As per tradition, the Backroads writing club held its fall Coffeehouse on the night of November 16! This season, there were fifteen performances ranging from poems about personal life stories to songs on guitar and piano. Backroads has been selling their magazine for over 40 years, which is a collection of individual visual and written works created by the participants in the club. The Coffeehouse tradition has brought the creative minds of Martinez together to enjoy poetry, art, and music for decades as well. Backroads holds meetings every Friday at lunch in Mr. Bonderud’s room, H203, where participants come to share artwork and receive an optional prompt for the following week to inspire them. The Coffeehouse was held in the black box theater room on campus, which is in the Performing Arts Building.
Outside the black-box theater on the night of the Coffeehouse, a stand sold coffee, tea, and snacks. The refreshments were available throughout the night, and all funds went to the production of the event and the Backroads magazine. The student staff handed out fliers that included the names of the performers and the artwork they were sharing. Upon entering the theater room, rows of chairs circled a small, cozy stage with a wired mic where the president of Backroads, Niko Vaquereno, introduced the event. The lights were dimmed, and a spotlight hit the performers on stage, who came out one by one. Halfway through the lineup, Niko announced an intermission, and the lights man, Theo Belt, raised the lights. The audience of current students, previous Backroads participants, and parents discussed among themselves. The lights dimmed once again for the final few performances. After the inspiring poems, songs, and other creative works, the performers bowed to the audience and joined them for conversation before wrapping up another successful Backroads Coffeehouse.
The Coffeehouse couldn’t have occurred without Mr. Bonderud, the advisor, and Mr. Weiner, who lent his black box theater room! Backroads presidents Niko Vaquereno and Maliyah Aranzamendez, as well as student staff Luna Buckman, Brody Moran, and Calina Montero put immense effort into organizing the event. There will be another Coffeehouse in the spring semester, so look out for auditions!
