Photo Credit: Larry Forte

Four years ago UGA marketing professor George Zinkhan fired point-blank into the heart of the Town & Gown Players and murdered three of its most creative and hard-working members: Ben Teague, Marie Bruce and Tom Tanner—all of them actors, directors and set designers. In the aftermath, many wondered if this community theater could survive the loss of beloved friends with so much expertise and enthusiasm.

We know now that Town & Gown did survive—prevailed—and continues its 60-year tradition of mounting productions to entertain Athens audiences. If you’ve been reading this column, you know that I had the opportunity to be in the most recent Town & Gown play, and I’ve been trying to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to turn a script into a performance. My motive is two-fold: the hard and creative work that goes into plays by all the theater companies in town deserves a wider audience, and that wider audience needs to know the enjoyment of live theater.

August: Osage County turned out to be one of those occasions when a production reaches its fullest potential and shows us what theater can be. The play itself is a masterpiece, a slice of life as rich as a fruitcake, so masterfully written that you laugh all the way through, while the playwright and the actors are hitting you (and each other) with life at its extremes. Those who were in the play and those who saw it came away with a head full of pithy lines for just about every occasion. “Well, hindsight’s 20/20, idn’t it?” “Never know when somebody might need a kidney.” “I’m running things now!”

You had to be there—and that’s just the point. If you were there, you saw theater at its best: a magnificent script fully realized by excellent acting on a well designed set with perceptive directing. If you don’t believe me, ask somebody who was there.

I tried, in the other installments of this series, to give you some idea of just what it takes to put on a production like this—the physical work of constructing the set, the mental work of learning the lines and making them come alive, the audience’s active participation and how it affects the actors.

Just as Athens is full of musicians who play in various bands, so Athens is full of actors who play in various theater companies. The cast of August comprised players with experience in Rose of Athens, Athens Creative Theatre, JV Productions, Oconee Youth Playhouse and other local companies. When you go to the theater in Athens, you can be sure that you’ll be seeing experienced actors who know what they’re doing and are doing it because they love it. They’ll be well directed, too.

If you didn’t see August: Osage County, you missed a classic, and you can’t go back and make it up. The play ran for seven performances, and now it’s gone. Don’t despair, though: you can go see The Psychosis of the Psock, Town & Gown’s Second Stage production that runs for three performances only: May 3, 4 and 5. (See Theatre Notes) Psock is more madness from Jeremy Miller and friends; it is “adult” puppetry, and it is hilarious. Then, May 8-17, Rose of Athens presents the family-friendly Ramona Quimby in the Seney-Stovall Chapel. There’s more coming after these, including The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Hamlet and Gods of Carnage.

Okay, I’ll shut up. Get into the habit of seeing live theater. It is a different and more lively experience than television or the movies. See it while you can; go to the first performances, because something always comes up to make you miss it if you wait. Live theater happens, like magic, and then it’s gone. Be there when it happens.