amazons, Gypsies and Wandering Minstrels" and will be the first half of the show, while a collection of her favorite poems will take up the second half.
She said the piece is dramatic, while the second half of the show is loose and fun. "Amazons, Gypsies and Wandering Minstrels," which is written in poetic monologues, is a social statement about homeless women, something she almost became herself.
"Back in the '80s, when I lost my job in the oil industry, I had a mortgage payment, three kids at home, and I had been in a divorce for some time," Hunter said. "If I didn't have support systems in place for myself, I could've become homeless. That's when I began to gain interest in the plight of the homeless."
She won the Jingle Feldman award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa in 2000 for writing the piece.
Hunter, 53, is a former case manager and task force member at the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, and a grass-roots activist with the Tulsa affiliate of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She said her past inspired her to perform the piece. It includes female characters who struggle with mental illness, homelessness, abuse and addiction. "I'm telling my clients' experiences, their stories. I tell their stories because our system and society has failed these women," Hunter said. "Sometimes it feels overwhelming. I want to move people to do something, move them to action."
The name of the spoken-word piece has meaning.
"'Amazons' are warrior women, and I see the women in this piece as warriors, fighting their own battles and surviving," she said.
"Gypsies and wandering minstrels is how I describe the homeless women, because they are always on the move," she said. "'Wandering Minstrels' because they all have stories to tell that no one wants to listen to."
A survivor of clinical depression and parent of an adult child with schizophrenia, Hunter said the performance's message hits home.
"The mother-daughter piece is about my own daughter who has schizophrenia and who is now homeless and living on the streets," Hunter said.
Fran Ringold, Oklahoma's poet laureate, which is an honorary position appointed by Gov. Brad Henry, said she likes Hunter's disciplined style.
"They should expect a passionate but well-disciplined performance," said Ringold, editor and chief of the Nimrod International Journal, published at the University of Tulsa.
"Deborah's poetry is filled with the political, social and personal concerns that we have learned to expect from poetry and performance, but it is not excessively either one or the other."
Sandra Holden, executive director at the Day Center for the Homeless, said Hunter was a dedicated worker.
"She is very energetic as a case worker. She cared deeply for her clients and the people she worked with," Holden said.
"I have read and seen a small piece of her poetry," Holden said. "And, it's powerful, very moving. It's very realistic. She's speaking to difficult issues that are very personal to her, and her interpretations speak to some of the pain and struggle that goes along with those issues.
"I'm looking forward to being at her performance, to see a friend and to show support. I expect to be moved," Holden said.
Hunter wants people to receive a dose of reality through her spoken-word piece.
"When it's over, I want people to know and accept that the homeless are people, that they all have a story," Hunter said. "In my experience dealing with homeless women, I found that the majority of them come from abusive backgrounds, almost all of them had been sexually molested as children, and many had learning disabilities and undiagnosed mental illnesses or post-traumatic stress syndrome."
Hunter now teaches poetry and creative writing through children and adult workshops in the community. She said it is her way of giving back.
SPOKEN WORD
What: "My Poems are Too Loud," a spoken- word performance by Deborah Hunter
When: 8 p.m. Aug. 12-14 and Aug. 19-21
Where: Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. 4th St.
Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for students and seniors
For more: go to www.nightingaletheater.com on the Internet