S2E13: At Season’s End: A Celebration of Rural Life & Theatremakin’

Ahhh...Tomato Season!!! Just as summer gardens are reaching their zenith, BTE is wrapping up it's 46th Season. So in celebration of the the Down Center Podcast's 2nd season RAC member, Aaron White, reflects on the a cyclical nature of theatremaking and growing things in rural PA

Recorded and Edited by: Aaron White
Original Music by: Aaron White

Transcripts of all Season 2-4 episodes are available on our Buzzsprout website.

Check out our current season: http://www.bte.org
Ensemble Driven. Professional Theatre. Arts Education. Rural Pennsylvania. For Everyone. With Everyone.

Transcript

S2E13 At Season’s End- A Celebration of Rural Life & Theatremaking
Aaron: [00:00:00] Welcome to Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Down Center, a podcast where we take a moment to revel in the simple joys of our company, our people, our art, and our town, and consider some big questions, front and down center. Hello all, I'm Aaron White, resident actor and ensemble member at BTE. 
We've done it.
It's happened! We've finished up a full rotation round the sun! BTE's 46th season is wrapping up, and in this final episode of Season 2 of the Down Center podcast, I'm gonna share some small, personal observations and some big thoughts about how theater making and small town life in Pennsylvania are more similar than they might first appear.
 August is one of my very favorite times of the year, because it's tomato season. Because we've been watching these tomato plants that I [00:01:00] got from my dad, and they've been growing all summer. And finally, all these little green orbs growing in my garden turn red. And my son and I, and the person I'm married to, love to run out there pick these little cherry tomatoes right off the plant and and we pop them in our mouths. And it is one of those small joys that is something special about the place, that we live. Of course, there are all sorts of experiences like that in rural Pennsylvania, I think experiences like that contribute to the personality of folks who grew up here, you know, when the labor of the day, labor of the last few weeks and months comes to fruition and you get to revel in something sweet and juicy and tart and maybe unexpected. I don't know what you grow in your gardens. It's something that you had a hand in making and that pleasure is something that's really glorious. 
 And I guess that's a strange way to start a theater podcast. But I was thinking as we were reaching the end of [00:02:00] BTE's 46th season, how similar the theater making process is to the work that goes into growing things. So if you'll indulge me for just a few minutes, I'd like to dig into this idea about making theater in a place that is so closely engaged with that cycle of growth and death and rebirth. I think it's something that we share in common with the people that we make theater for. And I think for a lot of folks, whether they're conscious of it or not, it's part of the identity of living and working and growing up in Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania.
 
Aaron: If you're listening to this, there's a good chance that you are in your car. That's where I listen to most of my podcasts. I'm driving to my home, which is about 50 minutes out from Bloomsburg. And that's another one of those things in rural Pennsylvania that I think is a large part of our lives, driving to and fro, mainly because things are so far away. 
I know folks [00:03:00] who drive 30, 40 minutes, sometimes an hour to see a BTE show and I mean that at least the folks that I grew up with and come out to support us. And growing up in central, Pennsylvania. That's a big memory of mine I'm just being in the car with my mom and dad in the front seat and three kids in the back like 45 minutes in the car to go shopping or to a local university to see a show or to visit with family.
And weekly we'd drive to my grandparents house, and one set was 20 minutes away, and they were pretty close, and one set was 5 minutes away, and they were just down the hill. But no matter which path you took, you were driving through all of the growth of each valley. Fields of corn and soybeans and orchards. Get all the berries and apples that sometimes you get to pick them yourself. And family gardens. And tiger lilies on the berm of the road. Those are my favorites. Sometimes we'd pull over and mom and I would pluck them up and put them in a pot that [00:04:00] would last for a day, but they were really beautiful Flowers potted on porches and on the corner of driveways 
Both sets of grandparents were agrarian in one form or other my mom's family were farmers she grew up on a family farm in Leck Kill in the Schwaben Valley in Northumberland County Down where they talk like that.
 Most of their grown up jokes were spoken in Dutch when they were around the kids. My dad's side of the family understood PA Deutsch, but they lived in Dalmatia. They, they were town people. And I didn't hear them speak it as often...
Grandma and Grandpa White were avid gardeners. My grandfather on my dad's side, Clarence, everybody called him Junior, , was renowned for the garden that he kept in the lower half of his property. And he worked tirelessly on that garden with Germaine, my grandma. He had grown up in that town and grew up and was raised in that town and was a veteran of World War II.
And, [00:05:00] of course, he, like everybody else in town, kept what most folks know as a victory garden. You can see posters of these 50 by 25 foot plots of land like plotted out each row of corn and peas and radishes and lettuce and corn, you know, coming out of the Depression to help provide food while other food stores were being sent to the troops across the way. And Junior kept that tradition up, up until he died and he lived on a hill. We would get really concerned as he got older, about him climbing up and down the hill. He had a heart condition and he, refused to quit it. He was always gardening. 
 My dad took up that tradition. In fact, he retired this year and I think he's entered into a third career. He was a newspaper publisher and a Lutheran minister. And now I guess he is a retired gardener. But that is what he is [00:06:00] passionate about. He spends his retirement day gardening
And Nina, the person I'm married to, and I have tried to take up that practice of gardening. We have some raised beds in our backyard. And we're real good in April and May, like we're real excited. We're good at the, at the planning and getting the initial plants or the seeds in the ground and digging in the dirt.
And we're really bad at maintenance. I mean, you should see our beds right now. They're wild. They're like a jungle. They're raised jungles rather than well kept gardens. My dad, on the other hand, his garden is pretty immaculate. It's certainly a part of the myth that I grew up with that I ascribe my life to, which is there's a one to one correlation between the work that you put in and the fruit of that labor. that if you work hard There will be dividends tied to that work.
Now, I don't know if that's true [00:07:00] anymore. I do have examples in my life where that is true. And, it's one of those things that drives me as a person. 
And so it's that time of year, where we get to see the fruits of our labor, where the tomatoes are ripe. 
The idea of seasons is so present where we live. Of course we complain about there not being a Fall or a Spring and it always seems like it's Winter and Summer, but I think we do. We have, we have a beautiful Autumn and we have lush and fertile Spring in the climate that we live in.
 So the cyclical idea of seasons is something that is really part of being a Pennsylvanian. One of the reasons that's so apparent is because the agricultural industry that surrounds us the farmers and the forests and all the vegetation around us are reminding us that There's just this big circle, this big cycle that we're engaged in. And [00:08:00] a lot of us spend a lot of our time working to make that cycle go. 
So right now we're in prime harvest season of all those juicy things. There are peaches and, and tomatoes and zucchini and sweet peas. Of course red beets and squash are beginning to get big. They'll get picked later on. but we're at the height, The exciting time when it's time to pick those things. And it's beautiful for just a little bit, for a short amount of time. This podcast talks a lot about the ripe things, the juicy plays and the art that we've been making. And you gotta catch it while it's beautiful. And then it runs its course, and it ends. And of course, we're at that time in the theater cycle. where we've come to the end. And of course, BTE goes through this cycle every year.
For instance, by the time you hear this, by the time this podcast reaches your ears, there are going to be 14 kids [00:09:00] who, have been laboring alongside all the ensemble members to make the Velveteen Rabbit. they will have just played their last show.
And guaranteed there were some tears. And they're saying goodbye to new friends that they made during the process. And there's a sort of grief that happens after you've left something that you've worked really hard on. And it's run its course. And it's over. And you know something was really vital and then it's done.
 Sometimes you can widen the aperture and see even larger cycles.
Aaron: For instance, Elizabeth Dowd has reached her retirement , on August 2nd, it'll be her last day as a full time employee, with a. company that she has dedicated 46 years of her life to. It's a pretty big cycle. And she's seen many of these cycles. And she's not the only one.
 Both farming and making theater are uncertain and stressful endeavors, and the work [00:10:00] cycle can feel unending, to plant and tend and sell and plan for the next season, all while hoping the weather is favorable, and prices to do business and what income you can bring in, balance out... and takes a human toll.
So during my three year tenure, a lot of folks have completed their cycle at BTE after devoting years to the ensemble. And forgive me, this is a long list. These folks are and were ensemble members so I invite you to remember them with me. , Danny Roth and Andrew Hubichek
and Jim Good retired right before I began. Earl Martz, a woodworker and artisan, ran our scene shop for a long time and moved up the hill to work to work at BU last season. Andy Bishop, Deb Lee, Paula Henry, long time team members behind the scenes, retired or moved on to new jobs at the beginning of this season. We had a doozy of a time finding [00:11:00] folks who could do what they did. Eric Wunsch, Michael Yerges, and A'nie Kirshner, Tom Sirkot, Laura Baker, Tanner Lenhart, passionate collaborators all, who are now working in new arenas. We also had a crew of apprentices for season 46. Bruce Gomez, Arrianna Daniels, Diamond Marrow, who did such strong work while they were here and are now off pursuing things in the wider theater community. Our Emerging Artists Fellow, Dante Green, completed their three year process with us by directing and sound designing an exquisite production of Sanctuary City.
There are current members who are either shifting roles or moving on at the end of Season 46. Dave Yezefski and Lydia Feinen, talented and skilled individuals who worked magic with too few resources to make high caliber sets that our audiences saw this season. And Rory Gaughan, the voice at the end of the phone who made sure you had aisle seats because you hurt your leg Or switched performances [00:12:00] because there was a family emergency
And we're saying goodbye to a crew of stage managers We've just been on for the last couple months and have done really wonderful work Heather Rummings, AnnaRae Martin and our summer intern, Em Shaffer, who were herding energies of 14 creative young folks in the Velveteen Rabbit.
And that's not to mention all the designers and guest actors and directors who joined us for a time and then returned to their lives in cities and towns far away.
We don't spend a whole lot of time dwelling in that grief. I mean, this podcast has centered on the beautiful artistic things. And of course, that's what we want you to see. We want you to see all those beautiful parts. That's what we worked so hard to grow and to build together, but we don't spend a lot of time in sharing grief.. It makes me sad to think of all the folks who aren't with the company, and I'll no longer get to see them around in the theater or joke around with them and create with them on a daily basis. [00:13:00] And I miss them. I will and do miss them. 
And at the same time, there's something natural about something ending, and then resting, and then growing again. That's the great thing about an agrarian mindset. It's the great thing about gardening. The soil needs time to take a rest. And the plants and the growing end, they come through their life cycle, and after all the fruit, and the tomatoes, and the zucchini, and all the things come up, you eat them. And the plants run their course, and they die, and they go into the ground, and then they feed the ground. They break down. Feed some worms, make the worms all healthy, and then next season you get to plant in that ground. And the ground is ready to plant because it's rested, because last year's plants did their job and they made the ground healthy and ready for new growth. 
So this is where you find this podcast, the end of season two of the Down Center podcast. We're [00:14:00] prepping for season 47 at the Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble, and we will begin that season with a period of rest. I don't think that BTE has ever attempted to take such a break or a hiatus where every member of our company will be taking a rotating three week break and we're actually closed for the week of August 25th. So don't come looking for tickets that week, we won't be there.
 But we will be soaking up some nutrients, hopefully. Some new ideas. My dad plants winter wheat to restore nutrients in the ground, so maybe some of us will be creating in a different way for that break. But when we return in September, we plan to be energized to bring you season 47. 
Now I know that I've been focusing on the end of things and just the cycle in general, but I do want to focus on, , upcoming fruit,, of labor that will be coming up.
 In October we'll be producing a series of play tastings. That's four different plays in four different venues around the region, that we're [00:15:00] considering producing in future seasons. We're inviting our audiences, the folks who come and see it, and maybe just folks who would like to have some good food and good conversation, to come out and listen to these new plays written in the last five years, some of them have not yet been produced. One of them is written by our new ensemble member, Kimye Moroya. , and we'll chat more about that in future podcasts. , but this is your invitation to check that out at the top of season 47 in October. 
So with that in mind, , here is a song, , bringing it full circle, as it were, full cycle, that ended our first show of season 46, Twelfth Night. This is The Rain It Raineth Every Day. I love this song because it comes at the end of the play, where there has been lots of laughter and the clown, Feste, reflects on the follies and the struggles and yet still chooses to continue on, to begin a new cycle. "We [00:16:00] strive to please you every day." Lyrics by, William Shakespeare and music by yours truly and the cast of of Twelfth Night. This goes out to Elizabeth Dowd and to all other collaborators of the past, present and future, and to celebrate all the life cycles we get to witness and participate here in Rural PA.
 [00:17:00] [00:18:00] [00:19:00] 
Aaron: This has been Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble Down Center. Ensemble driven, professional theater, arts education, and rural Pennsylvania for everyone with everyone. We'd like to thank the foundation of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce for the use of equipment that makes this recording possible.
October will be a big month for the new crew at BTE. Don't miss our October play tastings, four stage readings of four different plays read in four different languages. different venues [00:20:00] around the region. Every weekend in October, there will be great food, good conversation, and a fresh look at four edgy new plays that we are considering for future seasons.
Details for this and all of our offerings for season 47 can be found online at bte. org.
 They were also plant people. They weren't plant people. They were people who liked plants. [00:21:00] [00:22:00]