Review: EACH KINDNESS at Kennedy Center

This past weekend, the Kennedy Center presented the world premiere concert of Jacqueline Woodson's reading of her book Each Kindness. This performance includes the musical accompaniment of the string production company, Rootstock Republic, as well as featuring projections of E.B. Lewis' illustrations featured in the book.

This unique production is a 50-minute performance filled with wonderful music, joyous energy, and a special lesson about the importance of sharing kindness and anti-bullying. To begin this show, we were able to listen to the beautiful improvisations by each talented musician of Rootstock Republic on what kindness means to them. Featuring Juliette M. Jones and Monique Brooks Roberts on violin, Jarvis L. Benson on viola, Malcolm Parson on cello, Chris Johnson on bass, and Cassie Watson Francillon on harp, each instrument was given the opportunity to be played to their fullest potential, producing enchanting and emotional melodies for the audience to experience.

Once the band was introduced, author Jacqueline Woodson and harpist Olivia Tilley were brought onto the stage to begin the story. Throughout the entire performance, Jacqueline's narrating was brought to life with the orchestration written by Juliette M. Jones, transporting us into the tale of a young schoolgirl who experiences what it's like to shy away from spreading her kindness.

This performance was not just a captivating experience, but was also interactive, since this is written to be performed for children. The young audience was full of excitement and joy as the show began and continued on with its engaging elements. But the older audience was able to enjoy it too. Being a musician, it was extremely pleasant being able to spend time listening to the lovely strings perform. Being involved in education, it was great to hear a story which can be so helpful for not just the children we teach, but also for people of all ages.

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance and hope it will soon be shared in many places in the future. The message of Each Kindness should be shared to people everywhere, and the music of Rootstock Republic should be enjoyed by all.

Running time: 50 minutes with no intermission

Each Kindness was a limited engagement on April 28th and 29th, 2023 at the Kennedy Center, located at 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC 20566 in the Terrace Theater.

For more information on the world premiere of Each Kindness, click here.