A Re-imagining in the Flint Hills
2022
Photos by Marci Spaw
The Ruin at Volland has been a source of curiosity for all who visit.
“What is that?” they say, when looking out the big front windows of the Store. “It is the remains of a house,” we answer, “It was built by Otto Kratzer as the home for his family.” 1927 is carved into a concrete step which leads down into the former basement.
A few years into the life of the house, at 10 in the morning, a fire started in the attic and burned the house to the ground. Because there was no electricity at that time, the suspicion is that a steam engine was idling on the tracks nearby, taking up water from the creek, and a spark landed on the roof.
The family moved into the upstairs of their big brick store next door and never rebuilt their home.
The “Ruin” sits close to the railroad track, next to a small grove of trees. It looks at the hill which displays “Volland” in white-painted rocks. It is a magnet for children and adults alike, and once for a bride and groom. It is an invitation for photo opportunities and for quiet moments by poets. It is a place for imagination and play.
We have wondered through the years how it could best be used, what kinds of things could happen there. And now, theatre seems just right, for a beginning.
Enter Beth Wynstra and Mary Pinard…
Mary Pinard is a poet who teaches literature and poetry at a business college in the East- Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Mary has spent parts of many summers in the Flint Hills, and the last three, she has visited The Volland Store as a resident poet. Sharing experiences of her time in Kansas has perplexed many of her friends,
Mary Pinard, selfie in the Flint Hills, 2019
but has intrigued her colleague Beth Wynstra, who teaches courses in American Drama, Acting, Modernism, and Rhetoric at Babson.
Now they are teaming up to present a community-based theater project, culminating with live performances “at the Ruin.” The project will be produced and overseen by The Volland Store.
Beth and Mary are committed to the principle that community theatre provides a critical space for the expression of the many voices of a community. The basis of Theater at the Ruin will be the real-life narratives and experiences of those in Wabaunsee County, whose members will also be cast as actors to perform in the final production.
Theatre at the Ruin will be staged in the ruins of a home that burned in 1929, on the grounds of the Store. This setting will be an extraordinary backdrop for the performance, as well as a striking demonstration of how historic places might be reimagined as dynamic new spaces for artistic exploration and community-building.
Project Details
- Theater at the Ruin begins in August 2021 with interviews with individuals who live in Wabaunsee County. Beth Wynstra, the project’s director, and Mary Pinard, the project’s scriptwriter, will conduct interviews August 22-24 with a goal of speaking to a wide, cross-section of individuals who come from a variety of generations and experiences. The collecting of stories and memories will continue through December 15. Click here if you would like to share a memory or a story.
- Beth will audition actors in person and via Zoom in Spring 2022.
- Information on Story-collecting and auditions.
- These actors will work with Beth in virtual rehearsals throughout the spring.
- Mary will craft the interview transcripts into dramatic monologues or, possibly, dialogues. The writing of these dramatic texts will take place from mid-December 2021 through Spring 2022.
- Beth and Mary will return to The Volland Store in early summer for two weeks to hold rehearsals with actors and prepare for the live production of Theater at the Ruin. A dress rehearsal will be held June 16, with performances on June 17 and June 18.
- It is our hope to publish the script for Theater at the Ruin to capture the unique voices and life experiences of the narratives we collect and perform.
BETH WYNSTRA
Beth Wynstra teaches courses in American Drama, Acting, Modernism, and Rhetoric. She holds a Ph.D. in Theater Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a certificate in Directing from the Yale School of Drama. Beth is working on a book manuscript tentatively titled I Only Act a Part You’ve Created: Eugene O’Neill’s Wife Characters, A Reconsideration, which investigates the agency, persuasive tactics, and status of wife characters in the plays of Eugene O’Neill. She has written extensively on the life and plays of Eugene O’Neill and serves on the board of the Eugene O’Neill International Society. Beth regularly directs plays and musicals at Babson and is the Founding Artistic Director of The Empty Space Theater.
This will be Beth’s first trip to the Flint Hills. She can’t wait. She and Mary plan to introduce “Theatre at the Ruin” to the community on August 22, collect stories August 22-24, meet with local theatre professionals, and lay the groundwork for writing the script. Put it on your calendar and spread the word. More information to come. Beth is adept at working with students who have no prior acting experience. All are welcome!
Enjoy this: https://www.facebook.com/BabsonArts/videos/416112192283069/
MARY PINARD
