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The Northeast Georgian
Making Community Art is “Headwaters” for Real Life
July 17, 2007
by Sheri Kling
For eight weeks, we rehearsed nearly every night of the week,
plus Saturday mornings. For two months, we worked as a community under
several agreements, such as to “be generous,” to be willing to “step out
of our comfort zone,” and to show up on time. Though we never called it
“choreography,” we learned “movement design” and new ways of expressing
ourselves through the motion of our bodies. And all of this with nearly 35
cast members who ranged from kids who were not long into double-digit ages
to retired adults who’d seen a “goodly” number of decades.
After those eight weeks of preparation, “Headwaters: Stories from a Goodly
Portion of Beautiful Northeast Georgia” had its opening weekend and,
beginning with our public dress rehearsal on July 5, we had flocks of
faces looking back at us from the audience chairs. And it has been
thrilling and deeply gratifying to see those faces smiling, laughing and,
at times, crying. A recent attendee described our community-built
production as “tender” and it is that for sure.
The source of a river or stream is known as its “headwaters.” Director
Lisa Mount, playwrights Jo Carson and Jerry Grillo, the staff of the
Sautee Nacoochee Community Association and a host of volunteers spent many
months harvesting stories from this region. Since the region is home to
about a dozen rivers, many of which begin here, “Headwaters” seemed a
fitting name for the play. One of the most stunning stories is set in the
early 1900’s but there are equally moving stories that come from more
recent events. No matter the date of origin, these stories and songs of
rivers, fishing, families, friends and deep community are compelling.
And though I’ve been visiting the Sautee Nacoochee Valley and its
surroundings for more than 15 years, I’m a newcomer when it comes to
living in the area. So it’s been an amazing experience for me to be in
this production. It’s rare to be part of a group of people that feels so
much like a family (in the best sense of that word). I think that’s partly
because these folks are just so nice, but also because we are creating
something together. Something that’s important.
One of the great losses of our current society, I believe, is that most
people these days only consume art. We listen to other people’s music,
watch other people’s movies, read other people’s books. And the
consumption of art has value, sure. But Jo Carson and I agreed the other
day that the real changes come when people create art together.
“Headwaters” is a community story play. It comes out of this community and
it is being created and formed by this community.
According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, “near its source, a river
or stream may have a modest flow rate, but the flow increases as more
surface runoff and tributaries drain into the subject stream.” As this
play has progressed through story collection, scripting, rehearsals and
now performances, more and more human “tributaries” have entered the flow.
And that flow is now something powerful to see. I encourage anyone within
“earshot” of this newspaper to come out to the Sautee Nacoochee
community-built 1939 gymnasium (with newly added air conditioning!) to
experience this community-crafted story play for themselves. We’ll be
there as a cast with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts until July
22nd.
© 2007 Sheri Kling |
