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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Arts / News The front porch conspiracy
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 2:41 PM
After founding the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival in High Point and guiding Charlotte Repertory Theatre to regional theatre respectability as its artistic director, Mark Woods has kept a relatively low profile in recent years. He founded New River Dramatists in Healing Springs and basically hung out a “Do Not Disturb” sign so that playwrights and actors, at various stages of their careers and in varying degrees of renown, could concentrate cooperatively on the work in a bucolic creative cocoon.
Now Woods is re-establishing his presence in Charlotte and changing his tune – and his signage: “We’re hanging out a shingle that says, in spirit and in fact, ‘We want to have some fun with some friends.’”
More precisely, it’s a sign at 1401 Central Ave. that says Story Slam, and the fun begins on Friday, Aug. 14. There will be plenty to see, hear, and talk about – every Friday and Saturday – for the $12 admission price.
“We want to meet people,” says Woods. “We want to have conversations, we want to inspire and promote discourse and debate and even disagreement in a civil environment – on issues that people feel are relevant. So let’s use story – new theater, new poetry, new music – to kick all that off. Let’s run it all night long on Friday and Saturday, maybe seven hours.”
Invited actors and actresses from across the Metrolina region, lured by hors d’oeuvres and the prospect of paying gigs, are gathering tonight, headshots in hand, to learn more about Story Slam and how they can participate in the staged readings. These readings of new works, written by developing and established writers at NRD’s Playwrights Project, will bring back a tang to the local scene that has been missing since the days of Charlotte Rep’s New Plays in America Festival.
But the idea isn’t to replicate New Plays. It’s to transplant some of that new-play mojo into a salon/nightclub/coffeehouse ambience that also showcases music, poetry, performance art and the kind of free-flowing conversation that can be lubricated by the ready availability of $2 beers.
“It’s not about building a company, it’s not about starting a new theater, it’s not about any of that stuff,” Woods insists. “It’s about putting a front porch back in the community. That’s about including people and using new works, not to get their applause and approval, but using them to get them thinking and reacting and responding. You know what? I don’t care if they like the work. I really don’t. I really care if they are affected by it in some way and want to talk about it. And I hope to high heaven that our producing theater companies who are still up and running will come and find some material.”
Whether or not you’re in on this front porch conspiracy, you can already participate in selecting the works that are presented. The first slate of candidates is up and blurbed at the Story Slam website, and you’re encouraged to vote for your favorite at here.
See you there.
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