Out To Pasture

Crop rotation has been practiced almost since the beginnings of agriculture.  References to it can be found in ancient Roman and Chinese texts.  Fields constantly planted will become depleted of the minerals and nutrients that allow plants to flourish.  They must be left fallow in some seasons to recharge the soil.

I've gotten a lot of questions about what South Stream will be doing next.  The answer is: I don't know.  Right now John is off to play Julius Caesar with Justice Theatre Project.  Our esteemed director Andy is in the show as well.  Me, I'm just taking some time off from theatre to let my creative energy recharge.  And do stuff I've neglected for two months.  

Will we do another show?  Maybe.  The goal of South Stream was to produce work that we want to produce.  Stories that we want to tell, ideas that we want to share, and productions that we think we can do well.  I think we did that with Copenhagen.  I'm proud of what we accomplished.  And that might well happen again.  There are already a few ideas I'm kicking around.  Nothing SOON though.  For now, for me, it's time to let that field lay empty to the sky.  

Thank You!

It's over.  What a journey.  I first spoke to John about this play in June.  It's been six months of hard work, but we did it.  We produced a pretty successful show, and it wouldn't have been possible without you.

Thank you to all our backers (See "our backers" tab) from kickstarter.  Having people get behind this production from the start made it so much easier to produce.  

Thank you to Rachel and Jeff from Common Ground, and Jeri Lynn from The ArtsCenter.  Thanks to everyone else at The ArtsCenter too (Brad and Adam, et al) for help with set up and take down.  

Thank you, HUGE thank you to Tina Vance and Hope Community Church.  Without rehearsal space this show would never have happened.  Thanks as well to Flynt Burton and Ben Wingrove for use of their garage as rehearsal space during the last weekend.

Thank you as well to Meredith College for letting us use costumes (Bohr's suit), and Chapel Hill High School (and Josh Benjamin and Thomas Drago) for letting us borrow plywood to help set up our stage at The ArtsCenter.  

Promotions thanks to Altercation Pictures (and Jason and Patrick) for producing the trailer.  And Dan McCord for producing the amazing poster.  Thanks to Oscar Garcia as well for graphic work. 

Thank you to Eugen and Ann Merzbacher, for opening their home to us and talking with us about their experiences at the Institute for Theoretical Physics.  Thank you to Thor Kessler for help with German pronunciation. 

Thank you to our volunteers - Emma Elsea, our fill-in stage manager, and Sheryl Scott, Todd Buker, Kurt Benrud, Gilly Conklin and Michelle Corbitt for helping out at the door.  

And last but not least - thank you to our amazing crew.  Our designers: Will Mikes for sound, Todd Houseknecht for lights, and Madira Hoffman for costumes.  Our fantastic Stage Manager - Ann Davis thank you.  People don't realize what a stage manager does.  "All the hard work" is pretty much the answer.  Our director, Andy Hayworth - this is a show that needed your eye and ear.  Thanks for being a great part of the process.  And to my fellow cast members:  Bonnie Roe - you are a rock on stage.  Just so amazingly solid.  You gave a great performance every night and I was lucky to be there with you.  And John - what can I say.  We started planning this together in June and I couldn't have asked for a better partner.  Thank you for everything you did on stage and off.  I couldn't ask for more.

And a final thank you: to our audience.  Nothing happens without you.  It's not a play until it comes to life with an audience.  Thank you for sharing the story with us, for letting us share it with you.  Our audiences far exceeded my expectations in terms of numbers and responsiveness.  I was worried the subject matter wouldn't be engaging, but we consistently had enthusiastic and appreciative crowds.  Your energy made the show.  So thank you too.

So thank you.  I'm humbled.  I'm honored.  And right now, I'm exhausted.  Until next time.

-Brook North

Copenhagen Show Information - Weekend 2!

Wow.  We had a fantastic opening weekend!  We were blessed with enthusiastically supportive and engaged crowds at each show!  Thank you for everyone who came.

But wait, there's more!  One more weekend of performances is coming up, this time in Carrboro at The ArtsCenter!

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! Parking is difficult and we cannot allow late seating due to the intimate nature of the venue.

We're playing January 11, 12, and 13th.  Click below for tickets!

January 11 at 7:30 PM
January 12 at 7:30 PM
January 13 at 7:00 PM

To pay by check or arrange alternate payment, please call the box office at: 919.929.2787, ext. 201.  (Please note that the box office for these performances is handled exclusively through The ArtsCenter).

The ArtsCenter address is 300 East Main St. Carrboro.  Here's a Google map.  It's just past "the bend" where Franklin St. Chapel Hill becomes Main Street Carrboro, just a few doors down from Cat's Cradle.  We will be in the West End theatre (the small studio theatre to the right past the concession stand).  Plan to arrive early!  With Cat's Cradle and shows on the main stage, parking can be a challenge so plan ahead!

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY AS THERE IS NO LATE SEATING.

To learn more about the show please poke around the website.  There's lots of updates, links and general info here for your enjoyment.

Copenhagen Show Information

Two weekends, two venues!

Click here for tickets to Common Ground Theatre in Durham this weekend!

Jan 4 at 7:30

Jan 5 at 7:30 [SOLD OUT]

Jan 6 at 7:00

Common Ground Theatre is 4815 B Hillsborough Road, Durham.  

Here is a Google maps.  As you can see from the satellite map, it's actually off Brenrose Circle.  To get to the theatre turn onto Brenrose and park in the gravel lot by the theatre or the large gravel lot on the other side of Brenrose Circle.  It's easy to get lost coming here the first time so be sure to leave extra time in case you make a wrong turn!

Click here for tickets to The ArtsCenter in Carrboro next weekend!

Jan 11 at 7:30

Jan 12 at 7:30 

Jan 13 at 7:00

The ArtsCenter is at 300 East Main St. Carrboro.  

Here's a Google maps.  It's just past "the bend" where Franklin St. Chapel Hill becomes Main Street Carrboro, just a few doors down from Cat's Cradle.  We will be in the West End theatre (the small studio theatre to the right past the concession stand).  Plan to arrive early!  With Cat's Cradle and shows on the main stage, parking can be a challenge so plan ahead!

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY AS THERE IS NO LATE SEATING.  

To learn more about the show please poke around the website.  There's lots of updates, links and general info here for your enjoyment.  

New Year, New Space

So after many many weeks rehearsing at Hope Community Church (much thanks to everyone there) and an intensive weekend in a cold but spacious garage, we're finally in our first venue, Common Ground Theatre in Durham.  

You'd think move in would be trivial for a show light ours.  Just bring the three chairs in the door, high five and then go to the bar. But even for a light show with very few technical requirements it was four and a half hours of work.  Jeff Alguire was a huge help for the first part of our move in.  He knows the space so well his assistance advice and power tools made the entire process much less painless than it would have been otherwise.  We were able to rearrange the space to accommodate about 54 seats in the round (the seats surround the stage in the center).  When we finished it actually felt pretty good.  It felt like a performance space.  Then Todd, our lighting designer worked his magic.  Even a simple plan is challenging to execute in the round.  You want to shine the lights on the actors, but not into people's eyes.  On a standard proscenium stage that's not too challenging, you point the light at the actors not the audience.  But for a show in the round, the audience is quite often sitting right behind the actors.  Not an easy task.  Todd, with our assistance (I held the ladder!  Also I stood there and let light hit me) made it work.

Then after dinner, we ran the show.  We finished the show and notes at 11PM.  It was not our smoothest run, but it felt great to be in our actual performance space, imagining faces in the empty chairs.

Ten hours of work a the theatre was a great way to start the New Year.  Until Sunday, this is the space.  This is our space.  Three actors, three chairs, and a story.