theater
Beer and pretzels theater
JEREMY AUMAN is co-founder of Lawrence's independent troupe, Card Table Theatre
Lawrence theater enthusiast helps make a name for the town
Melissa Lacey/Journal-World Photo
By Mitchell J. Near
mnear@ljworld.com
In a city bustling with artists, musicians and actors, Jeremy Auman has provided a steady, quietly busy presence in the community. He acts, directs and writes, and at this point in his life, he has no plans to do anything else. Not that he doesn't dream big from time to time.
"Lawrence is always known as a music town," he says. "Right now St. Paul, Minn., of all places, is known as the cutting edge place for theater. And I think, why can't Lawrence be that. I don't mean to think that I can do that, but I think it would be nice to believe it's possible to maybe own my own theater, and stage shows whenever I wanted."
Auman may just be the guy to get it accomplished. As early as 1991, he had plans for an independent troupe, something he dubbed Card Table Theatre. After hooking up with playwright-actor-director Will Averill, Auman's dream became a reality. It took a little time, though.
"We used to talk about going away to Chicago or somewhere and starting a company, but we really didn't know much about managing a company. So we decided to start one here, since we knew people and had some support structures," he explains.
After nearly four years, Card Table has built quite a following. Even though the members come across as seat-of-their-pants performers, that's not exactly the case. In reality, the Card Table players take their craft quite seriously. The co-founders both have strong theater backgrounds, including numerous hours logged at Kansas University. Averill also developed his acting chops while working for his family at Apple Valley Theatre, and with their company, the Seem-To-Be Players, before launching his own career as a playwright.
Auman started out taking the academic approach but soon realized he'd rather be performing than teaching. He viewed college as a means to land a job, and when a slot opened with the Seem-To-Be's, he jumped at the chance to get back on stage, leaving school and never looking back.
"I have nothing against academics," he claims. "But I was studying to get a theater performance degree. When the work came along, I took it."
Auman's exposure to professional theater gave him a real taste of the performer's lifestyle, and he was hooked. He brings that love of the stage to his independent work. Following a careful game plan, his company stages a variety of productions, including broad comedy (such as the
popular "Victor Continental Theatre") and some particularly bawdy puppet shows. But they also do cutting-edge work, as well as plays by established writers like David Mamet.
"Some of our stuff is what I call 'beer and pretzels theater' it' s fun and it's successful and that allows us to do other work," he says.
Wrecking the résumé
Following a diverse path is second-nature to Auman. His own acting career shows a strong preference for original productions by new artists. He's performed in several new plays including "The Diviners," "April in Akron" and "Rough Stock," along with more popular fare like "The Grapes of
Wrath" and "Assassins."
"Someone told me that I was ruining my résumé by having so many new works on it that no one had ever heard of," Auman says. "But I like being involved in performing a character for the first time. Everyone has done 'Hamlet.'"
Along the way he's written plays, and for a couple of years he's been off stage, directing new works by young playwrights. He's also helped KU's English Alternative Theatre take "Bunnies," to Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center as part of the American College Theatre Festival last year. Since then, he's been back on stage, but found himself roped into directing more shows for the fall season, including EAT's one-acts, "Running with
the Big Dogs" and "Mourning Glorie," at the Lawrence Arts Center this month. Returning to his favorite subject of independent theater, for Auman there is no such thing as too many playhouses in town. His group has helped other upstart companies by working with them, and by just showing up as supportive audience members.And he wants to involve more people who may not get a lot of performing opportunities.
"We're trying to pull in new people. Two hundred actors audition at KU for maybe 40 or 50 roles," he says. "So there are a lot of good people who don't get cast. We're trying to reach out to those people."
- The Mag can be reached at 832-7178.
ARTS NOTES
Abilene festival focuses on carousel
ABILENE - The 23rd annual Chisholm Trail Day Festival will be Saturday at the Heritage Center. This year's event will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic steam-powered
W. Parker Carousel. Rides on the carousel, music from the band organs and woodcarver displays will be included.
Other activities are an antique farm show, with threshing demonstrations and tractor games; antique cars; living history demonstrations;
and live entertainment.
Artists to gather for Shaw Art Fair
St. Louis, Mo.- Artists from across the United States will convene to exhibit and sell their work at the ninth annual Historic Shaw Art Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Flora Place.
The fair features a variety of media, including painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, glass, wood, jewelry,
mixed media and other fine art.
Tickets to the juried show are $4; children 12 and under are free.
For more information, go to the Web site, www.shawartfair.com.
22 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2001
THE MAG/LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD