Onion Man Productions, A Community Garden for Artists

As we approach the opening of Summer Harvest 2012 on June 14th, Onion Man Productions' Founder James Beck was inspired to write a few words inspired by the concept of the Community Garden and how it fits in with his vision for OMP.

A Community Garden

"A simple piece of land.

Woven, threaded, sewn

arm in arm, hand by hand

a small space, a simple grace, a shared piece of land"

 

I’m not a gardener. I’m not. Nor are many of the people I know and create with in the small world of theatre and with our company, Onion Man Productions. But we now have a home for classes and programs at the Norcross Garden Club. And we are a company that steals part of our name from an odd little bulb known to both make you cry and add flavor to food. And we certainly cultivate, nurture, plant, water, and of course, harvest. We just do it all in the language of metaphor, in crafting emotion and story and in asking pointed questions of life, God, and of ourselves . . . So,yeah, we garden.

I wish I could find a clear way to state this purpose. The why in, "Why we do it?" Like anything in life it is a struggle, a worry, a danger, and a certain challenge - to create anything is to risk. Yet we keep doing it. The only strength I find to answer the questions lies in the simple fact that we are working together, building relationships, finding ownership and in the end, giving of ourselves back to our community. We till the soil, roll it all over again, and start creating yet again.

 

But there has to be some method to gardening in the realm of metaphor and story. Not the "why" but the "how." A long journey has led me to the raw earth and smell of soil. I know to access creativity is never a certain journey but one that must be ridden and not controlled. We must let nature do her work – images rise from the unconscious, truths show themselves in a phrase or in the juxtaposition of one reality against another.

It will leave your head spinning. How to make sense of what comes spilling out of you as a writer, actor, or director? How do you piece it all together in order to present a bouquet of wildflower and fresh vegetables?

 

One method I find myself leaning on more and more is taken from Onion Man’s Joanie McElroy’s directing workshop. You identify the climax, the crucial moment in the play, and you then work your butt off to ensure that every moment in the play leads to and/or comments on the crucial turn in the text. It is an idea I loved so much I find it entering into my own teaching of playwriting and in something as basic as how to lead an organization.

With an organization I think the question then becomes, "What is so crucial to the mission that all else would fall apart without that element? And how can all of the efforts of an organization reflect on and support that critical point?"

 

But what is that for Onion Man? It is the idea of being a community garden that serves the broader landscape of Atlanta theatre artists and our local community as a whole. I want Onion Man to be that place where every theatre artist can come stick their hands in the dirt and play and create. Onion Man is that nice healthy piece of ground where an artist can see the possibilities instead of the limitations of their ego and insecurities. A place to find joy instead of anxiety and fear. Now, I am fully aware that you can never truly get rid of the human acts of self-destruction and the behaviors that limit growth, but we can certainly be diligent in protecting our shared acreage.

A community garden. That is what we are, what we represent, all we care to be.