UNCSA students create theater for children

Once upon a time, some students at UNC School of the Arts decided that doing drama in Winston-Salem during the summer would be much more fun than "putting on a tie and a serious expression." And they thought it would be neat to share their thespian talents in shows for the young in a place for the young.

So they put together a business plan, got seed money from a school fund and lined up an appropriate venue.

The Peppercorn Children's Theatre has been putting on shows and leading theater-related workshops for kids since June 18 at the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem. Peppercorn's next production, John Bowhers and Steven Kopp's music- and puppet-filled adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," will be presented at the museum today and Saturday. Bowhers, an undergraduate student of scenic design at UNCSA, is Peppercorn's artistic director.

"It was a win-win partnership," said Anna Rooney, Peppercorn's managing director, who is in UNCSA's performing-arts management program for graduate students. "We had to find a performance space. We wanted to reach all of the children in Winston-Salem, not just the arts people. So the museum was a good fit."

Christine Simonson, the museum's education director, echoed this sentiment.

"Our mission is to provide programming on literature, storytelling and the arts," she said. "Anna and John approached us a couple of months ago with a few ideas they had, and we saw it as a wonderful partnership. They are an energetic and talented group, and we are excited to have them be a part of our summer-programming calendar."

Two other Peppercorn shows will run at the museum through Aug. 7: "Pepper Jam," an interactive variety show, and "The BFG: A Royal Reading," in which the queen of England narrates a story about the Big Friendly Giant.

Peppercorn got its name in a city house that Bowhers and many other UNCSA students have rented over the years. Or rather, it popped up there.

"Things have ended up in the backyard, different junk stuff," Bowhers said. "What surfaced the day that we were trying to come up with a name was an old peppercorn grinder from a few years ago. It must have been lost in the yard at some point."

Peppercorn was formed "accidentally," Bowhers said. He wrote a play, staged by Peppercorn last month, called "Tab's Contraption." Initially, the plan was to present that show only; then, it was felt that the actors should have more to do than one show.

"We thought we were going to put on a show, and we started a company," Rooney said.

Alec Grooms is a rising third-year student in the college drama program at UNCSA. He will be playing Nick Bottom in the Peppercorn production of "Dream."

He said he got involved with Peppercorn because he was staying in Winston-Salem during the summer and "it sounded like a fantastic way to stay involved in the theater."

"It's just fun, getting together with friends," he said. "These are my classmates. It's certainly rewarding."

Peppercorn shows are like changing exhibitions in the sense that they're included in the price of admission to the museum. Peppercorn provides the museum a free service; in return, they pay no rent to use the museum's facilities.

"We're not scared about ticket sales," Rooney said. "We don't worry whether there's going to be 30 people in the audience or 60." The museum's auditorium has a capacity of 60.

Peppercorn has an operating budget of $10,700 for its first season. Of that, $2,000 came from a campaign on Kickstarter.com and $5,000 came from UNCSA's Semans Art Fund, which underwrites student projects. The company has several efforts going to raise the rest.

About half of Peppercorn's budget helps defray the living costs of more than 20 artistic and technical personnel; the rest pays for set and costume materials. Most company members work day jobs. They devote about 20 hours a week to rehearsing and performing.

Rooney said that Peppercorn aims to offer "exciting, fun and interactive" children's programming that its members create. This sets it apart from the Children's Theatre of Winston-Salem, which primarily presents performances by touring groups, she said.

"We're also creating an employment opportunity in the arts field for local college students," she said. "We'd like to keep it that way for future summers."