THERE IS A TOWN...     by Thomas Putnam

I looked in the mirror a few weeks back and wondered who that was looking back at me. It was a strange and curious moment, almost an out-of-body moment. So I took a breath and found a whole lot of questions running through my brain. I've heard that in the moments one thinks are their last that their life to that point flashes before them. That's kind of what happened. Just who is and was this person?

Experiencing a play like Elephant's Graveyard is kind of like a community looking in the mirror. The story involves two distinct communities: a small town and a creative organization/circus. Who is this community? Is my community anything like either of these? We're a small town. HG is a creative organization. Can I see anything of Wellsboro in Erwin, Tennessee? Anything of HG in Sparks World Famous Circus?

A whole lot of questions come to mind when experiencing this play. What do we as a community remember? What do we choose to forget? What is the value of a person? Does that value differ between a person who is white and a person who is black? What is the value of an animal? What is the nature of justice? And who determines what is just? What are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of one dollar? Or 8000 dollars? Why do we feel a twinge of excitement at something tragic?

Remember the trial of Walter Goodwin? The photos of the day of his hanging just across the street from where we are sitting show a town full of dressed up folks eager to get a glimpse (through the knotholes of the erected fence) of the gallows. Are the people of Erwin much different from the people of Wellsboro?

Greek tragedy explored some pretty difficult subjects. The culture had known war for some time. The theory of catharsis explained just why this community gravitated towards such plays. The theory posits that catharsis is a “clarification of the essential and universal significance of the incidents depicted, leading to an enhanced understanding of the universal law which governs human life and destiny.” And so we return to Romeo and Juliet, The Laramie Project, Death of a Salesman, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, West Side Story, Angels in America, Shindler's List and so many more.

I chose to have the seating for this production on three sides, and to have the community enter the audience space. I thought about having reflective backdrops, but the action/words of the townspeople are reflective enough. You'll hear the words “There was a town...” As we look in the mirror of this production we realize “There IS a town...” and it is us. 

What to Say When the Show is Serious and Sad and the Story Must Be Told    by Barbara Biddison

How does a person go about encouraging someone to see a show that is more likely to make us cry than smile.  How do I tell people about the full run, in rehearsal, that I saw last night?  How do I describe a stageful of actors who face the audience, speak to the audience,
and are still obviously together as a crowd, who as individuals have witnessed the same event?  How do I say, "You must see Elephant's Graveyard" because..

Because I don't think HG has produced a drama this serious and this meaningful since LARAMIE PROJECT.  Because it gives actors (mostly men) an opportunity to take on real and different male characters. Because the play itself, the drama based on a real-life happening, is worth exploring.   Because our actors and our audiences deserve challenging theatre.  Because just last year HG produced  INTO THE BREECHES which gave actresses the opportunity to explore female characters.  And this one and that one are by the same playwright, George Brant.

Because, as much as we all like to smile and laugh and "feel good," we also all have challenges in our lives, and sadness.  And we just need to sometimes "get away from it all."  And sometimes the hard facts and the grief-laden story can actually take us away from ourselves for a while.

There's another thing that this play does.  It lets us see something that really happened.  It lets us see our own HG actors immerse themselves in this story, this play, this real-life experience.  They are quite good, these actors, but they don't always have a character like the one they play here and bring to life here. At which point I must say that the actresses, though few in this particular play, are also  believeable in their roles which are not at all like their personal selves.

[Note: There will be "talkbacks" after the show for all five performances. Actors and tech folks and musicians, and director Thomas Putnam. They'll all be there to talk and to answer questions and to explore ideas.  Audience members will be given a few moments to come back to reality, to get a refreshment, and then to return to the theatre.  It's an opportunity to ask questions, make comments, listen to others, and process what we've just experienced.  Personally, I love talkbacks.  Those who participate usually do, too. All are invited to "talk back."]

​The HG Treble Choir offers a delightful afternoon of music on Sunday, October 1, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Pearl Street, Wellsboro. The HG Treble Choir consists of singers in grades 5-8 from all over Tioga County.


The concert will feature guest soloist Carter Route, a music major at Mansfield University. Mr. Route wowed audiences in his dynamic performance as the title character in MU's Phantom of the Opera this past spring. Route will also be the tenor soloist in this December's MESSIAH: Community Sing on December 10. Route joins with the HG Treble Choir for “Close Every Door” and “Any Dream Will Do”, two songs from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . He will also join them for “Gloria Tibi” from Leonard Bernstein's MASS.


HG Treble Choir will sing such songs as “A Place in the Choir” a rousing, fun song made famous by Celtic Thunder.They will also sing “Hold Fast to Dreams” a new setting of poet Langston Hughes' words: “Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.” One of the themes the choir is exploring this year is Water, with such songs as “Afton Water” a melodic Scottish Folk Song with words by Robert Burns, as well as “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy” attributed to Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and accompanied solely by local musician Anne Acker on upright bass.


The concert will also feature the HG Choir TOO, a training choir for singers in grades 2-4. They will sing the haunting “Manx Lullaby.”  

Considering Elephant's Graveyard     
​by Sean Bartlett


My career with HG so far is book-ended by Laramie Project and Elephant’s Graveyard. The two shows have many similarities and many possibilities for introspection as both an individual and as a member of a broader society. Both offer us a mirror that promises redemption if we look deeply and honestly.

That we are, this time, enacting an event from 1916 and can find so many parallels with contemporary society is a testament to the playwright's ability to encapsulate human nature as well as a depressing commentary on how long it takes our society to move beyond the baser nature of our existence.

What is justice? What is redemption? When should we respect the boundaries of community and when should we accept technology as it moves us beyond our prior limitations?

To say that my character struggles with this would be disingenuous, but he does present aspects of this struggle and clearly represents the need for defined rules and the perception of justice. The play itself, and the other characters, represent the bounds of true justice, even if my character is not able to look beyond his own limitations to perceive the broader reality. But, isn’t that an essential necessity for any consideration of justice? Don’t we need to be able to crawl inside the skin of each individual in order to see the truth of a situation? Theater is a great medium for exploring that, and this play does that in spades.

While we weave wonderfully from the sinner and the saint of womanhood to the complexities of the abused, yet loving, jester who serves as a reminder of how many seek redemption by oppressing those with the most sensitive natures. We sympathize with the trainer who embodies the capacity for love and question the ringmaster and tour manager as they are able to purely present capitalism with all its warts. We weave through many of the different aspects of humanity and are faced with bracing clarity how our limited perceptual boundaries inhibit our capacity for redemption.

Maybe we would all be better if we ate more peanuts. That, too, becomes clear once you see the play.

The One I'm Working On   by Thomas Putnam


​Sometimes someone will ask me what my favorite production has been to direct. I typically answer “The one I'm working on.” It's the one I'm immersed in. The one I'm talking to and through and about. Indeed, some plays intrigue me more than others for a variety of reasons, but most usually due to a fascinating story told in a highly theatrical way. Underneath the Lintel, Of Mice and Men, Every Brilliant Thing, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Elephant Man come to mind. The current one is on this list.


Elephant's Graveyard is a tough pill to swallow. I was eager to direct it, but it sure scared me in terms of how to present it. There's no actual dialogue (except for about 10 lines between the Marshall and the Preacher); the rest consists of 13 people speaking to the audience, telling the story through their eyes. It could be disastrous, but therein lies the challenge.


Where to place the actors on the stage, somehow making their proximity to other characters and the audience relevant? Finding the rising and falling action of the story line. Exploring the tempo of those various actions. Where to use sound effects created by the percussionist and guitarist? How to make this tragic story relevant to us today?


Of course it all started with who to cast in each role. We lucked out, again. These actors have worked hard and have been eager to engage in the exploration of this story. Each one has been more than willing to accept direction and, in turn, to bring their own sense of their character to life.


The process is stimulating and fun, and meaningful and well worth the effort. Now, how to market this show so that we can share the result of this effort. Hope you can join us next week.

​THE WOMEN'S PROJECT AND THE READ-AROUND by Barbara Biddison

The most recent happening for HGWP took place in the Warehouse Gallery with 10 women and one man seated at tables placed in a sorta-square circle.  We read three short plays to each other.  We call that kind of exercise a read-around.  It is a non-threatening way to get a group of people familiar with or entertained by short plays and/or funny or serious  dramatic bits. This time we were reading three short plays that will be produced by Women's Project under the broad title of Holiday Shorts & Sweets. 


It's one thing to read a play (whatever its length or mood)) to yourself and it's quite another to hear it read aloud.  For one thing, it may not seem very funny when read silently, but when read aloud with listeners' laughter we may be hee-hawing right along with everyone.   And if the writers are amongst the audience non-writers, there's another whole benefit. Expectations may change.  Changes may happen.  Things that weren't intended to be funny may be tweaked.  Characters may come across "wrong."  Drama may be more emotionally involving than intended.  And so forth.

So on to specific observations (in two of the to-be-produced short plays) that came to me as I listened.

"The I-Hate-the-Holodays Support Group'' (Judith Sornberger) reads well  to one's self and even better when read aloud.  There are 6 characters (two of them are male) and the four females  have different characteristics as well as ages from 20-30 to 60-70.  As I listened I
realized how important it is for actors to help the audience keep track of who's who during a really short play.  The lines for each reveal "who they are" but the read-around helped the listeners add to characters identity.  Therein lies the drama and the Humor!!!!  We have to remember who's who.

"The Christmas Tamalada" (Yolie Canales) turns out to be one very very traditional Christmas preparation with lots of laughs.  The three older sisters in their 60s gather at one home to make tamales.  A daughter (30s) and a son (20s) show up and the preparation of this once-a-year event begins.  There are a lot of memories and laughs and general family talk throughout.  This play really comes to life as it gets off the page and onto the stage.  It is funny and loud, and it's clear that the dialogue needs to be overlapping lines with really happy good humor..

All this comes about for me just by sitting there in a read-around. Nobody got up out of a chair while reading.  Readers simply brought the plays to life for us.  A fine two hours for read-arounds.