The room contains 50 seats arranged around the sides of a small-scale stage. With an overall capacity of 70 people, there’s little room for cast and crew.
With this little space, putting on a full-scale production could be a faraway fantasy — an aspiration, not an actuality. But for more than 40 years, Gainesville’s volunteer-run theater organization Acrosstown Repertory Theatre has used this disadvantage to create an intimate experience and open conversations for performers and audience members alike.
Acrosstown Repertory Theatre, located just west of the university on Southwest Second Avenue, is rehearsing for its production of “Bee-Luther-Hatchee,” written by Philadelphia playwright Thomas Gibbons. The play follows African-American editor Shelita Burns as she publishes an autobiography written by a 72-year-old Black woman named Libby Price. Touched by the novel, Shelita sets out to meet Price, but she’s not who she claims to be.
Cristina Palacio, the show’s director and a retired attorney who is making her ART directorial debut, said she was initially drawn to the show’s strong female lead. Since the casting was finalized, Palacio has been working with ART’s creative team to carefully craft the play and its message.
“What I’d hope for is that the audience sees it and thinks about these issues as they leave,” she said. “Maybe it raises some interesting conversations about when is it appropriation… and how human beings just touch each other, no matter what their background is.”
Kandyce Williams, the 39-year-old who plays Shelita Burns, said analyzing these themes and questions during auditions helped her connect with her character.
“It does feel like there is a big culture of appropriation,” she said, “and it can feel very frustrating and angering coming from a Black woman’s perspective when, if I’m bringing it to the present, a lot of things that may have been looked at negatively are now being accepted because more white people were accepting them.”
Jamie Blackband, who plays Sean Leanord, said getting to know and understand his character was a similarly emotional process.
“Both of these characters are coming from a perspective that, no matter who’s in the audience, they’re probably going to sympathize with in some way,” the 29-year-old clinical researcher said.
By working to create relatable characters, the show discusses uncomfortable topics, Williams said. ART aims to face this discomfort head-on, and it has not deterred cast members from delivering their best performances.
In fact, it excites some of the performers, including Blackband.
“It’s definitely going to make people fidget in their seats, which might not be the ticket-selling line, but it’s what makes this show special and unique and really stand out,” he said.
This is not the first time Acrosstown Repertory Theatre has put on a “risky” production.
Andrea Young, the 39-year-old ART president, said these shows have always been a part of the organization’s history.
“The founder really wanted it to be a place where it was like an actor’s theater,” she said. “We want to do things that are challenging — that’s our mission. We want to challenge the community. We want to challenge the actors and designers that are involved.”
While the organization seeks to provide challenges, it also faces its own. As an entirely volunteer-run organization, ART struggles to find volunteers who can commit to evening rehearsals, Young said.
The theater’s biggest challenge is finding the money to bring its productions to life. The organization originally relied on a grant, but the grant was cut this year after Gov. DeSantis vetoed it from the budget.
Young said the theater group has had to rely on ticket sales, causing them to raise ticket prices by $5.
“We’ll have to scrape and beg and ask people to give a little bit here and there,” she said.
Although relying on ticket sales may not seem like a consistent way to earn a sufficient profit, every Acrosstown musical has sold out. ART’s next step is getting its plays to reach the same level of popularity.
“It’s getting there,” Young said. “I think people are just now realizing that we’re here, even though the theater’s been in existence for 40-plus years. It’s nice that people know we’re here now.”
Before relocating to Second Avenue in 2023, ART previously rehearsed in the Baird Hardware Company Warehouse on Main Street. The organization moved locations because it was “not given the opportunity” to renew its lease when revitalization began in the area, Young said.
In 2022, Acrosstown Repertory Theatre became a nomadic troupe, rehearsing and performing in local parks for crowds of more than 100 people. However, Young said members quickly realized they needed another rehearsal space.
“We made it work, but it was a struggle,” she said.
The theater’s doors remain open for everyone who wishes to step inside, regardless of their age, race, gender, abilities or beliefs. Young said diversity has remained a priority for the organization since it was founded as a grassroots community theater in 1980 by Ajamu Mutima.
Although the organization has traditionally seen diversity in the cast and crew, Young said one of her “bucket list” goals is to create even more diversity this year. Not only can it do better at finding people who have different perspectives, she said, but it would like to bring in more individuals who haven’t done theater before.
One way Young hopes to accomplish these goals is by hosting more classes for beginners or people who want to polish their skills.
“[We] want to do more classes in the future,” she said, “because it’s scary. Just to get up there and speak in front of people is terrifying for a lot of people. So, those people that have never done it before, let’s give it a go.”
Until these classes begin, ART will be busy preparing for its 10 performances of “Bee-Luther-Hatchee,” which opens Sept. 13 and runs until Sept. 29. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students and senior citizens, but ART will be hosting a preview of its final dress rehearsal for $10.
As ART gears up for its opening night, Cristina Palacio, the show’s director, has one goal that rises above all others: to entertain.
“The main point isn’t for me to make people necessarily think deep thoughts,” she said. “I hope they do, but I want to entertain them with a good story, and this is a good story.”
Contact Tanya Fedak at tfedak@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @ttanyafedak
