Escape to

The Spitfire Grill

March 16 - April 1

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or call 323-4233

A Stranger Here Myself

by David F. Chapman (Director, The Spitfire Grill)

The Spitfire Grill tells the story of a young woman, Percy Talbott, who comes to the tiny town of Gilead, Wisconsin, after five years in prison. Percy doesn’t know a soul in Gilead, nor does she have a job or a place to stay.  She chooses Gilead, as she explains to the local sheriff, because of a picture of its autumn colors she tore from a travel book (never mind that she arrives in the dead of winter). Sheriff Joe sets her up at the Spitfire Grill, where Hannah Ferguson has been serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to practically the whole town for decades.  Percy sets down her suitcase, puts on an apron, and gets to work.

Ok, so I didn’t come to Fayetteville from prison (despite what some might believe about crowded, dirty New York) and, thanks to Cape Fear Regional Theatre, I showed up with a job and a place to stay.  But in those first few days, I felt I’d come to understand Percy a little better than I had before.  Like Percy, I found myself working alongside people who had been plugging along for years – day by day, building something lasting, even though each production (like each order of scrambled eggs and bacon) is only temporary.  Like Percy, I was joining a community in transition – seasoned vets teaming up with newcomers to meet new challenges and build on past successes.  Like Percy, I was totally dependent on the folks I met to show me everything I needed to know, from where to buy groceries to how to best stage scenes in CFRT’s glorious 327-seat auditorium. (I even share with Percy a debt to the town Sheriff, although in my case it’s Fayetteville’s generous Shereff Family, in whose guest house I am staying.)

In just a short time here, I’ve learned what it means to work at a theatre that is also a home and a family to so many artists and staff.  During one rehearsal, our Hannah Ferguson – the inimitable Libby Seymour – pointed at a photo on a wall of CFRT memories and said, “That’s me at 8 years old, in my first show here.”  Others in our cast were also well-represented on those walls.  But our show also features artists making their CFRT debuts, and a few more who are somewhere in between “old regular” and “first-timer”.  It is so rare to find a theatre that nurtures an actor over the course of her entire life – from a little girl in a cat costume to the flinty town matriarch – and still has room for us newbies. But that’s clearly what CFRT does best, and helps explain why it’s still going strong after 50 years. 

As a freelance director, I’m used to adjusting to a new theatre and new collaborators every time I start a project. But this time, I feel less like a creative nomad and more like a guest in someone’s (or many people’s) home.  In rehearsal, we share stories and baked goods in equal measure, and on stage, that sense of hospitality, warmth, and hope is palpable.  By working together towards a common goal we all believe it, we each contribute to making this the home we would want to live in.  It’s a fitting parallel for Percy’s journey throughout our musical, and a feeling I believe will radiate from the stage to reach the audience. 

 

I hope to see you at the Grill!

-David

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The Spitfire Grill plays March 16 - April 1

Click here for tickets and more information