Published: July 03, 2008 03:25 pm            

Directors to share interpretations of ‘Spoon River Anthology’

TERRE HAUTE — Aspiring actors, theater directors and technicians who are spending the summer honing their skills will give audiences an opportunity to assess how those talents are coming along at performances next week.

That’s when Community Theatre of Terre Haute directors Josh Hoffman and Jerry Burns will share their unique interpretations of one play — “Spoon River Anthology.”

It’s a play based on the story that was written by Edgar Lee Masters and published in 1915. The original text was a collection of 244 poetic epitaphs delivered by deceased former residents of the fictional small town of Spoon River. They tell about the sorts of things one might expect — reciting their histories and turning points, making observations of life from the outside and even complaining of the treatment of their graves.

Because the adaptation of Masters’ work has been transformed into a series of monologues for the stage, the play lends itself to being divided into acts that can be directed by different directors, Hoffman said.

Hoffman, who has been a theater performer and technician for as long as he can recall, says he’s enjoying the opportunity to learn a bit more about directing through this summer program at Community Theatre of Terre Haute.

Hoffman said that as he began working on this production, he was warned that putting it together might be a chore because so many people who might be involved have limited availability throughout the summer months.

“But it’s been the opposite of what people were telling me,” Hoffman said. “People here have been wonderful to work with and it is going so well.”

While Hoffman and Burns are staging just one play, Hoffman said audiences can look forward to very different interpretations of the piece. For example, Hoffman is fully staging his half of the production with actors dressed in naturalistic looking costumes. Burns’ actors, on the other hand, will be seated formally, wearing black and presenting their act more as a staged reading, Hoffman said.

“We are both bringing something very different to the production,” Hoffman said.

“Spoon River Anthology” opens Thursday at 8 p.m. at Community Theatre of Terre Haute at 1431 S. 25th St. Additional 8 p.m. performances are July 11 and 12. A matinee performance is July 13 at 2:30.

Tickets are $7 and may be reserved by telephoning the Community Theatre ticket office at (812) 232-7172.

        

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