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Artist-in-Residence: Peter Krummeck
Area Residents Join South African Playwright in Reconciliation Theater Workshop
Performances on October 23, 25, and 26
Can theater help build bridges of understanding across racial, economic, religious and other boundaries? Can citizens create a theatrical performance out of their own experiences to build such bridges for their own community?
South African playwright Peter Krummeck would answer both questions with an enthusiastic "yes." He has gained kudos from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other leaders in the Republic of South Africa for helping citizens from all walks of life do just that through participation in performance workshops sponsored by the African Community Theatre Service, or ACTS. After witnessing such a performance at its 1999 meeting in Cape Town, the Parliament of the World Religions designated Krummeck's workshop process a "Gift of Service to the World."
Now he has brought that same process to Washington, DC, as the first Artist-in-Residence at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, located on Capitol Hill. Through an open audition, Krummeck has selected 11 area residents to develop a 60-minute theatrical performance based on the tensions, humor, and faith they have experienced in their own lives.
The resulting production, Verna Tomlin's Wedding, will be performed for the public three times at the end of this month: on Wednesday, October 23, at Calvary Episcopal Church, located at 820 Sixth Street, NE, and on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, located at Third and A Streets, SE. All performances will be at 8:00 pm and will be followed by a half-hour discussion involving cast and audience. Unreserved seating will be available for a suggested donation of $5.00 for students and seniors and $10.00 for other adults.
"While I realize that Washington and Cape Town are different communities in many respects," says Krummeck, "I also believe that we share some common challenges arising from our particular histories, which have left gulfs of separation that cause personal as well as societal pain. Although art is not a panacea for these ills, I have witnessed first hand the transformation in attitude and behavior that the ACTS Workshop process can bring about for both participants and audience members. Given the generosity and honesty of the contributions being made by the wonderful cast of Washingtonians who have stepped forward, I have no doubt that we will see the same catalytic results here."
Cast members range in age from 16 to 65. Eight are women; three are men. Three are African-American and one is Hispanic-American. Two profess to be agnostic, while the rest are members of local Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Quaker congregations. Although she has acted in community theater here for over 20 years, Beatriz Mayoral was intrigued with the process of creating a play out of cast members' reactions to certain words, incidents from their lives, and situations they've observed. For Mayoral, who lives in Hyattsville and attends St. Mary's Catholic Church in Landover, "It has been liberating to be able to speak out and not worry about being ostracized. After just a few weeks, we all feel as though we've known each other a long time.
Two members of the cast were drawn to the workshop because of previous experiences in Africa itself. Arlington resident Sara Johnston, who attends New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, helped both children and adults craft plays to educate audiences on health issues during her service with the Peace Corps in Namibia and the Gambia. "In these countries, theater has been an empowering device, giving people their own voice," she says. Angela Pleasants, a resident of the District's Brookland neighborhood and member of St. George's Episcopal Church, traveled to South Africa in 2000 with a group representing the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which has a companion relationship with the Diocese of Cape Town. "In both formal and informal ways, the people of South Africa have modeled the reconciliation process for the rest of the world," she relates. "Now Peter has brought one part of that process to us so that we can learn from it too."
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