901 Now: Binghampton residents take spotlight in Orpheum Theatre’s neighborhood play program
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The Orpheum Theatre’s community play-making program is exploring the stories of Memphis neighborhoods and collaboratively creating a play with and about the community, offering an opportunity for arts, engagement, and storytelling.
And it all starts in Binghampton.
“It makes me feel awesome,” one student said.
“It’s like a thousand words, can’t explain it,” another student added.
Those are the reactions of two student writers, contributing to the play about Binghampton.
“It’s about Binghampton; you want to talk to the people because the people make the community,” Playwright Anne Perry Wallace said.
“Finding ways to hear stories from the community and then engage them in the art-making process,” said Taylor St. John.
Taylor St. John is with the Orpheum Theatre Group, which is responsible for the community playwriting program. There are many moving pieces to tell the story of Binghampton.
“To bring people together to tell a unified story about both what’s beautiful,” St. John said. “How we are proud of Binghampton and what are some of the challenges that people living and working here are facing.”
The play is about two girls from similar but different backgrounds and how they interact with the environment and others.
Each rehearsal offers the community a unique opportunity to see new perspectives and allows imaginations to soar.
“There’s a lot of recognition,” St. John said. “So even though we are in a fictional Binghampton there was a sense of like, this is us.”
The first portion of the play is already complete, but as rehearsals continue, telling the stories of Memphis, with Memphis is what the bigger picture is all about.
“Happiness overwhelms me,” student writer Daniel Mariam said. “Because I’m being a part of such an amazing group. Just to be a part of something that’s going to inspire something in people when they watch the play. It’s help embrace the actor part inside of me. It allows me to express myself in different ways and I didn’t think I could.”
Once the script is complete, community members will be invited to audition and participate in the production.
From there, the Orpheum theatre group will move to another community to continue telling the stories of Memphis communities.
For more information about the program, click here.
Click here to sign up for our newsletter!
Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.
Copyright 2024 WMC. All rights reserved.
