Thank You to the Amazing Barter Theatre!
I am very late with this post, but my trip in July down to the
Barter Theatre was wonderful. And surreal. I wrote
Lions of Babylon seven years ago, and this was the first time I've had a staged reading of the play! The director, Emily Grove, and the actors did a fabulous job and I learned a lot. I have put
Lions "in a drawer" for quite a long time, but this opportunity will definitely lead to a new draft sometime soon.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3utLYxJunN2SzIVIG68wGbcsVchajMy6EIF4pRusrRm23ZQo8GkYMagzvMXAgcYw6oeuROjpsTUm74ecqvRK-9w6qvZwHGwa8MfQ9Hd1qEbIsEy4YKENYmwVpzrIGMs2uFj6ThYzfJL6/s1600/IMG_4540.JPG) |
Barter Actresses Tricia Matthews, Carrie Smith, and Ashley Campos in the dressing room before the reading. |
I was also really impressed with how many people came to the reading (and all the readings in the festival). There is an extremely healthy theater-going community in Abingdon, VA! Over a hundred people were in the audience, and often there would be two readings in one afternoon, and folks would stay for both and participate actively and thoughtfully in the discussions. I walked out of my reading in a happy haze and wandered over to Associate Artistic Director Katy Brown mumbling about how impressed I was with the community at Barter. She smiled and said, "Yeah, it's kind of like a theatrical Brigadoon around here or something." Indeed.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNEJQ5QHnGvYJlldDP4aLmJGDQklotvYJ4uX9N16AbfQ8ti1_M3vNPDKaiq42MzpKpEPoJPsu3vFobYgnt2b7hL3SVlmIpYU_pkEtzwOkG24TKvj9dWLFxWl5zLG1K6GvD_a9nOOP1rSA/s1600/IMG_4542.JPG) |
The audience arriving before my reading! |
In addition to the Appalachian Play Festival, there were also five productions in rep happening. I got a chance to catch their
Wizard of Oz, which after touring the historic Main Stage theater and experiencing the wig room, I had to see all the technicolor-coiffed munchkins for myself. It was a lot of fun.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQil7JHgYpWjMrZH-BlFys5Uqm42fvVgi4q45J-I9Slbm2Y_-5Ooz_gXxIVgxuArWwf8glFgghtotHjRJdO-wdN_eghEgYB8Rih_rqEvWFOlJE2cg5qDF_I0sXF83ua4drp7KBM4ilLvDE/s1600/IMG_4546.JPG) |
The unbelievably cool wig room in the Main Theatre. |
Again, a very special thank you to Richard Rose (Artistic Director, who cooked an amazing dinner for all of the festival playwrights at his house!), Nick Piper (AFPP Director and a great actor), Catherine Bush (the Barter playwright-in-residence), and all of the very talented and welcoming people at Barter Theatre.