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