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Building Community Awareness of Farms and Agriculture

Voices and Kids

  • A production of “What Will be in the Fields Tomorrow?” at the Hamilton Township Grange Hall, November 5, 2007 by Julie Pioch

    Reader’s theater was the key. Upon hearing that there would be no memorizing lines they really got excited.

    . . . the power of engagement was realized by all. The audience was made up of farmers and people involved in agriculture who could very much relate to the stories told. I wondered what the reaction from non-farm community would be and hope to offer the play again to that audience. Readers said they wanted to perform again.

Contents

Growing Ideas

pdr sign I wanted to perform a production of “What will be in the fields tomorrow?” ever since I saw the play at the Kellogg Foundation’s Food and Society Conference in April 2007. This evolved into an idea for an “arts series” --the goal being to elevate my community’s awareness of farming and local food issues. Activities could include the play, an art contest and a film series with discussion group.

Summer 2007, I approached some community members with my ideas. Several of us watched King Corn but thought it a bit long (2 hours) to allow for meaningful follow-up community dialogue or discussion about the provocative ideas brought up in the film about our dependence on corn. Since then I have heard of other shorter films that would allow for a good discussion and hope to work them into some sort of community education course at our community college in the fall of 2008.

In December, The art contest idea was grabbed up by the Van Buren Land Preservation Board who used the idea to get a design for a sign to designate their first successful farmland development rights purchase: 81 acres in Paw Paw Township to be dedicated in Spring 2008. The contest was offered to all 11th and 12th graders in the county. All entries had to incorporate the words “preserved farmland” into their designs and create art that would be visible from the road as passersby drove past the sign. The contests were also required to submitted 250 to 500 word essays on why farmland and open space preservation was important to them, the county and the planet. Thirty-five entries were received. The winning design was by Courtney Collins, a senior from Lawton.

Our Venue – an Annual Appreciation Banquet

As the county farm market masters and I began planning for the 3rd annual farmers market and local food appreciation banquet in November 2007, we found ourselves in need of a guest speaker or some form of entertainment for the event. At past banquets, we had scholars from MSU, local food advocates from the community and local musical artists. I mentioned the idea of reader’s theater and the group became immediately excited about the possibility. We talked about our options for performers – 1)grabbing people from the audience to read or 3) putting a bit more planning into the actors. Because we wanted it to be entertaining and were not sure who would attend the banquet we chose the safe option of selecting readers in advance. I gave the two women a copy of the play to read for themselves and several other copies to hand out to people and asked them to come up with readers from among their farmer vendors and communities.  I came up with my own list of folks who I thought would appreciate the play and also be good performers.

big banquet

The Hamilton Township Grange Hall was the perfect location for the event. It was in the middle of farm country, central to all the markets and had a stage that would be good for a “play.”

Recruiting and Practice

It was great fun recruiting players. It was a joy for me to ask folks to be part of the play – they were so happy to be asked and to hear about such an event. Even those who declined because of schedule conflicts were thrilled to be asked and volunteered if there was to be another opportunity. Reader’s theater was the key. Upon hearing that there would be no memorizing lines they really got excited.

We scheduled one practice session prior to the event. With only one-half of the players able to attend, practice involved talking about whom else needed to be recruited to fill parts and assigning parts. We decided to do the entire play, given we could recruit enough players by show time – and we did.

Our Cast of Characters

One small market garden farmer played Mr. Hiller. He brought his two children to play the youth parts and his wife to help with the “voices”. The other “voices” chorus included: a wine and beer making court administrator, a district extension agent, a retired master gardener/local food fest organizer and an experienced theater director/local artist/farm market master. The two college students were played by one of our market masters and friend of a friend. A CSA farmer read the new AG worker part. The farm bureau administrative assistance and the university professor/organic grower read Bertie and Gussie. Jan, another market master, and I brought props and lighting to the production.

Production

I had seen the play directed with Bertie and Gussie seated at a table center stage, with the players behind them in a semi-circle. My mind’s eye had pictured us doing the same. But upon entering the old grange hall and seeing the stage and lighting, I knew some changes would need to be made.

We placed Bertie and Gussie’s table stage left and put a pole lamp behind them so they would be able to read their scripts as well as highlight their characters a bit. Chairs for the choral voices were set up in a line center stage to stage right. Holiday lights draped behind them provided enough extra light for them to read. The two youth were placed without chairs stage right with their legs dangling down from the stage. Mr. Hiller and the New Ag Worker were seated in the audience front rear stage left and stage right, stood and approached center stage to read their monologues. The college students were seated together directly below Bertie and Gussie on the floor in front of the stage and read from their seated positions.

Impact

What a wonderful performance. The crowd of about 35 watched intently. I had to chase my two year old and keep her quiet most of the time, but I was able to watch the crowd’s and the reader’s reactions. Laughter, empathy and nodding heads is what I saw in the faces of the audience and players. From my perspective, the power of engagement was realized by all. The audience was made up of farmers and people involved in agriculture who could very much relate to the stories told. I wondered what the reaction from non-farm community would be and hope to offer the play again to that audience. Readers said they wanted to perform again.

At a new season market master meeting just this last week (April 2008), present were three performers and Jan my “co-director”. We reflected on the experience of the banquet and the success of the play. It was a great experience and we are looking for another venue to perform.

Information

Julie Pioch is Van Buren County MSU Extension County Extension director
           piochj@msu.edu  www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen

Van Buren Land Preservation Board and Programs
            Contact: Amy Lockhart  www.vbco.org