Chattanooga Pulse

Classical Theatre of Harlem is out to change the world. They use theatre as a means to project America in its truest form—a nation with a diversity of ideas, races, cultures, and communities. In 2007-2008, CTH toured a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot set in post-Katrina New Orleans. This powerful production is being brought to Chattanooga as part of the 30th anniversary of the Patten Series.

The Pulse’s Stephanie Smith spoke with Christopher McElroen, co-founder and Executive Director of CTH, to find out more about the company and their version of the Beckett classic.

Stephanie Smith: Tell me a little more about the creation of CTH. I read that the company grew out of the success of a Shakespeare workshop that [you and Alfred Preisser] taught at the Harlem School of the Arts in the fall of 1998?

Christopher McElroen: I never had a grand design to go to Harlem to design a theatre company. It came out of the classes I was teaching. There was a real hunger and desire for the work in the community.

SS: I know CTH is beloved by the critics, but what has been the community response?

CM: It’s always been positive. Most of the artists are residents of Harlem. The response has been strong or I don’t think we would have lasted 10 or 11 years.

SS: I had the opportunity to meet one of your company members, Katori Hall, a few years ago at the Chattanooga Festival of Writers. She spoke very passionately, not only about writing but about her strong connection to Harlem.

CM: Yes, Katori was a student at the Harlem School of the Arts. Her writing grew out of that. She has a very strong point of view.

SS: How do actors become company members?

CM: Anybody we choose has to be passionate and committed. What we are trying to create is something as important and as immediate as possible for as diverse an audience as possible. We try to be creative.

SS: How do you choose material?

CM: We look for anything we think our audience and artists would respond to. We look at what’s happening in the world. When we chose Waiting for Godot, New Orleans was very much in public eye. We just took the basic idea of people waiting and chose the most emblematic play about waiting to reach a diverse contemporary audience.

SS: What was the response when you toured Godot in New Orleans?

CM: Nearly 10,000 people showed up to see the play over the course of project. The community really took on a sense of ownership of the play. To have a play draw 10,000 people to a street corner—that doesn’t happen every day. We were really pleased by the response.

SS: Is there a continuing relationship with the city of New Orleans? Is that why you’re touring the show?

CM: Well, our stage manager was born and raised in New Orleans and several others have connections there. We wanted to continue to shed light on the struggle that still exists within the city and continue the dialogue that surrounds it. We are attempting to dialogue through theatre.

SS: So, how do you go about contemporizing these classical pieces—Shakespeare, Chekhov, Beckett?

CM: We don’t hold the text as sacred as other people might. And certainly we’ve found an audience for it, probably because we don’t treat them [the plays] as museum pieces.

SS: For people who might not know the play or who may have heard “It’s a play about nothing!”, how do you generate interest in your production?

CM: We’ve taken a pedestrian and optimistic approach. We’ve stripped away all the existential baggage and made it about two guys waiting for another guy. We’ve tried to fill the moments with hope and humor. [The result is] an educating and surprisingly funny evening of theatre. If they come, they will not be bored.

The Dorothy Patten Fine Arts Series presents
Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Waiting for Godot
$22 adults / $15 students
7:30 pm
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
UTC Fine Arts Center
Corner of Vine and Palmetto Streets
(423) 425-4269. www.utc.edu