1-man show puts focus on Woody Guthrie the political artist

The sounds of Woody Guthrie will fill the Knutzen Family Theatre in Federal Way as New York actor-playwright Randy Noojin portrays one of America’s best-known singer-songwriters and folk musicians.

Noojin will perform Jan. 12-22, as part of Centerstage’s “American Icon” series.

Guthrie left behind a musical legacy that includes hundreds of political, traditional and children’s songs, ballads and improvised works. He is best known for his song “This Land Is Your Land.”

Traveling with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California, Guthrie learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs were about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, earning him the nickname the “Dust Bowl Troubadour.”

Songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Joe Strummer and Tom Paxton credit part of their success to Guthrie.

In his show, “Hard Travelin’ with Woody,” Noojin performs as Guthrie playing for a union meeting of striking mine workers in 1940 Oklahoma on the verge of yielding to corporate vigilante violence. In his show, Noojin focuses less on imitating Guthrie the person and instead looks more at his life as a political artist.

The one-man play opened in July 2011.

Noojin’s career has included acting on stage and television and writing his own plays. In addition to having written “Hard Travelin’ with Woody,” Noojin wrote the plays “The Complaint,” “The Knife Trick,” “You Can’t Trust The Male,” “Unbeatable Harold” and “The Memory Collection.”

Founded in 1977, Centerstage is Federal Way’s resident theater company. It has produced shows at the Knutzen Family Theatre since 1998.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 5:07 AM with the headline "1-man show puts focus on Woody Guthrie the political artist."