The NiA Company Presents Jasper's Play Right Series 2023 Winning Play THERAPY by LONETTA THOMPSON

Cindi Boiter August 20, 2024

August 29, 30, 31

at the Trustus Side Door Theatre

Few things make us happier at the Jasper Project than seeing art that we had some small hand in helping to launch continue to grow, thrive, and take on a life of it’s own. We are so pleased to share the news about one such theatrical project coming to the stage this month – Lonetta Thompson’s 2023 Play Right Series-winning play, Therapy!

As the third of our Play Right Series winning plays, Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy was workshopped and presented as a staged reading in August 2023. The book, Therapy: A Play by Lonetta Thompson, was published the same month. Now, after a workshopping session in June, Therapy is coming to the Trustus Side Door Theatre August 29, 30, and 31,as a production of the NiA Company.

Jasper’s 2023 Cast of Therapy — Left to right - Jon Tuttle - Play Right Series Manager, Emily Deck Harrill - stage manager, Rick Edwards, Marilyn Matheus, Michelle Jacobs, Allison Allgood, Elena Martinez-Vidal - director, and front & center Lonetta Thompson - playwright.

THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PRODUCERS WITHOUT WHOM WE WOULD BE UNABLE TO LAUNCH THESE PLAYS!

Jasper caught up with a very busy Lonetta Thompson and asked her what she’s feeling as she goes into the final weeks before a full production of Therapy comes to life.

“Winning the Jasper Project's Play Right Series and watching the staged reading was thrilling but watching it come to life with this amazing group of people is beyond anything I could have imagined,” Thompson says. “Being on this side of the story can be nerve-wracking, but I know it's in the best possible hands. We're still technically workshopping it, but I don't know how the experience could get any better. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Jasper Project, all those involved with the staged reading, Trustus Theatre and the always amazing NiA Company!

The cast for this production includes Dr. V. played again by Marilyn Matheus, Max - Andie Lowe, Alex - Ellen Rodillo-Fowler, Charlie - DaMarius Allen, Young Alex - Kerasan Ulmer, and Chris is played by De'On Turner. Darion McCloud is the director with costumes from Taylor Thompson and Lights/Sound/Set Design by Teddy Palmer.

Jasper wishes broken legs and happy times to the cast and crew of Therapy, especially our award-winning playwright Lonetta Thompson, and encourages all of you who enjoy seeing new theatre art in Columbia to grab your limited seating tickets and look forward to a night of excitement – presented by NiA Company at the Trustus Side Door Theatre the last weekend in August!

Reserve Your Ticket Here!

SEPTEMBER 14th -- A Double Dose of Jasper

Cindi Boiter August 19, 2024

Mark your calendars for the evening of Saturday, September 14th, after the LSU/Carolina game, to come out to Harbison Theatre for a double dose of Columbia Arts. Help Jasper welcome renown graphic artist Nate Puza to the walls of our Harbison Gallery with a free drop-in opening reception starting at 6 pm. Enjoy meeting Nate and hearing about his art, sip a little something, have a little snack, and chat with friends until 7:30 when the curtain rises on more new art coming out of Columbia, SC!

Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson, winner of the Jasper Project’s 2024 Play Right Project series, will premiere as a staged reading and offer us the right to say I saw it first when it inevitably moves on to other stages near and far. Directed by Marybeth Gorman Craig, and starring Libby Campbell-Turner, G. Scott Wild, Kayla Machado, and David Britt, Let It Grow is a sweet and poignant comedy that looks at the expectations we share about family-like relationships, what happens when players outside of those relationships insert themselves, and PLANTS! The Play Right Series is administered by SC playwright Jon Tuttle and is in its fourth cycle of midwifing new theatre art onto the stage exclusively from South Carolina playwrights.

Previous Play Right Series winning plays include Sharks and Other Lovers by Randall David Cook, Moon Swallower by Colby Quick, and Therapy by Lonetta Thompson. Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy will be fully produced by the NiA Company August 29, 30, 31st at the Trustus Theatre Side Door Theatre and Jasper strongly encourages you to come out and support this new art, too! Tickets for Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy are here.

NATE PUZA OPENING RECEPTION

6 PM – FREE

LET IT GROW by Chad Henderson

7:30 pm -TICKETS

And while we have you, check out Harbison Theatre’s exciting calendar of events for 2024 – 2025 including Ensemble Eclectica on August 24th, South Carolina’s own singer-songwriter Cody Webb on September 6th, and The Box Masters featuring Billy Bob Thornton with opening act The Capital City Playboys, Friday October 18th!

Celebrating the 2023 Play Right Series and Everyone Involved ~ a message from Cindi

Cindi Boiter August 7, 2023

Congratulations to the Cast & Crew of the PRS 2023 Winning Play THERAPY by Lonetta Thompson!

Cast & Crew of Lonetta Thompson’s THERAPY

Emily Deck Harrill, Ric Edwards, Marilyn Matheus, Michelle Jacobs, Allison Allgood, Elena Martinez-Vidal and center front Lonetta Thompson

Forgive me if this message still reads a little giddy but we’ve just completed the culmination of the Jasper Project’s 2023 Play Right Series and it just feels so good!

Here’s a little history. I came up with the idea for the Play Right Series in 2017 as a way to promote and support original playwrighting from SC artists while at the same time gently informing members of the community about how much time, energy, talent, and WORK HOURS go into the creation of theatre.

I have this theory that one of the reasons arts (of all disciplines) are not valued as they should be is that, due to our lack of proper arts education and appreciation in schools, among other reasons, the average working South Carolinian doesn’t learn and build their worldview knowing that in addition to art being a talent, it is also work. If the arts are not a part of one’s life, many people think of art as a hobby or something only children engage in until they grow out of it. Think piano and ballet lessons. The average person may not discern the difference in hobbyists, crafters, and artists—all important parts of our culture, but also distinctly different. They may not realize how many of their fellow South Carolinians make their livings as professional artists or in one of the unique and highly skilled jobs that fall under the profession of arts administration.

When we started the Play Right Series in 2017 with our first play, Sharks and Other Lovers written by David Randall Cook and directed by Larry Hembree, I hoped that by inviting Community Producers to become a part of the process they would act as diplomats of local theatre, sharing their experiences and encouraging others to make live theatre part of their entertainment options. The plan was—and still is—that we ask Community Producers to invest $250 each in the production of a brand-new juried play by a SC playwright with their investment going to pay a cast and crew (and playwright) to workshop that play from the first table reading to a ticketed staged reading. (Some, like Bill and Jack, donate even more.) The CPs are invited to meet with the cast and crew over the course of a month or so and take part in the workshopping of the script before serving as our guests of honor at the public staged reading.

In 2022, Chad Henderson directed last year’s winning play, Moon Swallower by Colby Quick to a SRO audience. It was almost a full production of the play.

Last night, under the direction of Elena Martinez-Vidal with stage management by Emily Deck Harrill, this year’s Community Producers and generous sponsors produced the staged reading of Therapy by SC theatre artist Lonetta Thompson. The cast included Marilyn Mattheus, Allison Allgood, Michelle Jacobs, and Ric Edwards. Illustrious SC playwright and Jasper Project board of directors member Jon Tuttle oversaw the entire project for the second year in a row and all I did was bring cookies.

***LONETTA THOMPSON (LEFT) AND EMILY DECK HARRILL***

Some of last year’s CPs were so pleased with the project in 2022 that they came back this year –thank you to Kirkland and James Smith and to the incredibly supportive Bill Schmidt for this. New CPs and sponsors included Shannon and Steven Huffman, Jack and Dora Ann McKenzie, Betsy Newman, and Amy and Vincent Sheheen, as well as new JP board members Keith Tolen and Libby Campbell. JP board president Wade Sellers and I were CPs again, as well.

This morning, messages streamed in on the group email thread Jon initiated for ease in communication, showering each other, actors, CPs, and playwright alike with congratulations and heartfelt feedback. Keith Tolen says, “I will never watch a performance the same without thinking of the work that makes it seem effortless. Thanks to all because you made it an experience that I will not soon forget.” Kirkland Smith says, “It was a wonderful experience and I very much appreciate your openness, honesty, and talent!”

It is extremely unusual for me to use the term “I” when referencing anything the Jasper Project does. That’s because without an enthusiastically working board of directors who share the same passion that board president Wade Sellers and I have about the importance of service to our fellow artists and arts administrators, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything. But this time, I’m so proud of how this little seed of an idea of mine has been implemented and improved upon by the generous and talented individuals who participated in Play Right Series 2023, that I want to claim it! It’s a legacy thing, but also, the Play Right Series is Jasper at its finest. An idea becomes a mission and good people play parts small and large to fulfill that mission, making it a reality.

Congratulations to everyone involved in Play Right Series 2023. In addition to everyone already mentioned, this includes board member Bert Easter, who shared some of his beautiful items from Easter Antiques at the Red Lion for the stage set, and to Ed Madden for helping Bert haul said stuff to and from CMFA; also to Christina Xan, Libby Campbell, and Kristin Cobb for working the event; to Bekah Rice for her graphic arts skills and for laying out the book that many attendees and all CPs and sponsors took home with them; to Bob Jolley at Muddy Ford Press for donating his time and financial resources to this project; and to One Columbia and Columbia Music Festival Association for rehearsal and performance space.

Clearly, we have the village that it takes to birth new art in Columbia, SC.

Announcing the Cast & Crew of Lonetta Thompson's THERAPY - Winner of the 2023 Jasper Project Play Right Series

Cindi Boiter June 25, 2023

It is with great pleasure that we announce the cast and crew of the Jasper Project’s 2023 Play Right Series Winning Play — THERAPY — by Lonetta Thompson!

Elena Martínez-Vidal is an actor, director, and teacher. Recently she was in Montgomery, in 2019. The last show she directed was Marjorie Prime in 2019. Trustus Theatre is her theatrical home since appearing in a show in 1989 when the theatre was on Assembly street. She was a Company member from 1993 to 2019, then transitioned to Company Emeritus. Elena has a BA in French and Theatre Arts from Dickinson College, PA, and an MFA in Theatre: Acting from USC. She also has 30 hours of courses in Communication and a Certificate of Leadership in Higher Education from USC. By day, Elena works at Midlands Technical College.

Marilyn Matheus is a theatre artist who portrayed Modjeska Monteith Simkins in the Supper Table theatrical performance. Matheus received her BA from Kent University and her MA from South University. She is currently the Director of Media Relations at the Department of Social Services in Columbia. Matheus has appeared in many local theatre productions with recent performances in the “Freedom Rings: A Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.” event at the University of South Carolina and A Song for Coretta at the Kershaw County Fine Arts Center

Allison Allgood has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from Furman University and loves stage and voice acting. Some of her favorite roles in Columbia include MacBeth (Second Witch) with the SC Shakespeare Company, The Red Velvet Cake War (Elsa Dowdall) at Town Theatre, Belles (Audrey) at Workshop Theatre, and Mr. Burns: a Post-Electric Play (Jenny/Bart) at Trustus Theatre. Allison has recorded eight full-length audio books. She has a degree in counseling and works as a high school counselor

**Chris — Ric Edward (Richard Edward III)**

Richard Edward iii is a stage & screen actor based in Columbia, South Carolina. It is his mission to help his artistic community grow, and is an advocate for actors who struggle with the stigma of dyslexia, and ADHD. Special thanks to My daughter Cora Jean Calk for being the best scene partner in the whole world, and to my beautiful wife.

Not Pictured — Michelle Jacobs- Is excited to be performing again after a small hiatus. Credits includes: The Color Purple, Kinky Boots ,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, (Workshop Theater), Hurricane Diane, By the Way Meet Vera Stark, Good People, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Glass Menagerie, HAIR: The Tribal Love-Rock Musical, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide/ when the Rainbow is Enuf, (Trustus Theater) Knock Me A Kiss, Henny Penny, & Whisper @ The Movies (The NiA Company).

Lonetta Thompson is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B. A. in English and a Minor in Theatre. As an actor, she has performed for years on stages in Columbia and surrounding cities, most recently touring with Spark, an Outreach initiative of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in partnership with Workshop Theatre of South Carolina. She is a member of the NiA Company and Company Emeritus with Trustus Theatre. Prior to entering the Play Right Series, she had written a handful of short stories and one other script. By day, Lonetta is an eLearning Developer with a large insurance company. She has one daughter and one grandson.

Emily has played a variety of roles in many theatrical productions in the Columbia area. She appeared in Love, Loss, and What I Wore and the 2014 production of Evil Dead: The Musical, both at Trustus Theater. She also appeared in The Crucible (Elizabeth Proctor), Inherit the Wind, Arsenic and Old Lace, You Can’t Take It with You, and The Exonerated (Sunny Jacobs) for the Arts at Shandon series. Emily has directed and appeared in Smoke and Mirrors and All in the Timing. She designed the sound for Village Square Theater’s production of Harvey, and she’s served as Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager for a variety of productions over the years, including Trustus Theater’s production of The Flick and Chapin Theater’s 2022 Ten Minute Play Festival.

By day, Emily is an attorney who has a terrible penchant for run-on sentences. She holds a double undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre and government from the College of William and Mary. She has two adult children of whom she is quite proud.

**Play Right Series Director — Jon Tuttle**

Also …

Max — Michelle Jacob — photo and bio coming soon!

You’re invited to be an integral part of this project by becoming a Community Producer — Read more about the perks and fun of community producing here!

Ready, Set, Jasper’s Play Right Series is Ready to GO! We Just Need YOU!

Cindi Boiter June 24, 2023

Following on the heels of a super-successful 2022 season when the Jasper Project’s Play Right Series launched first-time playwright Colby Quick’s Moon Swallower onto the stage with a highly sophisticated staged reading directed by Chad Henderson last summer, we’re excited to kick off the winning 2023 Play Right Series selection of Lonetta Thompson’s THERAPY!

The cast and crew are on their marks, the rehearsal hall is reserved, and the schedule is set—we just need to recruit a few more Community Producers to be able to wave the starting flag.

Are YOU the Community Producer we’ve been looking for?

What is the Play Right Series?

In an effort to enlighten and empower audiences with information about the process involved in creating theatrical arts, at the same time that we increase opportunities for SC theatre artists to create and perform new works, the Jasper Project created the Play Right Series.

The purpose of the Play Right Series is to allow a select group of volunteers insider views of the process of creating theatre art by offering limited open readings, rehearsals, and discussions of theatrical work. We can also offer folks the opportunity to actually PRODUCE A PLAY by keeping production costs low and involving community assets already in place, in exchange for an established minimal financial contribution of $250.

This also increases opportunities for theatre artists to create and participate in new art without being attached to an existing theatre organization, while providing affordable and experimental theatre experiences for new and emerging artists and their audiences; thereby expanding cultural literacy and theatre arts appreciation throughout the SC Midlands.

How does this work?

Every Sunday afternoon in July 2023, starting July 9th, you are invited to join with the cast, crew, and fellow Community Producers of Therapy for an enlightening and entertaining session that pulls back the curtains of theatre development and illuminates how a stage play goes from page to stage. Your first session will offer you a private viewing of the first step in any play production, the Table Reading – this will be the first time the cast of Therapy reads their parts together for their director, Elena Martinez-Vidal.

Subsequent sessions will focus on essential ingredients in the production of a successful staged reading, such as the stage manager’s job; props, lighting, blocking, and sound; unique insights from the director; how the actors prepare for their parts; playwright perceptions from this year and past projects; and an invitation to the dress rehearsal. In addition to your invitation to gather with the cast and crew every Sunday in July, each session will also feature exciting snacks and beverages. And many more surprises each week!

Finally, you’ll take your reserved, best-in-the-house seats to a ticketed staged reading of Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy on Sunday, August 6th.

And there’s more.

Your name will be included as a Community Producer on programs, posters, press releases, and other promotional materials as well as in the perfect bound book, Therapy by Lonetta Thompson, published by Muddy Ford Press and registered with the Library of Congress, and you will take home your own copies of Therapy as a souvenir of your experience.

What is expected of Community Producers?

We hope you can make it to every exciting Sunday afternoon meeting, but we understand if you have to miss some. Each session will last from 90 – 120 minutes.

The financial commitment for a Community Producer is a minimum of $250 per person, but institutional sponsorships are also available and appreciated. You can also sponsor a student for $250 if you are unable to participate yourself.

Our hope is that you will be so enlightened and inspired by this experience that you will become a diplomat of live theatre, fresh playwrights, and the Jasper Project and encourage your friends and colleagues to participate in live theatre themselves!

If you are interested in becoming a

Community Producer or sponsor -

email playrightseries@jasperproject.org

NiA Celebrates 25th Anniversary with Lonetta Thompson's Play Jump at the Sun

Cindi Boiter May 22, 2023

The NiA Company will celebrate its 25th anniversary in conjunction with Family Fun Night at the Columbia Museum of Art on Friday, May 26, beginning at 5:00. There will be DJ sets from DJ B Folks, arts activities, design challenges, scavenger hunts, and food and drink available for purchase. At 6:00, NiA will reprise Lonetta Thompson’s family-friendly play “Jump at the Sun,” which it first performed ten years ago. The play explores the historical events of the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance along with key artistic figures like legends Zora Neale Hurston and Jacob Lawrence.

Lonetta’s play “Therapy” is next in line for the Jasper Project’s Play Right Series. Through July, she, her cast and an audience of Community Producers will meet to discuss the creation, development and marketing of a play, culminating in a public staged reading at the CMFA on August 6

Jasper sat down with Lonetta and NiA founding artistic director Darion McCloud for a quick Q and A:

JASPER:How did you get involved with JUMP AT THE SUN? I realize you’re the author, of course, but what led you and NIA together for this project?

THOMPSON: If memory serves, NiA had the opportunity to perform during the time Jacob Lawrence's The Migration Series was on exhibit at the museum and Darion graciously allowed me write something (since I was running around calling myself a writer all the time).

JASPER: Is this play connected to Alicia Williams children’s book? Or does it come straight from Zora?

THOMPSON: I wrote this over ten years ago, and I Alicia Williams' book was published in 2021. I was researching the artists from the Harlem Renaissance and came across a quote from Zora Neale Hurston where her mom used to always tell her to "jump at de sun" and thought that was the perfect title. (The full quotation is: “Jump at the sun. You might not land on the sun, but at least you’ll get off the ground.”)

JASPER: What do you hope is the principal message an audience member might come away from the play with? What do you want them to know or do or feel?

THOMPSON: First and foremost, I just want people to know these wonderful artists (a lot of whom came from the south) and how they came together and created magic. They were so gifted and talented and passionate and that community they created is still at the top of my list of times and places I would go if I had a time machine. Beyond just exposing our audience to these artists, I want people to be inspired by all forms of art and the impact it has on our lives whether we realize it or not.

JASPER: Your career as a playwright is suddenly getting a lot of sunlight, what with THERAPY going into development this summer by the Jasper Project. How does this chapter of your life feel to you as a creative person? And are there more developments afoot we should know about?

THOMPSON: I am definitely in awe of my reality right now! I've always fancied myself a writer but was hesitant to put myself out there. I was lucky to find a satisfying creative outlet by being on stage. I do have a few things I'm working on and just plan to continue to develop my voice (and confidence!).

JASPER: What occasioned NIA’s performing this play ten years ago? And why is now the right time to remount it?

MCCLOUD: I think it was more than ten years even but we’ll go with that. At that time I had a day gig as the Outreach Manager with CMA. And the Jacob Lawrence (one of my artistic heroes) Migration Series was on exhibit. So I approached Lonetta with the idea of creating a piece about The Harlem Renaissance with Lawrence’s Migration Series at the center

JASPER: Is NiA involved in/at the heart of the other activities going on at the CMA on the 26th? Or is this a consortium of many other good organizations?

MCCLOUD: NiA is one of the museum’s offerings on that day including creation stations and of course access to the permanent collection.

JASPER: Now that COVID is lifting maybe, what can we look forward to next from NiA? What changes will see from the pre-COVID NiA? Perhaps a better way to put that: it’s been 25 years for NiA: how have you grown? What have you learned? Where are you going?

MCCLOUD: After twenty-five years we grown exponentially. We first came together to give black actors opportunities. Now that mission has expanded with opportunities as the engine. That means opportunities for all kinds of actors, for audiences that don’t always get the type of work we present or can’t afford it. This idea of providing opportunities for those with little still drives us.

JASPER: You, personally, could rest on your many many laurels. Why don’t you? What motivates you? This question never expires. Your answer may change as time goes by, and if it doesn’t it needs repeating.

MCCLOUD: First, thanks for the kind words. But there is so much need. I still believe “art makes everything better” and the world is always in need of better experiences. We hope to contribute to making better fathers, better mothers, better leaders, better followers.. Yeah, all through the shared experiences of theatre…of Art.