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"We’re
just one big family and we all love what we do," he said.
"None of us get paid. We do it because the stories of the rural
South need to be told, to be preserved. ‘Come Home’ has brought us
together in a special way. We have cast members from age eight to
eighty-something and we have people from all walks of life and with
different talents. And, when we put it all together, we’ve got
something uniquely special and worth sharing."
And
share it, they have.
The
paid attendance is nearly 15,000. Others have attended special
performances and dress rehearsals. Each season about 75 people are
involved in "putting on" the play and, the cast, laughingly,
said not a one of them have been invited to Hollywood.
"We
keep thinking that we will, but so far nobody’s called," Linda
Steed said laughing.
Steed
plays Lula Merle, the town floozy.
One
night as she was leaving the theater, a tour bus stopped in the middle
of the street. The door came open and the folks inside hollered,
"Hey, Lula Merle." Steed laughed and waved back.
"The
audience seems to share the closeness we feel as a cast and crew,"
she said. "Coming ‘Home’ at suppertime is not really like going
to a play. It’s like you’re really coming home at suppertime."
Dr.
David Dye, veteran director of theater at Troy University, said when he
walked through the door of the We Piddle Around Theater for the first
time, he knew immediately he was going to experience something unique
and very special.
"The
play was funny; it was sad," he said. "It was poignant and it
was filled with local color. It was like basking in the mirror of the
community where we have grown up. It’s a wonderful sense of being
connected. What a wonderful, warm experience it was to be at home at
suppertime."
That
sense of being connected is what has made "Come Home" a
success, Bowden said.
"It’s
not any one thing," he said. "It’s everything from the
original stories and the traditional music to the fried chicken and
cornbread on the table and sawdust on the floor. And, when a ‘family’
and ‘company’ sit down to supper together, there’s just no
experience like it."
Dr.
Johnny Long, famed director of bands at Troy University, said he laughed
and was brought to tears by the performance of "Come Home."
"The
people on stage who brought the stories were truly amazing," he
said. "I don’t know if the people involved know how really good
it is. I hope the community realizes what a real treasure they
have."
Even
if those involved don’t really realize "Come Home" is a
"treasure," the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel does. The
Bureau awarded its 2008 Governor’s Tourism Award to the Brundidge
Historical Society for its original folklife play, "Come Home, It’s
Suppertime." It was with great humility and deep appreciation the
Brundidge Historical Society accepted the award.
"We
are thankful for the talents and abilities that allow us to do what we
do," Bowden said. "We are humbled and honored by this
recognition. ‘Come Home,’ is not just the story of our community. It’s
the story of all Alabama and celebrates the cultural heritage of our
state. We hope those who ‘come home’ to the We Piddle Around Theater
leave believing all the piddling has been worthwhile."
For
ticket information, call 334-735-3125 or 735-3675.
Jaine
Treadwell is a freelance writer from Brundidge. |
