Yes, their ticket sales projections for the year are in the scrap heap. And, yes, access to the sleek, newish space they call home is woefully problematic. And it's true, gathering audiences is pretty much verboten and conducting rehearsals is a stone-cold head-wrecker.
But does than mean Pure, the Charleston theater company that prides itself on superbly acted, polished productions of probing contemporary plays, is abandoning all hope?
If its recent 18th season announcement is any indication, the answer amounts to one word. That would be "nope."
Pure has, in fact, crowned its latest lineup “Season of Hope,” highlighting works spanning lives small and big that strive to shore up some hope for us all.
Pure's "No Child" launches the "Season of Hope." David Mandel/Provided
As fate would have it, the hope theme was already in the hopper well before the dire need for such a notion next-leveled over the past six months. Last year, board Chair James Marino suggested such a season to Artistic Director Sharon Graci.
The resulting plays show the best of the human condition.
"They are stories on inspiration and aspiration," said Graci. With impressive reserves of charisma and cheer, she cops to the challenges that theater companies are now facing, while remaining resolute in avoiding any prediction of organizational doom.
That hopeful outlook works into the very construct of the coming season. It starts small and virtual, then gradually, optimistically folds in bigger casts, more elaborate production values and in-person shows.
The season starts on Oct. 8 with a virtual solo work, “No Child," which is followed by the December "Satchmo at the Waldorf" by Terry Teachout, the January "Little Gem" by Elaine Murphy, and the March "Gloria: A Life" by Emily Mann, before wrapping up giddily sometime in May or June with "The Play That Goes Wrong" by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer, a full-on antic romp of a show.
The hope is that, fingers crossed and masks firmly fixed, by then our communal efforts will have landed us all on the safer side of the pandemic. Of course, like most lofty visions of late, it’s all “subject to change,” that ubiquitous CYA mantra of the moment that will likely nervously tick through press releases until the last syllable of recorded time.
Hope, Joy and David, too
The company has been busy behind the scenes as well, rethinking its structure. Associate Artistic Director David Mandel, who will continue to tell the story of Pure to the community, will now be joined by Joy Vandervort-Cobb in a new associate artistic director role. She'll focus on programming, drawing from her training of working with universities on issues regarding race.
"Joy has been such an integral member of the core for the last eight years and has been here every step of the way as we have ... worked to tell stories that are more reflective in the Charleston community," said Graci, adding that the process started with the 2013 production of Katori Hall's "The Mountaintop," which reimagines the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Vandervort-Cobb was up for the new gig, having recently stepped down from her position of associate professor of African American theater and performance at the College of Charleston, ending a 25-year run on campus.
“If I thought it was performative, I would have said ... no,” she said. From her long-term involvement with the company, she was confident this restructure was no quick fix sprung from Black Lives Matter.
Pure's "Season of Hope" launches with "No Child," a one-woman show starring Joy Vandervort-Cobb. David Mandel/Provided
After George Floyd's death, she said, everybody called her wondering how to respond. "It was a hard time to be a Black woman in America, and a hard time for Black men, too, but I can't feel with their feeling."
Graci worried they had not done enough, but Vandervort-Cobb felt otherwise. "No, I reject that. We have been doing this work."
Past efforts have included a production of Stephen Sachs' dramatization of Claudia Rankine's prose/poetry book, “Citizen: An American Lyric,” which examines the micro-aggressions that take place in everyday encounters. Pure moderated facilitated conversations with audience members, as well. This spring, Pure launched the "Bearing Witness" readings series of three plays, also hosting Zoom discussions around them.
"We're always going to give the audience something to talk about when they leave the theater," Graci said.
Pure has learned that its audience members are very receptive to such exchange. "What it comes down to is us looking at the fact that we have built this supportive community around our work who has shown us again and again and again that they are so hungry for and interested in engaging in dialogue. And this is the issue of our time."
The season launch
But first, Vandervort-Cobb has a solo show to put on. She's the lone performer in Pure's season opener, "No Child," the company’s first virtual play. Written by Obie Award-winner Nilaja Sun and directed by Graci, the production is presented in partnership with Riverside Theatre in Iowa City and is a reprisal of Pure’s 2015 Piccolo Spoleto production. It will be available to be viewed virtually anytime Oct. 8-22.
Joy Vandervort-Cobb plays 16 characters in Pure's "No Child." David Mandel/Provided
Pure's Rodney Lee Rogers, who is also a filmmaker, will capture all of the 16 characters Vandervort-Cobb portrays: the teachers, students, parents, school administrators and staff who are connected with the fictional Malcolm X High in the Bronx.
For the company, the season is a learning curve to be sure, with its digital pivot, day-by-day pandemic rethinks, an upended revenue structure and a reconsidered artistic team.
"If we are not pushing it, if we're not showing up loudly now ... we look like we are so disengaged from our time," said Graci.
In a statement about the season, Vandervort-Cobb underscored that, too. “We are warriors, we live in hope even when everything we see tells us to just give up."
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