LYME AND 'THE LITTLE THINGS': JEREMY GREENBERG AND MARY STUART MASTERSON BRING DOCUMENTARY T
Storyhorse Documentary Theater is a unique storytelling project based in New York's Hudson Valley, co-founded by Vestal-native, actor/writer Jeremy Greenberg (stage-name Davidson) and his wife, actress/director Mary Stuart Masterson. Their stories are inspired by transcribed conversations with people in their community, and this Mother’s Day they are bringing their production the little things to Greenberg's hometown. The piece is based on recorded conversations with the Elone family of Poughkeepsie regrding their battle with Lyme Disease. The cast includes Broadway veterans Leon Addison Brown, Kellie Overbey, David Pegram and Cornelius Davidson, and is being presented free to the public by the Southern Tier Lyme Support Group on Sunday morning, May 8th, at African Road Middle School in Vestal. I was able sit down recently with Jeremy and Mary Stuart in anticipation of the show:
TRIPLE CITIES CAROUSEL: Storyhorse is a unique form of theatre. How would you describe its format, and what was the inspiration for its creation?
JEREMY GREENBERG: A few years ago, the photojournalist Eugene Richards was interested in hearing the interviews he'd transcribed between Iraq War Veterans and their families-- who were dealing with severe injuries-- read by actors; I put together a cast for him, and we ended up reading the stories at the Brooklyn Museum as part of their "War" exhibit. Some of the soldiers came to hear their stories that day, and it just felt like a real useful thing to be a part of. So when Mary Stuart and I moved our kids up to the Hudson Valley, we started recording local stories as a way to learn about the land and issues in our communities.
MARY STUART MASTERSON: We wanted to grow deeper roots within the community where we live and raise our kids. So we simply talked to some of the fascinating strangers we met and were amazed by how open they were to a deeper discussion about their lives and work.
TCC: Why do you present these stories as readings?
JG: Well, these aren’t lectures or what we might normally think of when we think ‘poetry reading.’ These are narratives where actors are portraying the people in the stories and interacting with each other; but they don’t move around the stage. The focus really is on people’s words. And we build a sound and visual design that our actors can step into on the day. But it's fragile and requires actors and designers who are comfortable taking risks without much rehearsal.
MS: Each of the performances is meant to be a "first act," setting the table for the "second act": a live discussion between experts and the audience. We aren’t making polemical, political statements per se; we want to shine a light on the personal side to the issues that concern our community. And it turns out, the more personal and specific a story is, the more universal it becomes.
TCC: Can you tell us more about "the second act” of the little things and what the audience can expect?
MS: We’re lucky to have Lyme Specialist Dr. Richard Horowitz leading a talkback. He’s a terrific source of knowledge and author of the best-selling book Why Can’t I Get Better?
TCC: Especially in our upstate region, almost everyone knows someone who is battling Lyme. How did you approach writing the little things?
JG: Without giving away too much of their story, I’d read about what the Elone family had gone through, and since Lyme is an epidemic where we live, it seemed an important story to try to understand. So I wrote them a letter, and they were incredibly gracious to open their lives to us the way they did. But I'd say this piece is as much about family, education, race and faith as it is about Lyme.
MS: And how hard it is to surrender when you are a parent.
JG: We tried to shape their narrative with the quiet humor and poetry that their family clearly has deep in its fiber. And though it may not seem, on the surface, an easy story to come out for on Mother's Day... I think it's a beautiful way to honor the day.
TCC: What is the process you have for finding subject matter?
JG: Sometimes we read about people in the news.
MS: Or overhear them at a bar or on the train. There’s no set method to it.
JG: But I suppose all of our stories focus on people who are leading purpose-driven lives. That hasn't been a conscious choice on our part really. But these are inspiring people to us.
TCC: What other kinds of stories are in the works for Storyhorse?
MS: We just presented our farm piece Good Dirt at the Brooklyn Academy of Music a few weeks ago and will be doing that piece again October 2nd at Bard College's Fisher Center. It’s a collection of six diverse farm families in the Hudson Valley.
JG: And we'll be presenting another story that deals with slave narratives in Upstate New York-- based on a conversation with an Earth Science professor who conducted a survey of the African American burial grounds in Rhinebeck Cemetery-- sometime this fall at a barn in Red Hook, New York. That piece is a tapestry of recorded stories, letters, and historical documents regarding slavery and race, past and present. And we have a few more we'd like to present over the winter.
MS: One is about a transgender principal in Ulster County; and another follows the relationship between a woman in our town-- a psychic, and the family of Sasquatch they believe are living in our woods.
TCC: Thank you for bringing this production to the Triple Cities!
JG: We really have to thank Margaret Leone Smith and Laura Bailey Craig at the Southern Tier Lyme Support Group.
MS: And the Elone family.
JG: Yes, It’s incredibly generous of them to allow us to share their lives this way. And it gives us a chance to learn from them and hold their words in a sacred place.
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A free presentation of the little things, written by Jeremy Greenberg (Davidson) and directed by Mary Stuart Masterson, will take place in the auditorium of African Road Middle School (600 S. Benita Blvd, Vestal) at 11:30am the morning of Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8th. Following the hour long performance will be a talkback by Dr. Richard Horowitz. While tickets are free, advanced registration is encouraged: southerntierlymesupport.org. More info at: storyhorsetheater.com.
