In the world of theater, there are presenters -- the Walton Arts Center hosting a touring Broadway show, for example -- and producers -- Rogers Little Theater staging its own version of "Les Miserables."
Northwest Arkansas has long been known for both.
But in 2014, arts organizations in the region added a new element to the equation. More and more productions were original scripts, never seen before their world premieres in Northwest Arkansas.
"It certainly seems Northwest Arkansas draws talented creatives with a vision," says local singer-songwriter Shannon Wurst, who turned actor in one of these productions. "We are lucky to have the Walton Art Center here in Northwest Arkansas as well as many other theater companies. These organizations have helped create the local theater culture, and the high quality of their productions and talent, in my opinion, are the reason local theater has blossomed in Northwest Arkansas."
Wurst appeared in 2014 in "Bear State Of Mind," an Arkansas history lesson complete with an original script by Ashley Edwards, drama professor at NorthWest Arkansas Community College, and music by Wurst with Trike Theatre of Bentonville as the producing organization for the Walton Arts Center.
"We started on this about three and a half years ago," she says. "The concept was to let kids know about our great state and all of the wonderful geographical parts of Arkansas through an overarching story. It's been a great production to work on."
Wurst was brought into the production to create the music for the show, she says. "The goal for me in writing the music was for it to be memorable and to move the story forward," she says. "But it is also to teach and get the kids involved in the story. I go back and forth as Bear and playing music. It's part of the storytelling."
Students at Bentonville High School staged their own world premiere in October when they produced drama teacher Justin Scheuer's "Whimsies." In November, Scheuer also debuted "Masha's Seagull," a one-woman show based on Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" and starring his wife, Virginia Scheuer, also a BHS drama teacher, as Masha. The play was produced under the auspices of the Scheuers' theater troupe, Classical Edge Theater, founded in the summer of 2012 to present Shakespeare in the park. "Masha's Seagull" will be during the summer of 2015 at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.
Artist Laboratory Theatre opened "New Now 2.0" this year, reinvigorating installation and performance art at local teaching farm Tri Cycle Farms in Fayetteville. The show investigated the impact of social media on personal presence and interpersonal relationships, says ALT founder Erika Wilhite.
"We are looking at how our lives are different because of social media, how personal space and even food are all a little different now that we have so much going on," she says. Audience members had the chance to not only explore a local theater, but a farm, making the experience a discourse on life in modern Arkansas.
Another "ALT," Arts Live Theatre, which focuses on theater for young people by young people, opened two onstage adaptations of film cult classics this year. Adapted by Mark Smith, executive director of Arts Live, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Night of the Living Dead" were subsequently published.
And last but not least, Trike Theatre also partnered with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and playwright Mike Thomas, a drama teacher at Fayetteville High School, to create a new interactive play with music, "The Case of the Missing Melody."
The play is designed to teach students in kindergarten through the second grade about the parts of a song and musical instruments. "The Case of the Missing Melody" utilizes graphics, a five-piece symphonic ensemble and common core requirements to do so. Its aim is to serve as a supplement to what students already learn in music classes.
Thomas previously wrote the interactive children's theater piece "Digging Up Arkansas," another Trike partnership, which toured the state as a mobile history lesson.
"Local theater will continue to thrive because of the highly passionate people that live in Northwest Arkansas," Wurst says of her experiences. "I think those opportunities to grow as an artist are what continues to draw more artist to our area. Northwest Arkansas has been the perfect place for me to create a career in the arts. I feel grateful to live in a community that provides me experiences to grow my art."
Allison Carter
& Becca Martin-Brown
NAN What's Up on 12/19/2014