BY DAN SEVERNSON
I’ve seen Richmond Community Theater’s shows, especially in the last two seasons. Honestly, what drew me back was Sean Patrick Smith’s war with the Hamlet City Council and its town manager, and how it cost him his position on the RCT board.
According to a member, Smith was quietly voted off the board over the winter without notice because of his political involvement in Hamlet. No documentation proves the vote happened, and Smith was never given the bylaw text supposedly justifying the decision. In fact, board members mistakenly left him on a text chain they use, yet the president and vice-president maintain they had no idea how to reach him before the vote (the VP is his friend on Facebook). Smith only knew something was up when the text chain was reactivated, and members inquired why Smith was in the parking lot walking into a meeting.
Smith is a rare find in such a small town: a nationally registered investigative journalist, author, and former newspaper editor. He has held a Screen Actors Guild membership, made a smattering of small films and commercials, and has significant stage experience. I was intrigued by how casually a small program tossed a volunteer asset like that because of politics. RCT has since reverted to the guest-director format Smith initiated.
“I guess they don’t like activism,” says Smith. “I know they don’t like losing any measure of control of the theater’s direction, regardless of the ideas.”
The Daily Counter contacted theater board President Anitra Robinson in August. She did not respond; neither did Vice-President Valjean Hargrove. Smith is one of only two theater members who responded; one did so on condition of anonymity.
RCT has struggled, but with Smith on the board, it appeared to be making a comeback before slumping into tired choices that relegate it to the theater equivalent of an obstinate child the public politely tolerates.
RCT’s pattern over the last few seasons is clear: ensemble Southern comedy, female-ensemble comedy, mountain-family Christmas show. RCT board members are usually in the shows.
Smith explained how these patterns emerge.
“There is a script committee. I think it is Darla Lovin, Anitra Robinson, and one other. I was never allowed to be a part of it. The problem is that they have a narrow view of what is entertaining and—especially—what is morally acceptable. That’s why their seasons seem repetitive.
“It is a community theater,” says Smith. “You can’t dictate a season based on personal tastes, or on what might be a good vehicle for you as a board member to appear in onstage.”
According to Smith, nepotism has derailed shows.
“A board member ensured her daughter was cast as the male lead in an Agatha Christie mystery. The poor thing had never carried a show before, and, of course, she’s female, trying to pass herself off as the male lead. It was a disaster. All credibility was lost until Dearly Departed.”
Smith began recruiting high school drama students, actors, and directors from other counties, and became a self-appointed PR machine for RCT. In one article, he tracked down and interviewed RCT’s founder.
Since his departure, the paper has run no feature articles. The theater has relied on a trickle of Facebook announcements for shows and auditions. Robinson has traditionally administered both social media and the RCT website. RCT’s online presence is minimal. Turnout is poor. Board members end up on stage.
Smith says Mimi Carter’s (assistant director of Dearly Departed) presence changes that.
“It brings out the actors who worked with her before and trust her, and she’s an actual director. I tried to bring her back last season, but the board was so belligerent about show selection, Mimi got frustrated and bailed on the idea.”
“Let Him Sleep till It’s Time for His Funeral” was directed by board members, and it showed. “Hallelujah Girls” was directed by a young friend of Robinson, and it showed. Essentially, there were no performances in Girls, only wooden delivery of memorized lines. Community theater mostly involves novice actors who rely heavily on an experienced director.
Four Old Broads is a simple, fun show selection that suggests a troubled theater relying on what has worked in the past: ensemble female comedy, save for the one male role. Imagine the Golden Girls investigating a mystery at an assisted living facility. President Robinson is again on stage.
There are actors who’ve made a career of playing themselves in every role, but it doesn’t always work. And Robinson has a fatigued, slow, Eeyore-like delivery, and changes in emotion are marked only by changes in volume. It might work in some contexts. A dry delivery may even work in a comedy as juxtaposition, but it doesn’t work in a punchy comedy like this, and it didn’t work in the last two shows either.
And therein lies the problem with RCT: control issues versus skill set. It’s okay not to be good at something. As a leader, though, it’s not okay to ignore it and not do something better. Smith said he was asked to direct a show.
“But I don’t know how to direct. Why do you think I went recruiting?”
The verdict on Four Old Broads is simple. It’s a well-paced, well-blocked show for a small-theater production, but that is what one expects from a director with Carter’s experience.
The rest of the cast is quite funny. I recognized local magistrate Cleve Baxley as the retired Elvis impersonator. He brought Shawshank Redemption to the stage last year. He does a horrible Elvis impersonation, which makes it funnier.
It’s a clear step in the right direction, just as Dearly Departed was last year—again, Carter was AD on that show. The conclusion one draws is simple: the board left to its own devices churns out mediocre shows. When the board relinquishes control, good things happen.
RCT never seems to learn this lesson and never builds momentum from success. Ansonia is just a few miles away in a similar town, and the difference between the two programs is night and day.
RCT’s leadership structure needs to be revamped to include folks with more knowledge and fewer agendas. Otherwise, it will remain an afterthought compared to other programs. Board members need to get out of the shows, do their due diligence, and recruit, promote, and build an actor/director base.
In our August interview, Smith said the problem is bigger than that.
“I can’t speak to the quality of the shows right now. I haven’t seen them. But Mimi Carter once gave me books on the essential policies and protocols a community theater needs to thrive. I perused them for weeks only to realize that RCT does exactly none of those things.”
Incidentally, Smith’s investigations focused an unprecedented spotlight on the corruption of Hamlet’s town council and arguably ended a town manager’s chaotic tenure. His public following has become considerable. To date, RCT has made no attempt to repair its relationship with him.
Dan Severnson is a South Carolina native and a graduate of Elon University’s Theater Arts Program.