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Cape Rep Theatre AFCC Grants at Work
n the surface, the life of a fisherman may seem simple – go out on a boat and catch fish. What Alison Weller of South Orleans has found since last fall is that it is anything but. “I’ve learned it’s this extremely complex, extremely fluid situation that changes all the time,” she said. “Where it was once sort of a simple equation in the way of going out and taking what we wanted, in terms of hunting and gathering, now fishermen are facing so many complications on so many different levels. Now the really hard question is how does the community go on and figure out a sustainable way to keep fishing and be successful.” These are details Weller and a small contingent of fellow actors from Brewster’s Cape Rep Theatre have unearthed thanks to a grant from the AFCC. The group has been meeting with those in the fishing community to better understand the work they do and the challenges they face with the goal of turning parts of those conversations into a play that will premiere in November. Owen Nichols, director of the marine fisheries research program at the Center for Coastal Studies, has served as a conduit to connecting the theatre group with those in the fishing industry. They have sat down with nearly 40 people, including representatives from the Fishing Partnership in Chatham, the Northwest Atlantic
Marine Alliance in New Bedford, and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance in Chatham, as well as State Representative Sarah Peake, and several local fishermen. Nichols has also provided background on the struggles facing fishermen due to environmental and regulatory changes. This past November, Weller and four of her fellow thespians performed a few segments from the interviews they had already conducted as part of a first look that included a conversation with the audience afterwards. Watching the fisheries and the arts collide, Nichols said, has been fascinating. “To see it captured in emotion, whether through enthusiasm or despair, and to see it captured on stage is pretty powerful,” he said. It’s a way of using art to not only facilitate discussion, but provide insight into an industry that has been such a large part of Cape Cod’s identity. “We’re named after a fish which is not caught off the Cape very much at all. This is a way of bringing people to talk about bigger issues because this is something happening right here and it’s close to us,” Weller said. “I think it’s important for art to keep engaging with social issues like this.”
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