The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Shore’s new artistic associate ready for debut
Euclid’s Shore Cultural Centre has been undergoing a sustained revitalization over the last few years with not only cosmetic improvements, but also with class, event and program expansion, yet the biggest part of it regeneration could be the hiring/addition of new Artistic Associate Terrence Spivey.
Describing himself as “a custodian of the arts,” the former artistic director at the Karamu House in Cleveland is ready to spark the burgeoning theater program.
“I am very excited to be part of an existing renaissance to bring in new ideas and works while helping to build and enhance the current programs,” he said. “The position has been very enlightening, a breath of fresh air in collaborating with the staff.
“I’m known for being out of the box and touching (on) social issues less articulated, improving the quality of life within the community, and, most importantly, the growth of the artist.”
On March 25, Spivey will make his Shore directorial debut with Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright August Wilson’s autobiographical one-man show “How I Learned What I Learned.” Attorney, former elected official and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists member Peter Lawson Jones will portray Wilson in the staged reading. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Shore Cultural Centre
is located at 291 E. 222nd St. in Euclid.
Jones, who has known Spivey for over a decade, said he’s looking forward to participating.
“To have the opportunity to simultaneously work with my good friend, tell the personal story of one of America’s greatest dramatists and help raise funds for an arts organization that is clearly on the rise, well, that’s the trifecta. Moreover, what actor worth his or her salt wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to perform in an August
Wilson piece?”
Shore’s adaptation will mark the first time “How I Learned What I Learned” has been staged in any form in Ohio.
“By hiring Terrence and producing a work by August Wilson, Shore has signaled in clear terms its commitment to offering residents of Euclid, and beyond, a menu of artistic offerings that mirrors the diversity of this great region,” Jones said.
“In fact, but for Terrence, I would not have returned to acting,” he added. “His tendering
me the opportunity to perform in two staged readings in 2007 rekindled my passion for performing, a desire I thought had long been extinguished. Not only has Terrence directed me in four plays, two readings and a short film, but he also directed one full production and two readings of my drama, ‘The Bloodless Jungle.’ I would just advise folk to get on board as Shore, under Terrence and the rest of its dedicated staff, continues to rise and expand its impact on the local arts scene.”
Shore’s executive director, Laura Kidder, shares Jones’ enthusiasm for Spivey’s experience and overall creative presence.
“Bringing on Terrence Spivey, with all his talent and passion, opens up our next chapter and widens our vision for the arts,” she said. “We are so excited to have Terrence join in the Shore mission.”
Spivey, whose résumé includes acting instructor, professor and theatre lecturer credits, believes bringing Wilson’s work to the arts community is a proper way to make his first impression in Euclid, adding that the past few months “felt like a moment of August Wilson.”
“The film adaptation of his play “Fences” came out to raves and I recently directed “Radio Golf,” his last play of the ten-play series (The Century) cycle at Ensemble Theatre (in Cleveland Heights),” he said. “The original plan was to do all of his works last November depending on how early I stepped into this new position. We had gotten the rights through his publisher and his widow. Once I came aboard in January, we decided to implement this one-man showpiece as a launching pad/fundraiser as the first of the Readers’ Theater series.
“After reading or seeing Wilson’s works, you want to know more about his upbringing and how and why Pittsburgh played such a huge part in his world of theater. It reflects a man who was about moral value and the importance of knowing who you are, where you came from, preservation of heritage and how growing up can reflect your art.”
In May, Spivey hopes to kick off one of four master classes on interpreting the works of Wilson, and in the summer launching the outdoor theater program, “Classics in the Triangle,” with playwright/poet Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf.”
“I look forward to utilizing that beautiful landscape at Shore Culture Centre Triangle Park,” he said. “It’s about to go down at Shore.”