WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A couple breaks up; a visiting business man gets lost; a young man struggles with a heavy box; speed walkers stretch; old friends reunite. These are the moments of real life — or are they?
The blurring of theatre and real life is at the heart of a series of performances organized by Greensboro-based artist Lee Walton. The series, entitled Small Plots, will be the third installment of The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art’s (SECCA) year-long public art project Inside Out: Artists in the Community ll.
Small Plots will consist of six performances/events, each performed three times during the month of May. They will take place in a variety of locations across Winston-Salem, every weekend between May 3 – 30. To find out where and when they will happen, visit Walton’s website: http://www.leewalton.com/projects/small_plots/actors_scenes.html
Referring to both geography and drama at once, Small Plots will use parcels of Winston-Salem as the “stages” for 30-minute performances inspired by everyday life. Everything from street corners and park benches to supermarkets, shopping malls and residential neighborhoods become sites for Walton’s cast of volunteer actors. This cast features people young and old from across the Triad, and combines professional and amateur actors with students and aspiring exhibitionists!
SECCA
To expand audience involvement, Walton has designed each plot to have alternative endings — endings that depend upon the interaction of audience members. Walton’s Web site shows rehearsals for six vignettes as well as a detailed schedule of performances. He also explains how, with simple interventions, audience members can change the outcome of the performance.
SECCA is offering a $50 gift certificate to the Village Tavern to the audience member who attends the most small plots over the course of May. Snap photos to record each performance you attend and send them to SECCA Program Assistant Endia Beal, at endia.beal@ncdcr.gov.The best photos will be posted on the SECCA website, and the winner will be announced in June.
For additional information on Small Plots, please visit www.secca.org.
This project is supported by a grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, and by a program grant provided by the James G. Hanes Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Sundance Plaza Hotel, Spa and Wellness Center, AdColor and Moore’s Self Storage.
SECCA is designed to involve audiences in the art of our time. SECCA is an operating entity of the North Carolina Museum of Art, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. SECCA is also a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.