Beyond the Color Purple--The Ansonia Speaks

Beyond the Color Purple--The Ansonia Speaks

On Thursday evening the community will have the opportunity to observe the results of "project based learning" as practiced at Anson New Tech High School. All Ansonians are invited to share this experience which celebrates the history of our county, including the challenges, changes, nostalgic remembrances and the hopes for the future. For about 2 months the students have been working on this production along with EbzB Productions. The Anson County Arts Council together with EbzB Productions developed the idea to combine the art of listening and writing, with experience in theatre and performing art. Part of the goal was to include an understanding of the significance of the historic theatre. This project was partially funded by the NC Arts Council and the NC Dept of Cultural Resources through an Artist in Residence grant written by the Anson County Arts Council.

The project started with the entire student body and staff attending a professional production of " War Bonds", a perfect example of historic narrative. Next students were coached on developing questions to focus on Anson's own history, then selecting and interviewing long time residents. Guiding the students, mostly members of the state history classes, were David zum Brunnen and Serena Ebhardt, the actors who wrote and have performed War Bonds across the country and on PBS. Many of the interviews were held and filmed on the stage of the Ansonia. The next step, accomplished by the creative writing class, was to compile the interviews into a script. On Nov 1, 2 and 3, the students, along with the actors, will design simple props and sets, decide what lights and music will be involved, and practice being on the stage. A group of 20 students will become the voices of the Anson residents and even the voice of the Ansonia Theatre itself. The hope is that many of the citizens, even those not interviewed, will hear their own reflections and experience their own acknowledgement of what Anson County has been and the challenges that face us now. The most exciting part of the script is the idea of all coming together and moving forward with renewed energy. The project has given many of the students the opportunity to connect with other generations. It has involved them with multiple community and civic organizations. Many of them have shown a lot of interest in becoming more involved in the arts. They are excited and proud to be one of the first groups to use the "beautiful theatre". It has been rewarding to have them bring parents and friends to see the facility.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to come watch the performance of the original play--"Beyond the Color Purple--Bring Anson Back." It will be held on Thursday at 7:00pm at the Ansonia Theatre. Free to the public. The Arts Council and the students of Anson New Tech would like to especially invite all those interviewed and all the school personnel at the central office and other schools.

Performance: November 3, 2011, 7 p.m.

Anson New Technology High School is very proud to announce the upcoming performance of "Beyond the Color Purple: Bring Anson Back" a play based on the oral histories of Anson County. In association with Serena Ebhardt and David zum Brunnen of EbzB Productions, our students have developed our very first school wide play. Many classes have participated in the process of creating "Beyond the Color Purple". Our Local and State History students have done extensive research and interviews with a wide variety of community members to collect personal histories of Anson County residents with the Ansonia Theater and their experiences as focuses. The transcriptions of these interviews were used by our Creative Writing class to create a script for our stage play. Several of our freshman English students have taken on the responsibilities of the backgrounds, props, costumes and make-up for the performances. Additionally 20 of our students volunteered and risen to play important roles as actors to bring the script created by their peers to life.

Our play will be performed at the newly renovated Ansonia Theater in Wadesboro on Thursday, November 3rd at 7pm. We invite the entire community to come and enjoy an evening of entertainment created by our talented students' hard work.

Reflection: Catherine Crandell - Anson County Arts Council

I enjoyed being involved in some of the interviews.  I  sat and listened to many and walked in and out during others. It was interesting to "progress", learning to set the stage better and make participants more comfortable and after a few interviews, I felt comfortable making small suggestions to both parties.  I had several very fun visits with the interviewees beforehand.  Since I am also in an older generation, I related to much of what they were saying even though I did not grow up in Anson County.  There were lots of similarities throughout the South.  I learned things about Anson County and what was important to some of the residents.

I am very proud of what we have accomplished in renovating the Theatre and hopeful that it will facilitate positive changes for the community.  I feel strongly that participation in theatre and the arts in general will have significant impact on students and the community as a whole.  I loved the script and especially how it ended upbeat with the thought that the community should and CAN come together.  I think it can!.  Right now there is another division within the community that perhaps most of the students are not aware of.  But that too can be overcome.  I have been in turmoil over that.  but reading this inspired me .   I may put the last thoughts on a sticky note to remind me.  (And perhaps pass this on to a few others) We will restore this city, restore this county-- the way the Ansonia Theatre has been restored. Beginning with the Ansonia Theatre, and going beyond The Color Purple, we will work towards the renewal of all Ansonia!  I am happy to be part of this.

Catherine Crandell 

- Anson County Arts Council

First Read

-This script brings back many old and happy memories of Anson County. I relate them back to the many stories my grandparents have told me in the past.

-Segregation was a huge issue. Blacks had to sit in the balcony of the Ansonian theatre while whites were allowed to watch from the main floor. It's extremely weird to think that there was once segregation in this town. Today, everyone is close no matter what race they are. We all attend the same school, eat in the same restaurants and sit in the same area in a theater. 

-People were very appreciative of the theatre back in the day. It was one of the only forms of entertainment they had. 

- The Color Purple (movie): I've watched the color purple on many different occasions. It's comforting to know that a place so small (Anson County) can accomplish something so large. A few of my family members drove the old cars in this movie. I try to scout them out every time I watch this film. This movie reminds me of the old slave houses down from my home. Most of them are still standing. I still explore them from time to time. 

-There were many pasts glories in Anson County. People were proud of their home town. They found ways to improve their way of life. They thought of the theatre as a gift. It was something exciting and something to be proud of in such a small and rural area. 

-A lot of old dialect is used. Such as saying "Let's go knock around", meaning let's go waste time. 

-The script is progressing very well. A lot of history is being incorporated into it. 

-The actors are getting stronger as well. Voices are becoming clearer and emotion is present in their voice, facial expressions and actions. They are becoming more comfortable acting in front of their peers.

First Read

I thought the play so far is very good. All the information inside it is very helpful to those that didn't know about the things that happen back in the 40's, 50's, 60's, and etc.

First Read

The script read was good i like the play so far.

First Read

Observations:

What I liked:

*I like how everyone is talking about the Ansonian Theater and their experiences of the theater.

It help tell about the theater with telling every detail about the theater. ( it points out the more important things of the Ansonian).

*It tell the negative AND positive things that are in Anson County

*It has a mix of poetry, tragic, funny and inspirational.  It makes the play entertaining. 

What needs to be added:

* We can add the currency of the Ansonian.

What needs to be subtracted:

* Have less attention to the diversity  and maybe switch that with another idea. (maybe: money, 

--
::Erin.Spectacular.Tillman::

Acting Exercises

At 2:00 Thursday October 20th we started our session by doing deep breathing and relaxing. All of the actors participated in this deep breathing exercise. We all learned to let go of all our worries and concern. The actors did stretching exercises along with neck rolls and shoulder rolls.

Lastly we practiced our vocal points. Also we did our “rock” “kcor” exercise which was very fun and entertaining. All the actors loved it  along with Sarina and Mrs. Wint. We also did our “Oh” exercise, which I don’t have a video of but I wish I did.  It was hilarious as well as everything else we did.

Script Writing

The whole entire class talked about the things that need to be in changed in Anson County along with the Ansonia Theater. The students suggested ideas aloud with Sarina    and even Mrs. Wint helped to.

We also read a play about us really. In the play it contained our thoughts and feeling about Ansonia. Another section of the play was like Ansonia itself sharing it’s thoughts and concerns. I think the students enjoyed the discussion with Serena. We all learned something about Anson County which was very informative.

Ansonia

If you can hear me, we can do this!

If my voice is still loud, and my heart is still bure.

if my opinion is true and my message is clear.

We can do this!

We can change.

We are better.

We can come together

Like birds of one feather.

actors

 in this photo they are rehearsing the play this students have been working hard and have been doing a amazing job.

--

Dustin Osborne

ANSON NEW TECH

Anson New Tech has been preparing for a play with creative writing and some other volunteers.

In this photo David zum Brunnen is telling the students about the play and how it should run. He talks about interviewing people and how you should and should not do a interview. Our Creative Writing class will be writing the play will some students act in the play.

--

Dustin Osborne

ANSON NEW TECH

 Students practicing the interview editing process.

--

Dustin Osborne

ANSON NEW TECH

Ansonia Peformance

I liked the war bonds play at the ansonia theratre. I thought it was very good and interesting on how they preformed it.

Wow, I just finished reading all that material. I'm so proud! I knew these kids were talented writers, but it's always nice to see their work. I can't wait to see how the script turns out! Thanks for all your help and work on this, I know the kids are having a blast!

-Alyson Wint
Anson New Tech High School Teacher

Everyday i wake up thinking about how will i go to college or what if i don’t get any grant money.

  I am 17 years old and through out my life I have lived in Anson County. It has changed a lot in many ways, it went from having a strict environment to basically not caring at all; that goes for how parents raise their children and government also. My mother makes me go to school everyday, and she tells me to keep my head in the book and not think about boys, drama, or things that won’t help me in the future. That’s what i did from the beginning till the end. Now we have “children” walking around pregnant (as my grandmother says babies having babies) and that is literally what it has turned into. Not only is that a problem, but there are no jobs for teens to work and when we do it’s only for a couple of hours. It’s even harder than back in the day to keep your life going in a positive direction because of the surrounding things behind him.

Everyday i wake up thinking about how will i go to college or what if i don’t get any grant money. Now a days you have to turn to the military to pay for college or anything else you really want to do in life and sometimes you just don’t see that in your future. We have a lot of drop outs in school, luckily not Anson New Tech, but it’s a lot that really don’t care. When things like that happen the only thing that crosses my mind is how will our future be if we continue to let others think it’s okay to drop out and sell drugs we won’t have anything to look forward to. I remember when little children would say that they wanted to be the next president, lawyer, and nurses when they grew up; now it is completely different. We see little children beating and killing their parents, calling them out of their names; they show no respect what so ever. No one shows the respect that they use too and it doesn’t make our culture look good at all.

As far as the government i feel they need to make things a little harder! I say this because i know people that are living off welfare and really don’t need to get a job because they get WIC, Food Stamps, and other things to help them live. They even have a program to help pay their rent or cut the price down a little, honestly if i was grown and all i had to do was have children to make my life “free” i would. I guarantee that if they told them that they weren’t going to pay for them to eat and more they would start looking for a job, but as of now they don’t need to. That really takes away from the people that need it, or the people that’s really trying to give their children a better life and cant even get help. I always look at that because people now a days leach off of the government thinking they suppose to pay for everything when that is far from the point.

I pray that one day another teen girl will write about how Anson County is now and have more positive things to say.

My name is Zelda Ford, I am a 17 year old African American female living in Anson CO. Today I was asked what is it like living here in Anson County now compared to how it used to be.

    Anson County is a nice place to come to if you have recently retired because of the beautiful country lands. Anson County has acres and acres of trees and open fields for farming or just building a home on. On the other hand I would not recommend you bringing your children here to gain an education. The school system is not what it use to be and education is not the main key anymore. The teachers and principles are mainly concerned about the uniforms instead of rather or not the child is learning the material needed to further their education. Anson County has some positive aspects to it such as the different high schools that kids in grades 9th-12th can choose from other than the traditional high school. You can choose from Anson Early College which is a high school  where while taking high school courses you can also take college courses and gain your associates degree. The only catch to this school is that you won’t graduate with your class because you have to go an extra year in order to obtain your degree. Another alternative school is Anson New Technology High School, this is actually the school that I attend. This school is a great school also because the teachers here actually care if you succeed or not, they want everyone to be successful. At this school you can also take college courses and can actually graduate with your right class and go to college as a junior if you take a lot of college courses. If I was a uprising 9th grader I would choose one of these school because there you can actually learn. The traditional high school is not a place I would consider because out there the teachers and students have their priorities mixed up. Students would rather fight and clown around than learn and the teachers would rather let those who want to learn stay in class and those that try but get off task send them home. I feel like if the teacher showed every student that they care instead of showing favoritism then the traditional high school would be a better learning environment.

    Anson County also has a high teen pregnancy rate, in 2007 there were 77 out of 1000 girls pregnant at the ages of 15-19 and 43.6 were white and 125.2 were black. Is this what you want for your children? Something need to be done before its too late. I love my hometown but it has some negative aspects to it also. I am glad that my family taught me well enough to the point where I didn’t have to become another statistic in the County. When I walk on the campus of the high school and see so many young pregnant bellies I just shake my head and thank god I was taught better. I really don’t understand what these girls go through but by me being friends with a pregnant teen I’ve heard about some of what they go through. I was talking with my friend one day and  she got on the subject of how she didn’t know how she would provide for her baby seeing that the father wasn’t around. I looked up at her and said “rather or not the father  is in the baby’s life you will still be able to provide with the help of your family.” One good thing that Anson County has is that the Partnership for Children has a teen mom program that allows the young mothers to be able to provide daycare, and necessities for their child. This program was designed to help the mothers to be able to provide for their children as well as continue to go to school and maintain good grades. The main thing about this program is that in order to stay in the program you must stay in school and maintain a “C” average and you also can not have another baby. If you don’t meet these stipulations you will no longer get the help or support of the teen mom program. I love my county but there are just somethings that need to change and I pray that one day another teen girl will write about how Anson County is now and have more positive things to say.

Bring Anson Back

Bring Anson Back

In a time where innovation is the key, and being a listening ear is more important than ever. Our home will not do such a thing. Anson County in its day was a place to call home. A place where business was booming and we were united. Now we’re far from it. As the world is moving along around us we are stuck in a precipice of failure, and self-demise. The economy is in a state of panic and we as a country and specifically this county are falling into a bottomless abyss of nothing. Poor educational systems, no teachers, no jobs, nothing to stimulate the youth mind which ultimately determine our future. And with nothing where will we go? As dark as that possibility may be their are two sides to this situation. The economy can be better due to more local business. We want Anson back. The steps t get there are right in our grasp but by us as a county being blinded by our foolish pride we don’t see it. Its time to leave the past behind. Leave racism, and division where it should be. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr once said, “ Let not us seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking form the cup of bitterness and hatred “. We must unite. We live in a time where the generation of the future are more accepting to other races and culture and in doing are creating a net of love, something we need much of. We must love each other and unite as a county to grow. A flower cant stand on just petals. It has a variety of parts .We need roots for support, our past generation, and our county will grow. Once that flower dies it leaves behind seeds, seeds which represent the youth and then they have the past knowledge of the generation before them as a reference to when contributing tho the county. We want Anson back.

Don’t we all miss the old environment, that we were able to enjoy. The ones our grandmother and grandfather experience. We were able to walk outside go anywhere with out worrying if someone would break into our house and steal everything we worked hard for. Back in those times the youth were engaged in the community and the adults set up standards for them to meet. They pushed the youth of the benefit of the future; We pushed them academically and socially, to excel in school, and to go somewhere in life and to meet new people and remember their roots. Remember where you came from so you can give back to the people who helped mold you into the well-rounded adult you became. We need that again. We need words of encouragement, teachers and people to care. Parents we need you to encourage your children, push them, turn off the television, get off facebook and get into the text books. That’s the problem, the parents have turned into the children trying to be their friends and keep them from being mad. It shouldn’t be like that, we should keep them in a environment where they learn from their surroundings. It doesn’t help if you take them around negative people that don’t really do anything with their life. Whether you know if or not the people you hang around tells a lot about your future. The great leaders before us didn’t work hard just for us to literally throw it down the drain. We should look up to them and say I want to leave here with people thinking positive of me and knowing that i helped a lot through out my life. When we look back 20 to 30 years from now we want be be able to say we as a county were able to grow. We got out of the stone age of nothingness and look where we are, look how far we’ve come. Its not when you get there that matters the most, but the journey. We stepped out of the darkness and are now on a precipice of greatness, and as one generation leaves this world, they will have planted the seeds for us to become more that a great county, but the best county we can be. “Life’s a climb, but the view is great” -Miley Cyrus, meaning it may be hard now but if we work hard everything will pay off. With that being said we will get Anson back!

I will be taking you through my opinion of how a teenagers life is in Anson County today.

I am 17 years old and my years as a teenager have not been the best. I was the perfect child with good grades and perfect attendance and many friends but it all changed my 6th grade year. I will be taking you through my opinion of how a teenagers life is in Anson County today.
When I was younger my mom use to always tell me, her and my 6 aunts had the most fun when they were younger. They partied every weekend all night long, without all the drugs, fights, and deaths. They didn’t have bully’s or cliques, they just went to school, learned what they were supposed to, came back home and did it again the next day.

In my time it’s totally different. Nowadays you are basically determined to be like the popular kids. From the hair styles, to the shoes, to the drugs, to the way they talk. Most kids spend hundreds of dollars just to “fit in”. You have to act a certain way or you’re considered weird. You have to agree with the “top notch chick” in order to be liked, and most importantly you have you meet your friends standards in order to be considered apart of the clique. You also have the weight problems with most females. Most girls that are even a pound bigger than their best friends go anorexic. I feel like even if you are over weight you’re friends shouldn’t judge you based on that or how you walk or talk. Also don’t judge based on clothing because your friends may not have as much money as you do so money shouldn’t mess up a friendship. Then you have girls ending friendships just because of a guy. There is plenty of time for someone different that would even think about you BFF so why would you waste your time fussing over a typical dog?

In todays time sex is the number one thing on teenagers minds. I’ve made my sexual mistake and it wasn’t worth it. Most girls are my age and are already on there second child! Anson County is so small that we teens should want to go out to water parks during the summer and having snowball fights during the winter, not having sex every weekend just because you parents don’t care. Back in the day parents didn’t have to worry about the kids having sex because they told they what and what not to do but now you see adults doing it with their kids, things like drugs!
Anson County had changed in a major way. I see it as a sad story. You can’t even go to a friends birthday party on a Saturday night without seeing a fight or people shooting the place up. I rarely go out because of these to things alone. My insecurities with my weight are also reason I don’t go out much. I may not be the fattest person in the world, but I can’t help but wonder are my friends saying im fat just because I a little bigger than them or when we’re out and we see cute guys, I don’t approach due to my insecurity.

I see mothers around dressing in smaller clothes than their daughters, smoking weed with them and hooking each other up with guys. Me and my mother never had the best relationship but we kept our relationship strictly on a mother daughter basis. She didn’t talk to me about her male problems because I'm her “Child” not her gossip friend and I never talked to her about my problems because I wasn’t ready. I see boys and girls cursing their mothers out and fist fighting them all because someone engraved it into their heads that “you do this to me so Ima do this to you” I disagree with this because I have a up-most respect for my mother and for me to disrespect her by raising my voice or putting my hand on her is way out of my character.

Basically I hate Anson County’s teenagers today because they have no home training.

This city was not always how it is now.

This city was not always how it is now.
It was once a place where you never had to lock doors, lock windows.
A place where children could play at night without fear of being taken away.
This city has changed much over the past century.
We have more forms of entertainment.
We have two of the best public schools on the east coast.
This city also has fallen so much over time.
Crime Rates have risen and have destroyed our communities.
Teen pregnancy has caused there to be more children without fathers.
We have been affected by the economy so much.
Jobs have been reduced so much that too many people are unemployed.
we've also had more businesses come to this city.
Education has become so much better.
New ways of learning have appeared.
Allowing students to receive collage degrees and free passes to enter.
But I only have one wish for this city and its citizens.
I wish for us to come together and to work to build this city up to it's
past glory.
I wish that we join together to help end crime and to bring more jobs here.
But the only way this wish will be fulfilled is if the citizens come
together.
This is all I ask of you.
To come together and restore this city.

Day by day as the world turns 'round

Day by day as the world turns 'round
So many tears trying to weigh me down
Family members leaving here and there
Trying to force more on me than I can bare
There are a lot of folks now more than ever
That are trying to get their hands on some cheddar
With the economy suffering like it is
No matter how hard we try, it' is what it is that's why some people steal
No more struggling, no more fear
In time the world will see what has come near
School is school and trusts are maybe's
That was so important we ain't have time for no babies
Now run along and get an education
'Cause from there that's where I got my dedication

Sometimes, we never know

Sometimes, we never know

The torment they went through

We watched, laughed, while they worked

When the time came, we wouldn’t pay

Why?

Cause they aren’t the same ghostly white

If you cut them, they’ll bleed.

If you cut me, I’ll bleed too!

It doesn’t matter what’s outside

On the Inside, we all have the same red blood.

We would kick them off the buses

And make them walk

Then we get offended when they get tired

Tired of being treated worse than dirt,

Tired of being thrown down

just when they found their footing,

Tired of it all.

We all know the golden rule,

So why didn’t it apply to them at the time?

Jobs, Jobs, It’s 1950 and we need jobs.

Jobs, Jobs, It's 1950 and we need jobs.

There's not a lot around just a farm here and a textile there.

We need Jobs in Anson County.

Entertainment, Entertainment, Boy do we need entertainment.

There's nothing around just the Ansonia Theater.

We need Entertainment in Anson County.

Division, Division, there's so much division.

No one can get along because of the division.

Jobs, Jobs, Its the 21st Century and we now have jobs.

There's too many to name but still too many without.

Unemployment is up but at least we have jobs.

Entertainment, entertainment the Ansonia closed down for a while but now there's more entertainment.

Division, Division, there's no more separation. Everyone can get along. Jim Crow laws are long gone. Thank God there's no more separation.

So many changes both good and bad, from teen pregnancy to meth labs.

At least we have made some progress from our past.

May I ask you questions

May I ask you questions
Do not find me shrud
How many years have collected upon you?
How old my dear doth thou think I am?
Twenty four, Twenty five?
Oh dear twenty three
Ohh I'm sorry I did not see.
Seventy four actually
Why did thou venture to this land?
Came here in 63
Taught things like math and history
Coached football for fun
From then the team won a ton
Is started wresting, track and field.
Sports was my thing,
You know the whole shpeal.
What about that place?
Theater of anson?
any memories of the place?
Don't you find it handsome?
I remember one thing
Mr.Wildamooth
We'd sit in the middle
For a comedy or two
He would laugh a lot
Sometimes out of the blue
He would laugh so loud
it was some times a shock
You could probably hear him for a block.
So what about money, jobs, work?
We had less shops more mills
West knitting, Cola, and toys
Racked in plenty of bills.
I like it here, less men more deer
No traffic, it's slow, peaceful
Theres very little fear.
But race, that was a problem back in they day.
Oh I never gave a hay
I taught the first team with both white and black
I also chose the mascot
A story right there.
They said rhinos and Mr.Wildamooth said no
I said the bearcats
Which no who would know
But anyway they agreed and here we are.
Anson bearcats near and far.
What about racial divides?
Oh from football I know of that
Klan members payed a visit to school one day.
They burnt down buildings and threw things at us.
Some in my team only young kids
Were part of this group the klan as it is
I told them one or another
is how it should be
There only in it because
"My parents made me"
Anything more on anson divides?
Not much but that makes me think of churches
They have gotten so small
from 400 to 70 my church has become
Thats all my questions I think I am done.
Ansonia theater what do you know?
Some say plays. Movies? Oh no!
Ansonia theater what noise is that?
Laughters so loud and actors so fat
Ansonia theater whats going on?
Rhythm and rhyme thats my favorite song
Ansonia theater what have you heard?
Color purple near by and not on a bird
Ansonia theater what have you seen?
Racial separation and hate crimes toward me.
Ansonia theater what did you cost?
Quarter a movie but no that is lost.
Ansonia theater, my dear your all new.
People you've affected and fire you knew.
Christmas to come a play we will do.
And with this poem we do honor you.