Marveling at Duo’s Artistry
By Joe Herring Jr., Kerrville Daily Times, Texas
Jul. 12–I got to know Heather and Jeff Cunningham through my board memberships on both the Playhouse and Symphony boards. The young couple is quite amazing, really. Not only are they the proud parents of two daughters, but they also run the Cailloux Theater.
Running the Cailloux is not a matter of merely turning off the lights when a show’s over, or sweeping occasionally. The facility requires an extraordinary amount of work, and the Cunninghams have tackled the workload with grace and humor.
I suppose I got to know them best (oddly enough) from my time with the Symphony of the Hills. Pulling off a symphony performance requires a host of people to work together, and four of the people most important to the success the Symphony has enjoyed aren’t featured on the stage. Without the Cunninghams and Liz Groat and Josie Reyes (who run the box office) the Symphony would perform to much smaller crowds.
My purpose today — in writing these few words — is not to merely praise the Cunninghams for their management of the Cailloux Theater, as impressive as that effort is to me. My purpose today is to marvel at the artistry of the couple.
Art is not something we Americans know how to value. It’s true collectors in distant metropolises (metropolisi?) pay vast sums for canvases decorated with oil paints, for marble chipped and for bronze cast in creative ways. But when art comes closer to home — and further from the whims of collectors’ tastes — trying to find its value in the marketplace becomes very hard.
What good is live theater anyway? Why go to the effort, the expense and the bother? Aren’t the gaggle of shows spewing from television enough? And why bother watching amateurs?
An even bigger question one might ask about the Cunninghams is this: Why go to the trouble of writing, directing, staging and producing a play? Jeff Cunningham wrote the play currently being performed at the Cailloux Theater: “The Book of Ruth.” Heather Cunningham directs the play.
The play is based upon the biblical story of Ruth, a story of faithful devotion, and is set in rural Tennessee before the turn of the last century. The cast of local actors offers something you won’t find on the television tonight: a chance to see art, as it is performed, in moments never to be seen again. Each performance of the play will be slightly different: In live theater no two performances are the same.
For thousands of years people have gathered before stages to watch as stories are told. Playwrights have written, and actors have given voice and there in the dark audiences have watched.
Seldom though have audiences in Kerrville had an opportunity to watch local actors perform the work of a local playwright; I think I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened.
My questions above about why live theater is important are questions only you can answer for yourself, and the best way to answer them is to go see what they’re doing down there at the Cailloux theater, especially for the next few weekends as they perform “The Book of Ruth.”
For tickets and information, call Liz or Josie at the box office, 896-9393, extension 223.
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I was saddened this week by the loss of three folks I’d known a very long time. Doris Voelkel, Al Donaubauer and Werner Burger.
Mrs. Voelkel was our downtown neighbor for what seems like forever. She worked with her family at Voelkel Engineering on Clay Street, just around the corner from our print shop, and I had often visited her at her desk right inside the front door. To her right were those awful photographs of football scoreboards, taken by her husband Dellie to commemorate those rare occasions when The University was outscored by Texas A&M. Her gracious smile and warm laughter will be missed.
Al Donaubauer was tireless in working for others, and I really admired him. We need more citizens like him.
Werner Burger was a family friend in Switzerland we’ve known since 1969. He was a man of strong faith who was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native. He may be reached a joe(at)herringprinting.com.
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