From his first fourth-grade play to working with the Orlando Theatre Project in Florida, Lance Garrett had always wanted to start a theater.
A couple of years ago, he and wife Emily Etherton, an actress and former Carpenter Square board member, began exploring the idea of a new theater group. While working on a local film in a warehouse in the Paseo district, they all fell in love with the area. Serendipity presented itself when they found out Ashley Griffith, owner/manager of a.k.a. Gallery, was looking for a new co-tenant.
After outfitting the gallery’s back area with lighting, an elevated stage and 40 seats, Ghostlight Theatre Club opened in October with Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman,” which was a resounding success.
“We had to bring in extra seats closing night,” Etherton said. “We were ready to go another weekend.”
FUTURE PLANS
The group will switch things up this spring with David Ives’ experimental “All in the Timing.” Choosing upcoming shows is a priority, but Garrett said they are approaching it slowly.
“We absolutely have to be passionate about the script, first and foremost. That’s how ‘Pillowman’ happened. It was so powerful and in your face with what it was doing that it had to be onstage,” he said. “Those are the kinds of scripts we’re looking for. We don’t want to be controversial for its own sake, but if we find a script that makes us say, ‘We’ve got to put this on,’ then that’s what we’ll do, even if it’s creatively risky.”
“?Linda McDonald
This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2008.