Q&A with Redbird’s Jeri Lynn Schulke

The Carrboro ArtsCenter is hosting Redbird, a festival featuring five one-act plays written by local artists.

The shows opened last weekend and will continue through Sunday.

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Erin Wygant spoke with Jeri Lynn Schulke, the stage director for the Carrboro ArtsCenter to discuss the production process and development of the premiere program.

THE DAILY TAR HEEL: What is Redbird? What is the concept behind the festival?

JERI LYNN SCHULKE: Redbird is a festival of plays written by North Carolina playwrights, named after the old-fashioned word for the state bird of North Carolina, the cardinal. We were interested in showcasing the work of local artists, so we commissioned six playwrights who came up with five short shows.

Four out of the five shows are based on other works like novels, a short story and even an older, historical book. And one of the really neat things is that these works — the books and stories — were also written by North Carolina natives. It was kind of all happenstance, but we are really happy about it.

DTH: Can you talk about how the festival has developed?

JLS: We just wanted to showcase one-act plays by locals and didn’t give them many limitations, so we didn’t know what to expect.

We originally thought that we might be able to show all five in one night if they were 20 minutes or something like that. But the writers all wrote pieces that last around 40 to 50 minutes, so we had to split up the shows into two schedules. Then we helped cast the plays, find directors — which are also locals — and get the shows up and running. There are probably 30 people working on the (five) productions.

DTH: Can you talk about working with Dana Coen, the UNC Writing for the Screen and Stage professor?

JLS: What’s interesting about Dana is that he wrote and directed his own piece. He is really great to work with and brings a lot of experience from working in TV and other theaters.

His is the only original play, which we love. It’s not based on another work, which keeps things fresh. We really hope the students from the University come to see his work.

DTH: What sort of reaction are you getting from the audience? What are you hoping people will walk away with?

JLS: I think the audiences have been responding to the fact that the performances seem so professional. A lot of new works in community theater feel or look amateurish, but we really tried to give the production — the costuming, the lights and the sets — the caliber and attention we would give to a known play.

And I just hope people understand that the artists in our community can be just as strong as nationally known ones. Just because they are local doesn’t mean they are not as important. There is work in our community that is valid, yet I feel it is often discounted because it’s in our backyard. But it’s just as good and important and should be treated as such.

DTH: How do you hope to see the program change?

JLS: If this continues next year, we hope to expand it. We want to make it more of a festival.

I’m not sure exactly what that will look like, but it might have workshops for participants or audience members — workshops about adapting new works — or maybe we could bring in a playwright from a national scale.

I also think supporting new work is important because these pieces might have lives that go on to other places. They might have runs in New York or Chicago, and it’s really neat to say that you saw it in its first, original performances.