{"id":53193,"date":"2023-09-01T07:48:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T11:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=53193"},"modified":"2023-09-01T07:48:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T11:48:26","slug":"memories-of-the-past-energize-unmasking-elders-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/09\/memories-of-the-past-energize-unmasking-elders-speak\/","title":{"rendered":"Memories of the past energize \u2018Unmasking: Elders Speak\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UTC senior theatre major Ellen Rich performs Pat Wilcox\u2019s monologue during “Unmasking: Elders Speak.” Photo by Brooke Bragger.<\/p><\/div>\n

One woman was sex trafficked as a child. One man is a mathematician even though his high school teacher didn\u2019t think Blacks could do math.<\/p>\n

One woman said she grew up in a time \u201cwhen freedom hung like a dreamcatcher on a rear-view mirror.\u201d One described himself as \u201can uppity Black man who made good trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twelve Chattanooga residents, ranging in age from their 70s to 98 years old, agreed to have their life memories\u2014good and bad\u2014transformed into dramatic monologues for \u201cUnmasking: Elders Speak.\u201d The production is helmed by Dr. Peggy Douglas, adjunct professor of economics in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Dr. Anne Swedberg, associate professor of theatre at UTC.<\/p>\n

Writer David Cook, former columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, helped Douglas gather the stories and was the moderator for the performance and discussion afterward.<\/p>\n

A performance of \u201cUnmasking: Elders Speak\u201d took place Aug. 20 at Barking Legs Theatre and presented memories from, among others, Tennessee Rep. Joanne Favors, former Chattanooga Times editorial writer Pat Wilcox, former Chattanooga City Council member Moses Freeman and yoga instructor Howard Brown.<\/p>\n

Another performance with the same monologues and actors is scheduled for Sept. 10 at Barking Legs.<\/p>\n

Douglas, a playwright and poet who has directed several local theater productions, has produced \u201cUnmasking\u201d performances 10 times since 2018. The monologues have included memories from factory workers, miners, inmates at Silverdale Detention Center and those with mental health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, I don\u2019t interview,\u201d Douglas explained. \u201cI just give them all the power and say, \u2018What would you like me to know about you?\u2019 and then I listen for a couple hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they tell me their story, I write a poetic monologue that can be performed, and I take it back to them and we get it to where they\u2019re happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Douglas\u2019 monologues in hand, Swedberg finds people to perform them. Sometimes the actors are theater students, alumni, faculty or staff from UTC. Sometimes they\u2019re just people from Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody who performs these monologues is someone who enjoys poetry, public speaking, acting, so even if they\u2019re not trained as an actor, they come from a background where they\u2019ve done a lot of interacting with the public, with an audience of some sort, even if it\u2019s not a theatrical audience,\u201d Swedberg said.<\/p>\n

She has directed the past four \u201cUnmasking\u201d productions but started out as an actor in Douglas\u2019 \u201cSouthern Exposure,\u201d a look at the lives of those who grew up in the South in the 1950s and \u201960s. While the \u201cUnmasking\u201d performances are a form of theater, they require a different kind of acting, Swedberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was personal; it was intimate. It is not acting on the scale that you\u2019re doing a musical theater performance, for example. I would say the most important thing is presence. Just being able to breathe, stand there on the stage, and engage with the audience in sharing this particular story with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isaiah Owens, a senior theatre major at UTC, performed the monologue for local yoga teacher Anthony Crutcher in \u201cUnmasking: Elders Speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me as an actor, being able to portray a real-life individual was exhilarating, beautiful, scary but all-around rewarding,\u201d Owens said. \u201cReading what Anthony Crutcher went through left me in awe and appreciation for the community elders.\u201d<\/p>\n

During \u201cUnmasking\u201d performances, the people who talked about their lives are in the audience when the monologue is taking place. In most cases, the actors already have met the person whose story they are presenting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gives them a sense of responsibility that: I\u2019m representing this person, and there is a reverence there,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n

After the performances are completed, a discussion takes place with the audience to talk about what they\u2019ve heard and what they\u2019ve learned. Doing so turns \u201cUnmasking\u201d into something more profound, Douglas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just entertainment. It\u2019s creating an opportunity for social change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Owens agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope my generation does them proud by following their examples but, at the same time, evolving to create a beautiful community that will lead to a beautiful world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnmasking: Elders Speak\u201d is sponsored by Mark Making, ArtsBuild, Tennessee Arts Commission and Humanities Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Elders Speak<\/h4>\n