"See Jane QUIT" Is a Winner! (Who Says Quitters Never Win?)

Oscar Wilde: "Do you mind if I smoke?" Sarah Bernhardt: "I don't care if you burn."

by Kim Thomas

There's a new and exciting work that is sure to be all the buzz next week when author Beth Kander is in town for the Southeast Theater Conference.  Kander will finally have the opportunity to see her engaging comedy come to life as See Jane QUIT makes its mark at the Downtown Arts Center. Jane is sure to make her proud as it arrives at the DAC stage under the meticulous and ridiculous direction of Tim X. Davis, who is the Theatre & Film Coordinator at Bluegrass Community & Technical College and has put his stamp on yet another fine production. 

Davis and his cast and crew have been hard at work, and when I stopped in on Fat Tuesday to watch a rehearsal with my photographer friend, Tom Eisenhauer, we were thoroughly entertained, and drawn in so much, we were loathe to leave, even though the Cats game against Mississippi State was about to begin.  We were simply having too much fun to go after just one act was finished; the script didn't take long to hook us in, Davis had been taking notes and dispensing advice -- "Punctuation is your friend!" and "Think Charles Nelson Reilly." were my favorites -- and of course, we'd also gladly accepted the offer of a piece of King Cake (apparently someone had already found the Baby) during the break (it was Mardi Gras, after all).

While the cast are well prepared and Davis is squeezing all the Funny as poss from the farce, it certainly comes as no surprise that this work by Kander won the 2009 Mississippi Theatre Association Playwriting Competition.  See Jane QUIT is about the intersecting lives of would-be non-smoker Jane (played by feisty Leah Dick) and her family and friends. The casting is perfect and with Jared Sloan as stage manager, Davis at the helm, hilarity quickly ensues -- it's hard not to laugh whenever any of the characters speak. Jane's brother James (Zach Dearing) and his wife Diane (Allie Darden) keep the sparks flying as their relationship is tested by Jane's grandmother, Bessie, with whom they all live. Swango's Bessie is reminiscent of Vicki Lawrence's Mama on Mama's Family and for a relative newcomer to the stage, Swango is immediately impressive and will have everyone in stitches in no time. The proceedings are knit together by an engaging narrator (Katie Jo Cox), who speaks directly to the audience as the plot develops. Philip Sharkey, as Jane's boyfriend Charles is also a kick to watch, his comedic timing is spot on and he garners a lot of well deserved chuckles. There's more to the story, of course, and for the low price of admission ($12, $7 for students or those with a SETC badge), so why not come out and see what happens? If you're like me, it'll be good for what ails you after all these weeks of being snowbound and cabin feverish!

For more information about the Southeast Theater Conference visit:

www.setc.org

See Jane QUIT
See Jane. Jane is a chain-smoking, single, thirty-year-old waitress, living with her aging-Southern-belle grandmother, Bessie. But her life's not so bad – she has a calm, sweet big brother named James; her brother’s wife, Diane, is her best friend; and there’s finally a new romantic prospect in Jane’s life: social activist Charles. The picture is pretty rosy – until, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the day Jane decides to quit smoking. Her family is thrilled to hear the news… unfortunately, each of them has an upsetting secret they need to share with her, but now none of them want to stress her out and give her the excuse to light up. When the secrets start mounting, the audience gets to see Jane’s friends and family trip their way through a classic farce, all in the name of helping Jane quit smoking.

Director Tim X. Davis is BCTC's Coordinator of Theatre & Film and is popular with casts and crews alike and reassuringly does not shy away from new works. He's shown his courage in that regard in recent years in many ways, including the debut of his own Dancing With Dani, a play he wrote and directed in 2008; he also performed the role of Mason in Actors Guild of Lexington's successful production and world premiere of Silas House's Long Time Travelling last spring.

Self-described "husband, father and prisoner of rock-n-roll" Davis likes to tell the story of how he met the author of See Jane QUIT while having dinner one night. "Beth is the significant other of one of my best friends from down in Mississippi. They visited us Thanksgiving weekend, and Beth (who I found very charming) mentioned that she was a playwright and had some full length material. Almost offhandedly, I asked her to send me something, and when I read what she sent, I was blown away at how strong her writing is (and of course the fact that the play won this year's Mississippi Theatre Association's playwrighting competition didn't hurt)!  I am MORE than happy to be giving this piece its premiere. Beth will be here for the performance Friday, March 5th. There will be a reception at 7pm, the performance at 8, and a talk back with Beth and the cast and crew immediately following."

Kander will be in town for the Southeastern Theatre Conference, which will be held this year in Lexington. Davis emphasizes the importance of the the SETC: "Having it in our fair city is an amazing opportunity, and one that should not be missed. The conference has hundreds of workshops on every imaginable area of the theatre (tech, acting, directing, movement, etc.), and a number of High School and Community theatre performances from all over the region."  

"The pre-professional screening auditions are also an important part. I have been the state coordinator of these auditions for the better part of the last decade, and this year we had 148 college students from the state of Kentucky go through the screening auditions (held this past November in Morehead), and of those, 60 were selected to audition for over 100 professional theatre companies who will be attending the festival. I'm pleased to say that three of our BCTC students were among those selected to audition, so we're very excited about that. There will also be hundreds of high schoolers auditioning for a large number of undergraduate programs, and Undergrad students who will have the opportunity to audition for graduate theatre programs. They also have a job contact service for technical folks, directors, PSM's and more."

SETC's administrators and board of directors make the decision as to where to hold the conference every year, but as Davis explains, "many of our KTA board members showed them what we had to offer when they visited Lexington last year (Jeremy Kisling at LCT was particularly instrumental in this). The conference hasn't been in Lexington since 1978, so this is a pretty big deal. 

For more information, go to:
http://www.facebook.com/l/faa82;www.setc.org

Davis' upcoming developments at BCTC will be especially good news for those interested in obtaining a fine arts degree. "We are working on putting together a theatre degree (an Associates of Fine Arts)  which we hope we'll be able to offer as early as next fall. We also hope to expand our production number to three per school year. We'll continue to partner with Talon and LexArts and we also anticipate working with the Keeneland Concours de Elegance folks again for their show in July. We also hope to have some student-directed material, which will be performed later in this semester."

Might we see Tim X. on stage again soon, at Summerfest, mayhap? "I'm considering auditioning for Summerfest this year, as I haven't been out at the Arboretum since the last official season of LCT (when I did double duty in Midsummer and Narnia), but that sort of depends on whether or not I mount a Summer production at BCTC. I had thought to take the summer off from that, but we have so many talented new students that I want to give performance opportunites to, that I may go ahead and direct again this Summer; but we'll see what we'll see."

He believes there are several lessons to be learned from See Jane QUIT. "I think there's definitely a message about the hazards of trying to keep secrets from those you love, and of course some direct ideas about the dangers of smoking itself (though it certainly doesn't beat you over the head with that message). Overall, it's just a nice farcical romp - a really fun night in the theatre. Most of our material has been very heavy, political or message-oriented stuff (Grapes, Thoreau, Blessed Assurance, etc.). This is a bit of a departure from that, and it gives my students the opportunity to tackle the farce genre, which is new for us."

 

Davis also pointed out the college's participation in the American College Theatre Festival. "It's a national organization sponsored by the Kennedy Center, and our region is the largest in the nation (10 states).  We enter our shows every year, with the possibility that we may be selected for inclusion at the regional festival (held every year in February- this year down in Murfreesboro, TN at Middle Tennessee State). Though our show was not selected, we were the ONLY community college theatre program that was recommended and in the running, and I'm awfully proud of that. We also had four students compete in the ACTF Irene Ryan Acting competition at the festival, and they acquitted themselves nicely and had a great time at the Festival, seeing shows and going to workshops."

Leah Dick is honored to play the lead for the first time in a world premiere, and to be "paving the way for hopefully many Janes to come."  She doesn't view it as a difficulty but rather, thinks it's easier to perform a new work.  "This isn't A Streetcar Named Desire - no one's going to compare my Blanche to Vivien Leigh's. There are infinite possibilities which means that I can do what actors do best- explore!  I'm playing Jane, a waitress who's coming to a crossroads in her life in the middle of a crazy family. I can't tell you how many times people said, "Leah, you ARE Jane," after reading the script. Strangely enough, though, it's a very different role for me. I'm not a typical leading lady, but neither is Jane. She isn't a delicate little flower; she's strong and feminine. I think a lot of other women can relate to her as well. The thing I like most about Jane is how similar we are. That's also what I like the least. We both let our tempers get the best of us far too often. Both of us are stubborn in our ideas and beliefs, so much so that it can distort reality at times. Sometimes I'll walk off-stage and think, 'Am I really like this?' -- it can be a good thing or a bad thing."

 

Dick has worked with Davis on BCTC's previous two shows, "and every time is a growing experience, always as an actor, sometimes as a person. I auditioned for the summer 2009 show on a whim and honestly, it changed my life. Last fall, I was going to major in Fashion Marketing and Tim said my first day of class, 'I'm going to somehow convince her to switch to Theater by the end of the semester.' He was joking, but that's exactly what happened."

"I've lived in Lexington my entire life and I love it. Growing up here, I never thought I'd say that, but when I finish up at BCTC, I'm probably going to transfer to UK so I can stay another couple of years. I went to Tates Creek High School and the heads of the theater department there, Lisa Osterman and Jason Meenach, gave me so much. It was like being in this incredibly crazy, incredibly wonderful family."

Dick says that lately, she feels as if acting is "all that I've been doing! In my downtime, I'm usually holed up in my apartment with my boyfriend Kurt and our two cats watching reruns of True Blood." She laughs, "Yes, I live the glamorous life. Once I get some more school under my belt, I'm hoping to move to a bigger city like Chicago or New York and tackle the stage there."

Allie Darden brings a 'never misses a beat' quality to her depiction of Diane and she seems very comfortable and at ease with her craft. "This is not the first play I've been involved in that is a world premiere -- I did another world premiere at Actors Guild of Lex in 2005; it's called Checking In written by Brian Hampton. Last winter, he asked me to come to NYC and perform it in a staged reading at the Blackbird Theatre, and it was a hit! That performance led to it being accepted into the Midtown Manhattan International Theatre Festival in July, and I was asked to come back to NYC for a month to perform it. I was luckily able to take the time off work and go, and it was a hit! The playwright, Brian, is still working on ways to get it even more exposure. The new playwright's job is truly never done."

 

However, Darden embraces the challenges involved in unchartered territory. "It can be easier in a way, because there are no preconceived notions since it's never been seen or read. When you do a well-known play, especially if it's been made into a movie, you have to keep the character first and foremost, and try to forget about the famous actor who played that character. I can't really think of a downfall, except that there might be a slight chance that people won't want to come out for something they've never heard of...but that's why good marketing is important!"

Darden's character, Diane is Jane's best friend and married to Jane's somewhat overly contemplative brother (James). "Diane has a lot of surprises that unfold in the play.  I love her because she is a real character. She is a real friend, and she has real feelings good and bad. Plus she's so much fun to play."

Not surprisingly, Darden loves working with Tim X. Davis, too.  "I have never worked with him before, but I have seen his work many times and have always been impressed. This experience working with him and the entire cast has been a dream!  Professional, talented, and wonderful to work with. I have had a blast."

Darden is originally from New Orleans, but ended up in Lexington at about age 15. "I went to Henry Clay High School and received my BA in Theatre Arts at Eastern Kentucky University. I currently work at Sullivan University as a Career Services Specialist."

From a glance at her resume, it's easy to see why Darden could have her pick of on-stage roles.  Her professionalism makes an instant impression and she doesn't miss a beat, her confidence and timing are reassuring as her character interacts with the moody, just-stopped-smoking Jane and Jane's relatives, who all have issues that are feared to cause her to relapse into smoking again should they be revealed. Darden's most recent experience includes her portrayal last fall as Angelina in Enigmatic Lucidity and last July as Brooke in Checking In in the Midtown Manhatten International Theatre Festival.  

 Kathy Crabtree Swango, who plays crotchety but lovable Bessie, took her first acting class in Spring 2007 with Davis, "whom I adore.  He’s a wonderful teacher and director. He has such an eye and ear for what will work on stage.  My first role was Rose in Working in Summer 2007.  Since then, I’ve been in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (Mother Thoreau), Grapes of Wrath (narrator and crowds person), and Dark of the Moon (Conjur Woman).  I was also in the Midway Festival of Plays last fall.  Except for the Midway show, everything I’ve done has been with Tim.  He is a blast to work with.  Of course, he’s my colleague at work and my director on stage, so we have an interesting relationship, but he’s the best I’ve seen, and Lexington and BCTC are fortunate to have him."

 

"This is the first new work I’ve done, and it’s been such fun.  We’ve somewhat created it as we’ve gone—no preconceptions or audience expectations, but it also has been a challenge because there’s nothing to compare it to."

Swango plays Bessie, the grandmother, "who is a somewhat intolerant woman. She loves her grandchildren, but she can be pretty unpleasant and demanding.  She also doesn’t want to be a burden to her grandchildren, so that’s an endearing quality.  It’s been fun to create her 'from scratch,' giving her voice and form."  Swango adds that she's looking forward to meeting the author when she's in town for the SETC next week. 

She, too, is from Lexington, and went to Bryan Station High School.  "I got my BA from UK and my MA from Morehead State -- both degrees in English.  I also did some PhD work in English at UK and later got an MA in Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary. Most of my professional work has been as a college instructor of English.  I'm now an associate professor at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.  I was also a full-time pastor for 4 years and did music and people-care ministry part-time at several local churches for about 12 years." She and her husband are "parents" to 8 cats and 3 dogs.  We volunteer with Woodford Humane Society and have also done foster care for Woodstock.

Zach Dearing starred in last summer's BCTC production of Dark of the Moon, but this is the first world premiere for him. "Performing a new work has posed an interesting set of challenges. On occasion Tim, the cast, and I have encountered some continuity issues, or moments that become difficult to block due to necessary plot elements. However Beth, the playwright, has been very open to alterations or adjustments here and there. It's been very interesting to watch the written piece evolve as we encounter difficulties. It's like we're working with a living, breathing script...you don't get that opportunity anywhere else...what's written is usually set in stone and that hasn't necessarily been the case here."  
 

"I play James, Jane's older brother. I feel that if handled properly, James has great, if not the most comedic potential. He is an oddball. When we first meet him, he has abandoned practicing law to become a Buddhist monk. He enters random moments of meditation and displays an unpredictable range of emotions. The humor I find in James is that he plays the 'straight guy' in this comedy, the one who is so serious in the face of Charles' over-the-top dialogue, even though he himself comes off as a weirdo who's completely disconnected from reality, and completely unaware of the image he's giving off."

Dearing says he appreciates James' sarcasm and dry sense of humor the most. "I feel like there are some uncharacteristic moments scripted into the show for James and that has forced me to think outside of the box on some of my line delivery. You run into that trouble with a lot of shows though."

He first met Professor Davis in the summer of 2006, "when we were both cast in Tonda Fields' production of the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, which ran during the final season of the Lexington Shakespeare Festival. Since then, I've been involved with five of his BCTC productions, this one being the fifth. I love working with Tim. He consistently finds more in the subtext of a given script than any other director I've ever worked with. He always has a wonderful understanding of the shows he directs ... he is absolutely hilarious! I'd argue that most of the laughs he pulls from a crowd come from his interpretation of a script and less from the dialogue as it was written. He finds brilliant moments in the subtext and magnifies them in such a way that often times, as actors we are more successful in establishing character relationships than we otherwise would have been. The administration at BCTC isn't fully aware of the weapon in their arsenal; Tim is a miracle worker. We don't have a theatre, we don't have a rehearsal room, we don't have a WHOLE LOT of other things that other programs do have, and yet we consistently fill houses, and in my opinion, we often put on better shows than you'll find at neighboring schools. I defend that statement with the list of actors (myself included) that have gone on to the next level of college theatre and travelled to compete in national competitions like the Irene Ryan competition. We have great talent but very limited resources and yet somehow, Tim has managed not only to keep his brainchild alive but to expand it over the course of two years."

Dearing is from Lexington and went to Tates Creek High School, and was very active in the drama program there. "Lisa Osterman and Jason Meenach are responsible for my love of theatre and my involvement with local productions. I have been involved with many theatre programs in Lexington as well as one group in Frankfort. Currently, I work full time as baggage handler for United Airlines at the Bluegrass Airport, but I'm also a full time student at the University of Kentucky. Aside from work and school, I'm nearing the completion of my first novel. I've spent two years writing the book and am about halfway through my fourth (and hopefully FINAL) draft. I've been using my flight benefits to fly back and forth from here to Norfolk, Virginia to conduct interviews with a Navy SEAL to insure tactical accuracy for some of the events that occur in the book. I hope to have the finished manuscript in the hands of my attorney by the end of this Spring semester. My Navy SEAL is running for Congress so that has affected forward progress. We'll see how it ends up though!"

Dearing adds he feels that "unfortunately, BCTC productions are the best kept secret in the local theatre community." 

Philip Sharkey admits this is his first performance in a world premiere.  "It's definitely a different experience from performing your average play, but it is difficult to say whether it is more or less difficult. It is harder in the respect that you have no examples to base your performance on although on the other hand you do not have to live up to the expectations other actors have brought to the role."

He plays the part of Charles, "who is as close to a love interest Jane gets in the play, if you could even call him that. What appealed to me about this role was that it is quite different from any I have ever played before. I tend to get cast as your stereotypical male lead, which means a surprisingly simple character with very basic problems and hardly any emotional depth. Charles is really nothing like that, there are many layers to him, in fact he is pretty much an entirely different character from one act to the next; which I believe is exciting for any actor."

"It is difficult not to feel sympathetic towards Charles because he has to deal with so many problems and an almost equal number of pretty crazy people. I like that even in such a tumultuous situation he still tries to do what he thinks is best, even if that does not always lead him down the right path. At the same time if I knew him in person (if he was real) I could see myself becoming annoyed with his inability to reason rather quickly; at times he is so wrapped up in his own little world he forgets the reality of the situation."

"This was my first time working with Tim X. Davis and I have truly enjoyed the experience. He is very careful in wording his opinion, which has not been my experience with most other directors, while still evoking the response he is looking for. Not to say that I have trouble with being criticized, he just makes for a more comfortable environment which is important during the creative process."

Sharkey is not originally from Lexington, was born in Ottawa but moved from Canada to the states at a young age.  "I have been educated almost entirely in Lexington, spending what little time I had in high school at Henry Clay (I was in the academy) and then moving on after my sophomore year to BCTC."

Sharkey says his life seems to be divided between school, music, theater, work and the visual arts.  "I tend to jump from one subject to the next rather rapidly because I am interested in doing many different things. That leaves a lot of people in question as to what it is I want to do with my life, which is a pretty loaded question. To put it simply, I have no idea. I feel like I've been able to break down my interests in the last few years and route out a lot of things I do not want to do, but that still leaves many possible career possibilities. I know that I want to be somehow involved with the arts, I am just not sure how I will go about doing that while actually making a living. I suppose only time will tell." 
 

Katie Jo Cox is very excited to be part of a play that is a world premiere, but realizes such an experience has its ups and downs.  "You get to 'set' the show, for how others will view it later, but then on the other hand, you have nothing to go off of, it's all fresh and you have to build entirely from whats on the pages, so it is exciting and more difficult at the same time.  Tim does an amazing job at what he does though, the show looks amazing."

Cox's role is that of the narrator.  "I'm the 'Announcer.'  My role isn't exactly part of the main storyline, but I enjoy it still!  It's alot different than anything I've played before, and it's been a different kind of challenge. I like this role because it's a whole different way of expressing myself.  I get to play something 'outside of the box,' so to speak.  You'll have to see the show to understand what I mean!" 

Like everyone else, Cox calls Davis an "amazing and talented man.  Out of all the directors I've worked with between here and back home in Michigan, he is, hands down, the BEST.  The biggest thing that makes being in these shows so much fun is the people you work with, and working with a director who is so talented, passionate about his work, and just fun to be around is great! "

Cox was born and raised in the little town of Coldwater, Michigan, "where I graduated high school in 2004.  I attended a community college there for three years until I decided I needed to get the heck out of Michigan and found myself down here in Lexington!  I now attend BCTC and the University of Kentucky, Broadcast Journalism."

When not at rehearsals or onstage, Cox says she is "usually working at my 'real' full-time job at Walgreens, going to class or at my internship with 98.1 the Bull's Morning show.  When I finally graduate, I'm hoping to start my career on the radio, and heaven only knows where I'll end up from there, but for now I just love being involved, staying busy and making people smile!"

Jared Sloan, who was so much fun as Clem, the guy with the faraway eyes in Middle Aged White Guys serves as stage manager this time around, but says he is comfortable in that capacity in that he stage managed a student-written play in high school called Nocturnal Admissions and "it was centered around teen angst, and peer pressure. Very deep!"

When ask which he would rather do, act or manage, he was very clear that he prefers directing to either. "I would much rather direct because I believe the vision comes from the director, and the carrying out of that vision is solely in the hands of the actors, and stage manager. As much as I have moments where I do enjoy acting, I am always going to be more of a technical theatre nut."

 

Sloan says the most difficult part in 'managing' See Jane QUIT! is working with some professional actors and having to tell them what to do sometimes. I always say to the cast, "Thank GOD Natalie Cummins (a very well known and respected professional stage manager) isn't in this show. I wouldn't what to do!  The easiest part is laughing at the material during rehearsals, it's a 'hoot.' (Yes I did just say hoot)!" he adds.

Sloan graduated from Dunbar High School but is currently enrolled at BCTC working on an associate arts degree, before he transfers to the BFA program at Western Kentucky University next spring.  Sloan graduated high school at Paul Laurence Dunbar High here in Lexington. (GO BULLDOGS!)  I tried to get involved in a few shows there, but I've been doing theatre since the fourth grade; I have always known I was passionate about it and made it my life's ambition. My family lives all over this USA and we moved around alot growing up. It helped me to be social and make friends easily.  I took about 6 years off of school before I finally started college. And it motivates me everyday to keep a high GPA and go all the way. After BCTC I want to go to Western Kentucky University for my BFA, then (fingers crossed) DePaul University in Chicago for my MFA. One day I hope to be an artistic director for some professional theatre out there, and begin teaching when I get tired of that. Look out world, a director is born!"

See Jane QUIT
Showtimes are: Feb 25th, 26th, and 27th at 8 pm
Mar 4th, 5th, and 6th at 8pm; tickets are $7 for students,
and $12 for general admission.

Go to www.lexgo.com for tickets - or call LexArts at (859) 225-0370

BCTC Film News:
The Filmmaking Certificate Program is in its 7th class-expanding the cinematic arts in Kentucky. Our graduates are encouraged to make their own films, work on professional sets and/or continue their education in filmmaking. recently, our graduates have have gone on to attend Asbury College, Watkins (Nashville), Columbia (Chicago), the New York Film Academy, Nashville Institute of Art, and the Savannah College of Art and Design. More than 20 graduates and students participated in the production of Secretariat. And our students and graduates have produced a tremendous amount of original material for festivals and theatrical release including a series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations and the in-house trailer for the Kentucky Theater.

The program features 10 guest instructors, currently working in the industry from New York, Hollywood and the Midwest and the students participate in hands-on workshops to create their own material - from script to screen.