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Ignoring the usual barrier between performer and audience, critically
acclaimed StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance on April 14 opened
Anton Chekhov's classic play The Seagull in the elegantly intimate Morehead
Lounge of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence.
Instead of filling rows of seats in front of a stage, the audience
surrounded the actors on plush couches and chairs as the lounge took on the
feel of an extended cocktail hour.
The staging of this tragicomedy of unrequited love and artistic struggle
mirrored StreetSign's Director Derek Goldman's emphasis on enhancing the
connection between theater and community.
"We want to try to deflate any sort of separation between theater
community and the at-large community," Goldman said. "We're trying to bridge
that gap."
Goldman and his center have received high praise for their dedication to
the research, development, presentation and touring of new literary
adaptations, company-created theatrical works, innovative new plays and bold
re-imaginings of classics.
Founded eight years ago by Goldman in Chicago, StreetSigns became an
important part of the Windy City's artistic scene and was hailed as "the most
exciting theater company to emerge in Chicago" by the Chicago-Sun Times.
But after living in Chicago for 11 years, Goldman said good-bye to the
Midwest and his teaching job at Northwestern University last summer to accept a
position in the Carolina communications department as assistant professor of
performance studies.
In addition to teaching, Goldman planted StreetSigns' new roots in the
fertile, artistic soil of Chapel Hill. But the StreetSigns director admits to
interviewing at Carolina out of whimsical curiosity.
As curiosity turned to reality, Goldman was seduced by Chapel Hill's charm
and the chance to work with groups such as the School of Education and the
Southern Oral History Program.
Several of Goldman's colleagues in StreetSigns were sold on Chapel Hill as
well.
"When I left for Chapel Hill, other members got excited about coming," he
said.
Peter Carpenter, StreetSign's choreographer, soon arrived as did five of
the center's original members.
Goldman credits the center's mission and success for drawing other members
from Chicago.
"I think we were able to do some very special work and to develop and
transcend the limits of what a theater company does," Goldman said. "We work in
partnership with other groups to create challenging, innovative, avant-garde
pieces, and the artists didn't want to lose that."
The center also houses an institute that serves as an educational research
center for both local and national educational communities.
By developing inter-disciplinary curricula, student-created projects and
professionally produced touring shows for students and adults, the institute
aims to help students and teachers explore writing's expressive potential.
The institute develops shows for local school children, and StreetSigns is
currently producing a project in Chatham County about how residents there view
changes in their community.
Goldman is optimistic about the center's future in Chapel Hill.
"There's something emergent and possible here," he said, pointing to the
growth and development of arts in the area.
Goldman cited the Open Door Theater, an off-shoot of PlayMakers Repertory
Company, as an emerging player in the local arts scene.
He's also impressed with the Triangle's plethora of creative writers and
poets, many of whom have sought out StreetSigns to adapt their work.
Performance runs through April 30
The StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance production of Anton
Chekhov's The Seagull will run through April 30 in the Morehead Lounge of the
James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence in Graham Memorial
Hall.
For ticket information and reservations, call StreetSigns at
960-4299.
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