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Kristen Coury and Gulfshore Playhouse have come a long way
in two years.
Coury remembers first getting the idea to build
a professional theater in Estero. It was a scary proposition
for someone who'd just moved from New York City and didn't
know anybody in Southwest Florida. Or have any money.
All she had was a glimmer, a vague dream.special to the news-press
A hope.
Fast-forward to October 2006, and Gulfshore Playhouse seems
closer to reality than ever.
There are artist's renderings for the 35,000-square-foot playhouse
(part of the Estero-on-the-River project), the beginnings
of a huge fundraising campaign and a new educational program
that will bring actors to students.
Then, of course, there's "Oleanna" — the theater's
first full production in Southwest Florida.
The Mamet play follows the power struggle between a college
professor and the female student who accuses him of sexual
harassment and rape. It appears at Florida Gulf Coast University's
The Lab Theatre on Oct. 16-17, then at Naples' Norris Center
on Oct. 19-22.
Coury, the theater's artistic director, already directed a
previous version of "Oleanna" in North Carolina.
Now she's trying it out on Southwest Florida's audiences.
It's an exciting time, Coury said last week in a telephone
interview from New York City, where she was still overseeing
rehearsals. And she can't wait until that "big, beautiful
building" opens in about two or three years.
"It's going to be a really glorious thing," she
said.
Coury took a break from rehearsals to talk to The News-Press
about "Oleanna," the theater project and what's
next.
The interview below has been edited for brevity. For a longer
version, go to news-press.com.
The News-Press: So how are things going, Kristen?
Kristen Coury: Things are going extremely well. The actress
we got is really phenomenal. Her name is Aurora Nessly. And
when she got here, she was ready and raring to go.
And (actor) Alan Campbell, of course, is phenomenal. He already
was phenomenal in the show (in Raleigh), and in this show
he's finding new nuances.Let's come back to "Oleanna"
later. In general, what's the status of Gulfshore Playhouse?
Well, thank you so much for asking! Things are going extremely
well.
We're finally being able to realize the promises we made to
people, you know? We said we would bring high-quality theater
with high-quality actors, and that's exactly what we're doing.
We said we would start education programs in the school, and
that's exactly what we're doing.
By the beginning of February, we hope to have our next phase
of architecture completed, which will be the schematic design.
That will then leave us with models and computer fly-throughs
and color-coded floorplan renderings and everything else,
to really be able to show people in 3D what we have planned
for the playhouse. As well as then starting a capital campaign.
When do you think the theater will open?
Well, the final piece of information is that we're coming
up for zoning. Well, we aren't, but the Estero-on-the-River
people are coming up for zoning sometime in the next couple
of months. That will determine everything in a big way. I
feel confident that it's going to happen.
Once zoning is approved, it takes about a year to prep the
land before we can break ground.
How long will it take to actually build the building?
About 18 months.
You're doing "Oleanna" now. Are you doing any more
productions in the near future?
Yeah. The next big thing is going to be something called "Inspiration."
It's going to be pieces from and inspired by Shakespeare's
"Romeo and Juliet."
We're actually going to be doing a really out-of-the-box version
of anything that ever was inspired by Romeo and Juliet (including
the original play, scenes from "West Side Story,"
some ballet and an aria).
When do you hope to do this?
The week of February 14.
So this is in time for Valentine's Day.
Yes, exactly.
Should people expect that you'll be doing shows regularly
now?
I would say that you can probably count on it. You can expect
to see us at least twice during the season, and then once
at an additional time during the year.
I'm sure people are going to be excited to hear that.
So why did you pick this particular show ("Oleanna")?
Is it going to set the tone for what's to come?
Yes. This play is smart and different than what's normally
presented down here. It's definitely a stimulating piece that
makes you think.
I hope it does sort of define us coming out of the gate, as
people who are willing to put on brave, yet accessible and
enjoyable, theater.
To sum things up, it sounds like you're pretty happy about
where the theater is right now.
I think we've come a long way in two years.
Two and a half years ago, I went to a corporate lawyer in
New York, an entertainment lawyer, and said, "I'd like
to start a not-for-profit theater and I don't know a soul.
I don't have any money, and I don't have a name. Is it too
soon to start?"
And he said, "No, it's not too soon to start. Because
it takes a long time to get a 501(c)3."
Under those circumstances — no contacts, no money and
not even a name — I think we've come really far.
And it's been a really fun ride.
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