Rune Quartet
by Jeri Hilderley
Book I: FIRE Dragon Street Theater: 1962-1967
This memoire-driven novel chronicles my soul-searching journey from introspective, apolitical sculptor to thespian protestor in the iconic 60s. Protagonist Lucina, born to a conservative Protestant midwestern family, armed with a Master’s of Fine Arts and a fierce desire to carve out an identity, realizes her education has just begun when her loft in New York City’s factory district becomes a hub for articulate politicos.
Despite wrenching inner struggles, she makes a collective decision with her chosen “family,” a complex assemblage of gutsy artists who’ve abandoned home and family conventions, to build their own communal platform and ethics in a wider world: they will confront injustice by welding their creative skills into political street theater, the social media of their day. They bring banners, masks, drums and challenging dramas to parks and community forums, inspiring conversation and action, unaware of brutal attacks lying ahead. As the troupe’s women explore their oppressions and authentic identities, the group develops its social consciousness. They prepare to take their expanding repertoire across Amerika.
With today’s alarming reactionary developments, I hope my story inspires readers of all ages to transform outrage and despair into collective activism, and forge unique ways to challenge oppression and unjust wars through peaceful, creative cooperation.
Praise for Fire Dragon Street Theater: 1962-1967
Fire Dragon Street Theater: 1962-1967 is a complex interweaving of the lives of the counterculture voices that dared to defy socially prescriptive roles, the Vietnam War, and oppressions of sex, race, and class….[It] is a shepherding guide for artists, dreamers, and political activists alike who wish to work together in creative, activist collaboration….[and a] rare example of the artistic struggle of politics filled with lessons and insight. A gift given to us as an embrace.
––Excerpted from a review by Roberta Arnold, Sinister Wisdom, a multicultural lesbian literary & art journal, 132.
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As a musician in the 60s who joined a political theater troupe to confront oppression and imperialism, I welcome Fire Dragon Street Theatre 1962-1967. This historical memoir-driven novel poignantly chronicles our internal and external struggles, our setbacks and successes, and serves as an inspiration to contemporary artist/activists who want a vehicle for expressing their outrage. Social media is not enough. Thank you, Jeri, for the memories and the clarion call to be out there in the streets harnessing our talents and skills to confront systemic oppression and the ongoing war machine. The struggle continues!
-–Janet Rose Mayes, author of Beyond the Horse’s Eye – a Fantasy out of Time (WordSpace Publications, 2012) and co-author of Interpersonal Psychoanalytic Theory for the 21st Century: Evolving Self (Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield, 2023)
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Fire Dragon Street Theater 1962-1967 throbs with the authenticity of one who was there, who soaked in the turbulence, hopes, despair and imagination of the times, and has reflected it back to us who were either not there, or were there in a less aware way. Jeri Hilderley, sculptor, musician, writer and teacher, writes vividly, with passion and heart. An engaging feature of the novel is her evocation of the early days of female consciousness awakening. Today, we have so thoroughly internalized the ability to probe one’s female inner life that it is strange to realize that a mere sixty years ago a language for this new and revolutionary exploration did not yet exist. In this sense Fire Dragon Street Theater 1962 -1967 is a fine historical novel, bringing to life through leap-off-the-page characters a past but groundbreaking time.
-– Loretta Goldberg, author of the award-winning historical novel, The Reversible Mask: An Elizabethan Spy Novel, (MadeGlobal Publishing, 2018)
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Several themes stand out for me in this beautifully-written, powerful novel of artist-activists in the ’60s. The first is Lucina’s struggle between her passion as a young sculptor emerging in the NYC art scene and her growing need to join Louis, her poet-activist/companion-lover, in his political work to end the corrupt and tragic Vietnam War. Chapter 1, Lucina Builds Rune, is as exquisite and detailed an exposé of the act of creating as I have ever read. It informs the painfulness of her decision to leave her own work and unite with Louis and other young people resolved to protest many injustices through the art of street theater. Hilderley weaves tension and drama as she skillfully leads us through inevitable clashing of egos and betrayals of the heart even as the young players determinedly build their challenging plays to merge art and politics with protest.
–– Rain Bengis, Photographer, Political activist
Publisher: Seawave Recordings (May, 2023)
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BOOK II: Wheelin’ Across the Land: Spring 1967
In Wheelin’ Across the Land: Spring 1967, the Fire Dragon Street Theater troupe, now on a cross-country tour, is hell-bent on enlightening audiences about their country’s injustices. Fourteen young actors with spirited egos and opinions perform their confrontational collectively-created dramas for feisty students, critical professors, and older activists who simultaneously challenge the troupe to deepen their awareness about how capitalism produces these injustices. Cheryl, the troupe’s only Black member, persuades the group to reformulate “Choice” into a powerful exposé about the oppression of Black soldiers during the Vietnam War. Her passionate and empathic love relationship with a white actress forges a dynamic, challenging energy that further promotes the young peoples’ growth. Protagonist Lucina, although in love with her movement husband, allows herself to savor the memory of an electrifying lesbian moment back in New York City. This memoir-driven sequel to Fire Dragon Street Theater is a blueprint for all kinds of humane collaborations. Each actor’s unique obsessions and tensions resonate with our own in our struggle for healthy, meaningful lives. Did we make a difference? Can we make a difference? Here we go again!
Pre-publication Praise for Wheelin’ Across the Land: Spring 1967
This is a very unique book centered on characters that are multi-dimensional, with human flaws and contradictions shaped by a historic period of revolutionary upheaval with mass opposition against an unjust U.S. war in Vietnam abroad and the struggle against racism and sexism at home. It is another example of how global and domestic events are a process of shaping one’s awareness as individuals and amongst others. How these characters interact with each other on a daily basis within a theatrical setting is beautifully explored by the author with excellent dialogue steeped in sensitivity towards oppression and realism. This combination of politics and mass culture is well worth the read.
––Monica Moorehead, former presidential candidate, political writer & editor
As an artist, I am always thrilled by the unfolding of the creative process. Wheelin’ Across the Land is particularly engrossing because it involves the collective creative process of young thespians striving to make a difference in the tumultuous era of the 60’s in the United States. Now, during these equally difficult times, the book also speaks to me as an older activist because it poignantly brings back our struggles for a more humane world that are all too relevant today. What a tour de force! Thank you, Jeri, for reminding us in your beautifully crafted novel that our struggle continues.
––Rain Bengis, award winning photographer.
For all of us who rose up against racism and the Vietnam War in the 60’s; for all of us who struggled to find and express our sexuality and sexual identity during an era when being out to ourselves and others was far from easy; for all of us who dared to challenge misogyny, Hilderley’s historical novel brings back such powerful memories. She also reminds us of how we young people collectively pooled our talents using various theatrical modalities and venues to speak truth to power—and of the painful lessons we learned along the way. As she chronicles, we learned to resist obstacles the college administrators and other people in power threw in our way; to know our audiences with all their contradictions; to gently (or not so gently) raise awareness; to encourage burgeoning activists and to join movements already under way. Her memoire- driven prose is not only for us older folks, but for the new generations who are once again forced to bravely rise up. Wheelin’ Across the Land is a relevant addition to our collective consciousness.
—Janet R. Mayes, author and psychologist
Publisher: Seawave Recordings, 2025
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Those are the first two books of Rune Quartet. More to come. Stay tuned!
BOOK III: Ruth & Lucina: 1993-1994
BOOK IV: Rune Seekers: 1994
Seawave Recordings 