Two retiring magistrates with a love for the performing arts founded Outside Circle Theater Project in Lorain County to provide a platform for underrepresented voices in the community. The group welcomes participants of any of age, background or acting experience.
Outside Circle’s inaugural show, “The Downside,” is March 22 and 23 at 7 p.m. at Greater Victory Christian Ministries in Lorain. Molly McFadden of Cleveland wrote the play, which addresses the challenges of aging.
Seeing a need
When Charlita Anderson-White and June Rising participated in a community theater production of “Sister Act” in early 2020, it sparked an idea.
“We just started talking about how much fun we were having and how we didn’t want it to end,” Anderson-White said. “So we thought, ‘We should start our own theater group.’”
They began researching areas surrounding Lorain, Elyria and Oberlin, and surveyed community members to determine what programs were currently available, especially for women. Most of their findings were musical theater programs for children.
“We have an amazingly diverse community here in this county and really not a lot of serious theater,” Rising said.
Conversations also evolved to concerns about the elimination of Black history in schools and a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion programming throughout the country, resulting in the project taking on a social justice tone.
“The mission is to provide a venue for anyone,” Rising said. “Anyone who has a creative idea or play or something they want to produce that could not otherwise get produced, we're willing to do that.”
The name for the project was inspired by one of Anderson-White’s favorite poets, Audre Lorde.
“One of her poems talks about women being different,” Anderson-White said. “She talks about women who live outside the circle and want to do something different, outside of the norm.”
Anderson-White could relate to those words as a woman retiring from a career in law and wanting to do something different in the next chapter of her life.
“I bet you everybody has a novel in a drawer somewhere, right?” Anderson-White said. “I bet there’s a lot of plays underneath socks in drawers. And we thought, ‘I wonder how many people in this community want that opportunity?’”
Getting off the ground
Carla Daniels Valles fell in love with theater at a young age after playing the role of the Wicked Witch of the West in a production of “Wizard of Oz.” Since then, she’s continued acting and writing plays, many that deal with social justice issues.
Anderson-White heard Valles speak at a George Floyd rally in Elyria, and, after learning about Valles’ experience in theater, she gave her a call.
“She said, ‘I want to bring a theater project to Lorain,’” Valles said. “I was thrilled.”
After establishing a name and a mission, Outside Circle Theater Project needed its first script.
“I do love the theater, but I also love the idea of doing original pieces as opposed to the plays that are done over and over,” Valles said. “So, we said, ‘It would be neat to open this up and see what people have to offer.’”
Outside Circle held a playwriting contest and sought submissions from the community.
“Dealing with marginalized voices, I expected to get projects that have to do with diversity, racism, the LGBT community,” Valles said. “And then this script came across my desk dealing with ageism. And as much as I’m huge on making sure everyone feels included, I never even thought about ageism.”
Staging “The Downside”
After a long career singing, performing and acting around New York City in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, Molly McFadden decided to do more writing. She spent the pandemic learning from her husband, Brian, also a playwright.
Her most recent play, “The Downside,” was inspired by her own life over the past 10 years and the many challenges that come along with aging.
McFadden saw the contest hosted by Outside Circle and decided to submit her play, even though she wasn’t sure if the theme of ageism fit the diversity requirement.
“When I got accepted, I thought I got the Oscar,” McFadden said with a smile.
The main character in “The Downside” is a woman in her 70s who’s faced with difficult decisions and feels forced by her family to leave the home and neighborhood she’s come to love while downsizing.
“I found that what came out of that is what we’re all going through when we go through transitions of life,” McFadden said. “You need to face the fact that you’re getting older. You need to downsize. You need to let go.”
McFadden is grateful to have her play be the very first production of Outside Circle Theater Project.
“They’ve got the passion, they’ve got the drive, they have the mission,” McFadden said. “There are other writers out there who have a story to tell. And they will find their way here, and something magical is happening.”
