An evening of stories, poems, songs and theater awaits you at the aptly named Midwinter Showcase presented by the New Hampshire Theatre Project through mid-month. A half dozen inches of fresh snow lent intimacy to the town and cozied an audience of mittened and sweatered theatergoers at the West End Studio Theatre (W.E.S.T.) last Saturday, Jan. 8.

Each show offers a slightly different bill. In whole, we're party to James Patrick Kelly's futuristic fiction and Scarlett Ridgway Savage's three-scene, one-act play "What My Daughter Wants." Christy Cloutier Holmes makes her debut as jazz chanteuse with a very fine backing band, and Lysa James' luminous poems will interweave the Showcase on Jan. 14 and 15. As a whole, they comprise a cabaret of sorts, an evening that switches moods, gears, time and space at will.

In James Patrick Kelly's sci-fi story, "Itsy Bitsy Spider," we enter a world that borrows underlying meaning from two favorite cultural influences, the best the Brits have to offer--Shakespeare and the Beatles. Kelly is a two-time winner of the World Science Fiction Society's Hugo Award, and his work is translated into 19 languages. In "Itsy Bitsy Spider" a middle-aged woman whose affluent mother has recently died visits her father, the Shakespearean actor, Peter Fancy, from whom she's been estranged for 23 years. She finds his door answered by a precocious, cybernetic, 3-year-old version of herself and is rather unprepared for the other possibilities that are to open before her.

Kelly's work is a delight on the page (I suggest "Strange But Not a Stranger" if you'd like a taste), and his delivery as a reader was wonderful. He was at his best making direct eye contact with the audience and rooted in one spot. He created enough of a world with his voice alone that lighting changes and movement seemed unneeded.

Next, the C.C. Holmes Project served up a jazz set. Ms. Holmes rocked the black dress and silver buckled shoes. Her red lipstick was perfection. As her voice warmed, she relaxed into her ballads. Her band, Matthew Brad (drums), Eric Donnelly (keyboards) and Andrew Dow (Bass) had her back all the way. Although it was a short set, I think she was brave to choose "Angel Eyes" and "God Bless the Child," standards that are usually sung by those more hard-bitten. I think she's finessing her way toward smoke and gravel. As the NHTP Junior Repertory Company director, she's more widely known as an actor and educator, and it's fun to see her trying new things.

That's part of what the Midwinter Showcase is all about. Because NHTP is "dedicated to community-building by using theatre and the performing arts to enhance traditional education and support the individual and collective human spirit" the showcase serves as a professional space and place for working actors and educators to debut new works, to try new ways of presenting their ideas and themselves. For instance, at a previous showcase, NHTP director Genevieve Aichele debuted parts of the work that became her full-length show, "Resurrection." Like a lab school, NHTP honors exploration and experimentation. Performing allows the artists access to supportive community audiences and afterwards the reflective place and space to further shape and hone the work.

"What My Daughter Wants" by Scarlett Ridgway Savage closed the evening. It's a thoughtful look at what the heart desires and the very human compromises one makes between aspiration and actuality. Lead actor Kate Kirkwood played three slices of a woman's life (ages 13, 45 and 76), each with its own travails. The title's "daughter" remains enigmatic, as it could be any ready combination of women at particular ages and stages. This was a conceit that gave the play a nice scope in its look at women's lives. Little, though, did daughters get to speak for themselves to the audience; their lives were often controlled by the larger forces at play, narrated third person, or overheard in the telling. The promise of this as a full-length work offers myriad opportunities.

Actor Larry Vigus played friendly dad, flirty middle-aged blind date, and newly sober son-in-law while Christy Cloutier Holmes served as mother, little sister, teenage daughter and lifelong friend. Since Kirkwood's character carries the narrative line, she's the most developed. Savage's other characters needed to change gears and motivations handily, which left them, at times, a bit caricatured. Kirkwood's teenager was a stitch: dancing, singing and negotiating familiar teenage terrain, instructing those around her in the fine art of tight sweater wearing, boy-getting and dad-cajoling. Vigus was at his best as the blind date and his interactions with Holmes as an interrogatory teenage daughter were quite funny, with well-written dialogue and great timing. Holmes' turns as teenage daughter and lifelong friend offered her the most depth of field.

NHTP director Aichele was multi-tasking as well, taking turns as press contact, curtain drawer, director and stage manager. She enjoys the ongoing tradition of yearly showcases and supporting the talent on the NHTP roster of art educators. Helping others get their work produced and seen locally is a win/win between NHTP and the community. Their teaching artist residencies in schools reach over 60,000 New Hampshire children and help to create the actors, artists, and audiences of the future.

The Midwinter Showcase features Scarlett Ridgway Savage's play "What My Daughter Wants" and the jazz of the C.C. Holmes Project. In addition, Lysa James will read a selection of poems on Jan. 14 and 15, and James Patrick Kelly will read on Jan. 16. Tickets are $15. Seating is limited, and reservations are recommended. Call 603-431-6644 ext 5, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for reservations and information.