Not Your Average Theatre
by Kathryn Turner
What could be better than going to the theatre for an evening of entertainment? Having the theater come to you! And Effingham Theatre does just that. Performing all over the county, Effingham Theatre is a travelling theatre on a mission to educate through entertainment. They do their shows in garages, in living rooms, and just about anywhere else they can assemble an audience.
Tamara Tyre is the Managing Director and founder of the troupe, and she is thrilled with the program’s success. She first started Effingham Theatre as a summer camp in 2008, and it has being growing ever since.
Tyre may have underestimated her own potential when she first decided to run the summer camp. “At that point in time, I didn’t have plans for a big county-wide program,” she says. “It just sort of grew faster than I expected it to.” And the residents of Effingham County are glad it did.
Having graduated from Effingham County High School, Tyre went on to earn her Theatre degree from The University of Georgia. When she moved back to Effingham after college, she realized there was something missing.
“I noticed there was a need for something,” Tyre says. “I heard lots of parents complaining about there being nothing but sports for their kids to do in the summer.” So she decided to run a summer camp to teach kids the basics of theatre. The two-week camp was held at the Effingham Recreation Department and consisted of about thirty-five kids between the ages of six and thirteen. In the span of two weeks, she managed to teach the kids how to act, how to build and design scenery, and how to put on a show.
Jonathan Thompson is the theatre’s PR Manager and Artistic Director. He explains that their current show, The Garage Series, is a free event for local people. “It’s our way of promoting community spirit, because [with] the growth in Effingham County in the last few years, there are people coming in who don’t know anyone, [so] we basically put on a block party,” he says.
Both Thompson and Tyre got involved in performing arts at a very young age, and they now use that experience to bring theatre into the lives of Effingham County residents.
Tyre is the daughter of two dance instructors, and she says her first big theatrical experience was in her junior year at ECHS, where she was in the dance line of The Wiz. She has been performing as long as she can remember, and she aspires to bring that knowledge and love for the performing arts to others.
Thompson, who has been acting since he was five years old, shares Tyre’s enthusiasm. He directs most of their productions, and also teaches acting classes with Effingham Theatre. Together, they dedicate their time and energy to the theatre in order to promote arts and culture.
“The whole effort is really to try to bring theatre at a very basic level,” Tyre says. She wants people to understand that a fancy theatre building is unnecessary to have the complete theatre experience. “You can have it in your back yard, which is the idea behind The Garage Series we’re doing.”
After talking with Tyre and Thompson, I decide to see the show for myself. With a title like The Illiad, The Odyssey, and ALL of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less, the last thing I expect is a comedy. But the play, written by Jay Hopkins and John Hunter, turns out to be as entertaining as it is educational.
Six actors play multiple roles throughout the production: Dennis Folker, Jessica Webb, Jonathan Thompson, Jacob Lanier, Lane Towler, Jana F. Ashe, Tamara Tyre, and Sam Murphy. And they all do an outstanding job.
Hilarity ensues as these talented actors transform the living room of Carol and Gary Murphy into another realm. Throughout the evening, they entertain the Rincon residents and their guests, all while covering the basics of Greek Mythology. Though travelling as a theatre may seem like a challenge, Tyre maintains that travelling allows them to be a part of the community: “I see it as a benefit. Being able to move around and perform in different places [makes us] accessible to different groups of people.”
Tyre is adamant that the art of theatre has nothing to do with a theatre building. “The building isn’t as important as the programming and the people,” she says. Her main focus now is educating people about the fundamentals of theatre. Despite the challenges that travelling entails, Tyre and Thompson think that moving around from one venue to the next keeps the actors sharp. “It makes things a lot more entertaining for the audience,” Tyre adds.
With live theatre, the audience should expect the unexpected. Things may go wrong, actors may break out into giggles, or a child may run onto to the stage, but that is exactly what entices theatre-goers to the shows.
They laugh as they tell me about one of those unexpected moments. In a performace at one of their summer camps, two girls came onstage “and they just burst into giggles,” Thompson recalls. “For ten minutes!” And Tyre seems to think unexpected moments like these make theatre more entertaining. “The crowd loved it,” she says. “They were giggling too!”
Tyre and Thompson want their audience to interact without feeling intimidated by theatre. “When there’s laughter, even if it’s random laughter at things that don’t make sense, the actors on stage get energy from that… and they perform better,” says Tyre. They both maintain that changing venues keeps the actors on their toes. Effingham Theatre has four set seasons that they budget for themselves: In the Spring, they will be performing The Garage Series; in the Summer, they run the theatre camps for kids; For their Autumn show, they will be performing Puss in Boots with a guest director; and for the Winter show, they are going to perform their own rendition of Beowulf.
In addition to their set seasons, they can also do dinner shows and other performances by request. They are willing to put on a show anywhere. Jonathan Thompson and Tamara Tyre wish to thank the Effingham County Recreation Department and State Representative Jon Burns for supporting their efforts to bring theatre to Effingham County.
Effingham Theatre has been expanding since its beginning two years ago, and with the community’s continued support, it will continue to grow for many years to come. For more information or to make a contribution to Effingham Theatre, contact Jonathan Thompson or Tamara Tyre at www.Effinghamtheatrenews@gmail.com.
SIDE BAR
Effingham Theatre Summer Camp
* students will design, construct and perform their own stage production and present
their skills to friends and family.
*Held every day from 10 am to 5 pm at the Effingham Recreation Department in
Springfield
May 31st – June 11th (Ages 5-10 )
June 14th – June 25th (Ages 11-16)
Call Tamara Tyre at 912-657-1120 for details.
Effingham Theatre Acting Classes
*Held in the meeting room of B&S Feed and Farm Supply from 7 pm to 8 pm
April 21st – May 26th
Call Jonathan Thompson at 912-433-3314 for details.
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