Community Theater revived in Malta

Community Theater has been around for a very long time! The Greeks and Romans had their own theaters which were brought by them to the British Isles and throughout Europe. Eastern Europe and the Asian Continent also had their form of performance acting and village community theater for entertainment. Evolving from legend-telling around the campfires of our ancestors into dramatic productions involving costumes and turning into a profession, acting is as old as the ages.

What compels us to want to act? My theory, when you don’t have anything to do and you want to have fun, you start working on stories that you know and turning them into a means of communicating, socializing, and enjoyment! There are those of us who enjoy writing stories. Then we evolve from there to actually acting out the stories with voices and dramatic noises. The body then springs into action and captures the essence of the character and transforms into another person or being or thing. We start pretending as children. We make noises to imitate things we see happening around us – the whistle and chug-chug of a train, the vroom-vroom of a car, and the crying of baby dolls. We imitate our parent’s actions and voices, trying to determine who we are as a person. We imitate friends and try to scare and intimidate people who are bigger than us so we can feel more secure.

We’ve had a community theater here in Malta in the past. Barry McNamara and a larger group of adults created the Phillips County Fine Arts Council and “Siding 54” dinner theater. Barry has shared with me his article from 1983 where he made the call for the Fine Arts Council creation and a playbill from the dinner theater with the railroad logo. Heather Cook started the Malta Community Theater and successfully presented four plays, one of which my daughter had a part in as King John, called “Robin Hood”.

The other day, the Art Spot had two teenagers start play writing. We’re working on a script about the values that Christianity instills in us through the Ten Commandments and using current day issues to demonstrate the thoughts that go into decision making. The play is called “God’s the Good and the Devil’s the Frustration”. Yes, it’s a long title, but it sums up the essence of the play’s theme. There are eight characters – two moms, two dads, two teen boys, two teen girls and, of course, God and the Devil.

Now the Art Spot is reviving the Malta Area Community Theater and giving people from 4th grade and older an opportunity to share their creativity, whether you choose to help to contribute to the writing of the scenes, build props and scenery, give guidance in acting based on your own experience from the past, or just come and be social with us on Thursday afternoons from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Malta Business Center in Malta. There is no cost for this activity other than the time and talent you wish to devote. Call Kathy at 654-1523 if you would like to come so that she came set out a chair and some refreshments!