In March 2018, five to six people will take the stage at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center to share their stories about the building and the land it rests on. One of them could be you.<\/p>\n
Founded by current artistic director Ping Chong, Ping Chong + Company is a theater group that explores “the intersections of race, culture, history, art, media and technology in the modern world,” according to its website. It’s bringing a series called “Undesirable Elements” to Juneau, currently under the name “Juneau Histories Theater Project.” This series is “community-specific interview-based theater works examining issues of culture and identity of individuals who are outsiders within their mainstream community.” For the project, members of the community will share their stories live on stage.<\/p>\n
Playwright and actor Frank Kaash Katasse, theater-maker Ryan Conarro and Chong, who are leading the project, will be focusing on stories around two elements of Juneau’s history. The first is the current Juneau Arts & Culture Center, which once served as the National Guard Armory and will soon be replaced with a new JACC.<\/p>\n
The second element is the Willoughby District’s history at the site of the Juneau Indian Village.<\/p>\n
“When we first moved into this building, we had a memory book, unfortunately gone now, in which people wrote their memories of this building — people who joined the Guard here, had their first dance here, played basketball here. It is clear to me that this building has been special in many people’s lives, and I look forward to this project helping us memorialize that history as we look to taking it (the building) down,” Juneau Arts & Humanities Council Executive Director Nancy DeCherney said.<\/p>\n
The project is being co-produced and presented by the JAHC. It’s DeCherney’s hope that the history and stories of the current JACC will be incorporated into the design of the new building. The building, she said, “will be a community center from everyone from all backgrounds in Juneau” only once “we hear and consider everyone’s stories.”<\/p>\n
Conarro, who is Ping Chong + Company’s Artistic Collaborator in Residence and Community Projects Associate, (he refers to himself as a theater-maker since his role blurs between a playwright, performer and director) did some exploratory interviews for the Juneau Histories Theater Project in the summer of 2014. Conarro has been involved in the Juneau art scene since 2003, working with Perseverance Theatre and other groups, as well as teaching throughout the state.<\/p>\n
Connaro, Katasse and Chong will interview community members who are interested in sharing their stories.<\/p>\n
“The goal, the intention of the series is to make a space for voices that might not be frequently heard in a community, and in this case, giving people an awareness of local history in the community,” Conarro said. “One hallmark of any project in the Undesirable Series that this piece will share is, is that it is the participants, ‘real people,’ telling their stories onstage who are the performers.”<\/p>\n