Bring me your flowers and your hours in the center of the storm
Sing with me with new belief in second lives 'cause
I survived the morning
Can you see me
I made it to the other side
Thank God
Do believe me
I've been so good at wasting time
Thank God for July…
— In July, Sara Bareilles
It’s July!
As we watch or read the news we hear: Mask mandates are gone! Employees are being called back to their offices! The malls are full and restaurants are fully booked! Beaches are packed and National Parks are over-capacity! People are traveling in record numbers! Bruce Springsteen has reopened Broadway!
Meanwhile, in the news we also hear: Airlines are having to cancel hundreds of flights due to a pilot shortage. Summer getaways are overbooked due to overwhelming demand. Rental cars are in short supply. Retail workers are quitting at record numbers, leaving shoppers angry and unattended. Stores and restaurants cannot staff adequately. Police departments are unable to fill job vacancies despite a new pandemic of gun violence.
Wow… Everywhere you turn lately, it seems like people are ready to get things back to "normal." Everything is open or opening, and people are feeling impatient. They want to get going. They want to get back to traveling. They want to get whatever it is that they want, and they want to get it now.
Patience is required. For us, the summer of rushing back to normal is turning into the summer of hurry up and wait.
And we have to admit, we’re not good at it. After 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, being forced to stay home, to stop theatre-making, we want to get back to it desperately. As artists, we’ve existed in a culture that values “firsts.”
The first to break new ground.
The first to try something bold and daring.
The first to offer a story completely different than what you’ve seen before.
This is, after all, how we are judged on our skills.
And most of all, after a year or two, we don’t want to be forgotten.
But here’s the hard truth, friends: Our company is a small part of a theatrical eco-system. We only survive because the other companies that partner with us offer us their venues during their “dark” times on their calendars.
And these companies are scrambling to make up lost revenue from the past 16 months. They are jamming their performance calendars with their own shows and fund-raisers, and rightly so. We are all doing what we can to survive and come out of this period in relatively stable shape. Renting their venue to Honest Pint isn’t necessarily their most optimal financial move, and rental prices have risen dramatically (no pun intended). We survived the storm and we will have a second life, but it will not be rushed. This has been made clear.
We have been quietly working on finding venues for the show we plan to produce, such as the long-awaited, much delayed SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, and the new play we commissioned from Tamara Kissane, THE UNTITLED KAFKA PROJECT (we are so close to finding the right title for it!). It is proving to be challenging.
What does this mean for Honest Pint? Well, it means we are learning how to be patient. We are mastering the art of waiting and hoping you will wait for us.
Have you ever felt firsthand the impact when someone waits for you to catch up? When someone waits for you to learn something new? When someone waits for you to learn how to work the TV remote or your smart phone or how to drive a car? When someone waits for you to arrive or to go somewhere, or waits for you to become the someone you long you be?
It’s such a good feeling when someone is patient, isn’t it? Being good at waiting is a superpower and not a waste of time. We are mastering this as we hustle to make our shows happen, and we hope our supporters and audiences will understand how scarce and expensive theater spaces are.
The reality is that we are all coming out of a long, difficult time. We are all rejoining a new world of sorts. New rules. New protocols. New expectations. Everyone is opening their eyes to a new reality. It's one that really can’t be rushed, even though everyone wants to rush back. We all want to be together in a theater again, for things to be “normal” again, and we are doing our best to make this happen. Every company in the Triangle is in economic and artistic recovery mode right now. Please be patient.
However, the GREAT news is that we have dates and a venue for a couple of offerings!!!
THE UNTITLED KAFKA PROJECT Workshop — a one-night-only preview of our new work
October 15, 2021, at Pure Life Theatre in Raleigh
This will also be — you guessed it — a fundraiser for Honest Pint
SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, our first full production since Fall of 2019!
March 18 - April 3, 2022, at Pure Life Theater in Raleigh
…And there will be more in store in May/June of 2022. Stay tuned!
We would be remiss if we didn’t share our “Cost of a Pint” info with you. So here it is again, newly updated for the post-pandemic era:
Our needs are simple: pay artists for their hard work and time, pay the licensing fees to the publishers and playwrights, pay our rental costs, pay for set-building costs, pay for lighting and sounds, pay for ticketing services. That’s it. There’s no “extras” in an Honest Pint, no foam or purposeless filler. The bills get paid through donations and ticket sales, and in return, we give you a thrilling theatrical experience that cannot be matched by anything on TV or the big screen.
We need your donations now more than ever. Please consider making a one-time gift to Honest Pint here.
Or become a Pintron through your monthly pledge via Patreon here.
If you work for a business or know of one that likes to support non-profit companies like ours, please send us any information you can. We are seeking corporate support and private underwriters for our productions so we can keep this company alive. Thank you!
And if you’re still reading this, we appreciate it. We think now is a good time to re-share our credo:
Theatre brings us together, to sit near one another, to hear stories, to lift our voices in joy or sorrow. Theatre creates worlds like no other. Its immediacy cannot be duplicated. Its intensity cannot be matched. A playwright’s miraculous words, directed with insight and acted with passion, elicit laughter, sadness, astonishment, enlightenment and inspiration. Suddenly, we are not alone. Theatre is communal. An actor speaks a playwright’s words. Another answers. Dialogue begins; melody rises. The audience adds its own energy, rhythm, breath; harmony emerges — all of it entwining together in a shared experience of power and exhilaration.
We believe that experiencing theatre is essential for communities to thrive. Since our inception, we have offered theatre in many formats, always mindful of ways we can spark dialogue and meaningful interactions with our audience.
In the age of Netflix and other streaming platforms, the importance of simply getting people out of their homes and interacting with fellow humans is a worthy goal. We are deeply proud of the Raleigh theatre community that we are a part of, and we love the interpersonal moments that happen before, during, and after shows. That moment in the lobby where you run into an old friend or exchange a thought with someone you don’t know is as much a part of our mission as the show we’re producing.
We believe in taking creative risks and working above and beyond our comfort zones in order to create experiences that stimulate, inspire, and challenge our audiences.
We strive to inspire the next generation of theater artists through performance, education, mentorship, and outreach.
We commit to sustaining a diverse, inclusive, equitable space and safe space for all voices.
We aspire to bring the Triangle area a high-quality theatrical experience while fostering fellowship within our community.
We believe in excellence and strive for greatness.
That’s an Honest Pint.
Thanks for sticking with us and staying patient as we figure out the next two years.
We promise it’ll be worth the wait. We are so excited to bring you new stories and experiences, and most fo all, to see you again! Until that time, stay safe and
DRINK DEEP! 🍺
— Susannah and David
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