Walking into the Earl and Rhoda Wynn theater is a lot like venturing into a hidden grotto. The darkness is disorentining after waiting outside of the doors in The ArtsCenter’s bright and spacious atrium, but once your eyes adjust, you’re met with the stage, solid and promising.
Founded in 1974, The ArtsCenter has offered resources such as summer camps, art classes, galleries and performances to nearly 100,000 young and aspiring artists in Orange County since its inception. Due to COVID-19, The ArtsCenter suspended in-person performances in March 2020, but with the development of the vaccine, its doors are open once again and the first in-person play since the pandemic has been performed.
The performance, called “10by10,” was a collection of 10 short plays by 10 different North Carolina playwrights. Each play had its own distinct voice and style, the subject matter ranging from poignant reflections on familial grief to an ancient warrior discussing the evils of capitalism with a magic turtle.
OdysseyStage, the company responsible for producing the show, labored over the past few months to bring the performance to The ArtsCenter. Online meetings and Zoom auditions soon led to in-person production.
“We felt comfortable enough to do the second round of auditions live, which was quite refreshing,” producer JP Middlesworth said.
With the performance being in-person, production had to be “scaled down” according to OdysseyStage president, Annie Taft. The last time OdysseyStage put on “10by10” they did it with 25 actors. This year they limited themselves to 10.
“That proved to be quite a challenge in a number of respects,” Middlesworth said. “In terms of how we had to order the plays, who we had to cast, all kinds of circumstances. But I think it ended up being a lot of fun for the audience and the actors both to have that additional challenge of multiple roles and a lot of excitement.”
Taft, who directed a play featuring hyper-paranoid neighbors discussing various conspiracy theories, shared Middlesworth’s excitement, not only about the challenge posed by the limited casting, but also by the unique makeup of that cast.
“We have a very interesting cast,” Taft said. “A lot of them are very young and new actors that we haven’t worked with before.”
A new but not necessarily young actor involved in the production is Lou Campbell, a veteran who fell in love with the theater in his 50s.
“This is new for me,” Campbell said. “This is my first time dealing with OdysseyStage, and it’s been very rewarding, working with three on the team, on three plays. It’s been a very good experience to be three different characters in one night.”
For actors like Campbell, who played a dead man caught between a bet between God and the Devil, the return to theater after a long quarantine has been a welcome one. The ArtsCenter provides spaces for artists to share their craft, not only with the public, but also with each other.
“You find real people in the theater,” Campbell said. “They are their authentic selves, and that’s what I like about the theater. And then also the creativity part of it, and having fun [and] having a good time. We all want to work together and put out a good product.”
Photo courtesy of OdysseyStage
