The Town Brook Play
2014 · Grace Methodist Church (Sat., May 17, 2014, 7 p.m.) and the sanctuary of Centenary Methodist Church (Sun., May 18, 2014, 2 p.m.), Jacksonville, Illinois
A Brook Tale — known in press releases as Brook Tales — was a two-act readers'/documentary theatre piece that Ken Bradbury wrote and directed for the Lincoln Land Community College Traveling Theatre. Ken built the script nearly word-for-word from interviews, messages, and memories gathered from people who grew up along Jacksonville's town brook, the Mauvaisterre Creek (pronounced "MO-vezz-tehr"). About 40 contributors shared stories ranging from the hilarious to the tragic: the creek's winding path through town, catching crawdads and snakes, the "turtlers" who fried turtles from the brook, a monster that supposedly roamed near MacMurray, the devastating floods, and childhood games of cowboys and Indians along its banks.
The show was performed Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 7 p.m. at Grace Methodist Church and Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 2 p.m. in the sanctuary of Centenary Methodist Church, with donations accepted at the door. It ran as a companion piece to the Traveling Theatre's other spring show, We Call Him Grandpa.
Songs
The songs were written and composed by cast member Elisabeth Werries, whom the program notes is "the author and composer of most of the group's musical numbers."
- It Flows Everywhere — "It flows everywhere, man, everything flows everywhere man, / From Wal-Mart to the square, man, so goes the Mauvausterre, man."
- Mud Song — "You got mud on your fingers and mud on your toes / Mud on your face and I suppose / There's mud all over the place and then / You got mud in places you've never been!"
- Crawdad Song (You Get a Line and I'll Get a Pole) — "You get a line and I'll get a pole, Honey! ... And we'll go fishin' in the crawdad hole!"
- Listen to the Story of the Stream (the Spillway song) — "Listen close to what the brook is saying… / Listen to the song it loves to sing. / Something in the sound that seems a lot like someone praying. / Listen to the story of the stream."
Cast
- Maddy Albers
- Jordan Brenize
- Alana Bunfill
- Ally Bunfill
- Emily Burns
- Elly Crawford
- Brittany Davis
- Katrondra Haley
- Andrew Holtschlag
- Sydney Meyer
- Kenzi Miller
- Mackenzie Musch
- Cydney Musch
- Kendi Sayre
- Alex Stanberry
- Elisabeth Werries
Production Notes
- The program gives the title as A Brook Tale; press releases to The Source and the Jacksonville Journal Courier called it Brook Tales.
- A two-act readers' theatre presentation taken nearly word-for-word from interviews, messages, and memories of folks who grew up along Jacksonville's town brook.
- Sponsored by the Town Brook Initiative of the Jacksonville Park Foundation; proceeds went to develop recreational space along the city's waterways, support a new Jacksonville Children's Garden, and encourage healthy lifestyles for kids and the community.
- The night's donation went to fund bike helmets for every fourth-grader in District 117 — over 400 helmets.
- Performed as a companion piece to the Traveling Theatre's other spring show, We Call Him Grandpa.
- About 40 people contributed their stories; the full contributors list in the program names roughly 60 people. Special thanks to Steve Warmowski and John Love for gathering material, and to Jim and Sally Nurss of Our Town Books for running the story-gathering contest.
- The Lincoln Land Community College Traveling Theatre class was formed by Ken Bradbury at the urging of LLCC administrator Jan Terry; students received college credit (most also high-school credit) and came from Arenzville, Chapin, Concord, Beardstown, and Jacksonville.
- The opening "map" sequence uses the actors' bodies to trace the Mauvaisterre's four branches and its path through Jacksonville landmarks.
- The closing number ("Listen to the story of the stream") was underscored by pennywhistles as photographs were shown.