Though the new play "High and Mighty" has not yet reached production, the reading of the script alone was enough to captivate an audience.
The play's first staged reading took place Saturday, March 8 in the Vonnie Borden Theatre, which received its name from the playwright Donna Gay Anderson's mother.
Anderson graduated from Southeastern and then went on to be the director of the Columbia Theatre. Since retiring, she has fulfilled her creative drive by writing her first play, set in a Presbyterian Church in 1980s New York. Anderson's piece is a classic example of "writing what she knows," as she lived in New York for several years and has been an active member of the Presbyterian Church throughout her life.
"I do a lot of volunteer work with the Presbyterian Church, and I've seen changes in the church over the years, in not only the culture, but people who were really hanging on to what the culture used to be," said Anderson. "The church in this play is a classic example of a very traditional, mainline Presbyterian Church."
The main characters of the play are based off real people. The play explores sinfulness and human nature within the culture of the church, a theme which left many in attendance invested in the storyline.
"I think it's excellent," said Charles Dowdy, who attends church with Anderson. "I think any time you can engage an audience with the actors not actually acting, just reading, it speaks very highly of the dialogue and the writing."
According to her husband, Tom Anderson, her original goal was not to reach production with her play. Rather, the play was initially seen as a project through which Anderson could channel her creative energy after retirement.
"I've always heard that creative people have to continue to create. It's a skill they have that they just can't keep bottled up. It's got to come out… Creativity is good for their soul," said Tom Anderson. "When Donna Gay retired from the Columbia Theatre, she began painting and then she began writing this play. It was just to give her something to do, and she enjoyed doing it."
When Anderson finished the play, she approached Southeastern Theater Director Jim Winter for help in developing the script with the goal of achieving production. This staged reading was helpful in receiving feedback, moving the play one step closer to becoming a final piece.
"[Seeing my play being read] was a dream come true," said Anderson. "There was just the reality that it finally came to fruition in this theater, where I studied. It was an honor. Also, to see this in front of an audience was so helpful to me because a lot of the time I was watching the audience to see what their reactions were. When they reacted, when they were laughing, when they seemed confused, when they were really stunned. It was helpful for me to watch that."
One of the most unique elements of the play was that each character's subconscious was portrayed by a separate actor, who followed the character around and represented the true nature and intentions of the character. One character, the minister of the church, was not given a subconscious actor because of his pure and centered nature. Many audience members suggested a subconscious entity be added to the play, triggering a discussion between Winter and Anderson.
"I think the questions about [the minister] not having a subconscious representation are still worthy of exploring because in this play there used to be several other characters who were smaller characters, thus they didn't have subconscious entities, and now that we've streamlined it to this core group of characters, I think that's something we should discuss," said Winter.
Anderson and Winter hope to refine the play so that it will be available for production in the near future.