It was a bit foreboding of one of the themes for Irish American Writers & Artists Salon at Slainte Oakland. First, meeting Christopher and Claire Wemp as they were unloading their keyboard and sound equipment from their car. And I must mention that attached to Chris was a carrier with their 4-month-old son, Benjamin, who holds the record as our youngest salon participant.
More on that later.
As we offered help, Claire and Chris had to navigate around a half-dozen tents clustered on the sidewalk on 2nd Street in the Jack London Square neighborhood. Why was it foreboding? Because Chris and Claire came to share four songs from their musical, “Signs of the Kingdom,” a play depicting the plight of a woman experiencing homelessness. Welcome to America in 2025.
Heather Moore-Farley on percussion instrument cajon and Robert Anderson on electric guitar began the evening with fun cover songs, a Bay Area anthem Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay,” then “Venus.” They finished with Robert’s riveting original “I’m Amazed.” Heather and Robert are half of a salon favorite band, The Neoriffs. Music is available: at https://theneoriffs.com/events and https://rwaproject.com.
Back to Claire and Chris (with an attached Benjamin) who shared moving and inspiring new work from their musical, “Signs of the Kingdom” — a musical that tells the story of Ana, a strong-willed unhoused woman, as she grapples with daily survival amidst a community bitterly divided on how to end homelessness. Ana interacts with a social worker, a priest, and a council member who want to help, but inadvertently make things worse despite their best intentions. Even so, their gradual deepening of empathy, self-awareness, and tenacity. Two dramatic events that shake the local community are taken as a sign of a future that can be better. This belief, “signs of the kingdom,” motivates Ana, flawed as she may be, to hold onto hope and keep going.
All four songs, including “All I Want” and “What I've Felt” were masterful. But I want to emphasize the poignancy of “Tell Me,” which depicts a conversation between Ana and a social worker and how soul-numbing it is to have to repeat her story to get help. They ended with a rousing empowerment anthem, “I Am Strong.” Chris Wemp received a capacity-building grant from Theatre Bay Area https://www.theatrebayarea.org/ here's the blurb from their materials: “‘Signs of the Kingdom’ is a new full-length musical in development, targeted for a developmental staged reading in late 2025. ‘Signs of the Kingdom’ is an empathy-building musical about modern-day homelessness and our opportunities to respond. Wemp will be casting a diverse slate of actors, including as many people with lived experience of homelessness as possible, to perform the play authentically and with dignity towards the unhoused.”
Lastly, Karl McHugh, originally from Donegal, now a San Francisco-based songwriter, returned to our Slainte Salon with four fabulous originals that riveted the audience. He wrote “Gold” during a crisis of confidence, which is crazy, as he is very talented. It’s a rock anthem to keep pushing and digging till you find gold.
Karl McHugh.
A fun, sing-along “In the Movies” reflected humorously about the disconnect between real life and how life is so less complicated in the movies. “I Won’t Be Far Behind” is a poignant song about how often when one mate passes, the remaining one often follows, not too far behind. Karl ended with inspiring “Keep Dreamin’” — which won the prestigious Achievement in Songwriting at the Great American Songwriting contest
And I know most will keep on dreaming of the sweet, inspiring and thought-provoking music of the night.
IAW&A West Coast Salon will take a break in August, but you can see Karl McHugh, along with Chris and Claire Wemp, at the Irish Center San Francisco festival, Rock the Gates on Aug. 23.
IAW&A Salon at Slainte Oakland will be back Sept. 10. On Sept. 17, we will host a salon at the Auburn Lounge in Danville, Calif., during the 2025 Eugene O’Neill Festival.
