Provocateur:  [pruh-vok-uh–tur, –too r; French praw-vaw-ka–tœr] noun.  Definition: a person who deliberately behaves controversially in order to provoke argument or other strong reactions

I began performing in order to make people feel happy.  As I’ve gotten older, I want to make people feel not just happy but the full rainbow of human emotions.  And along with feeling emotions, use the arts as the “spoonful of sugar” that makes an audience think, consider and question long held beliefs.  In short, to paraphrase my dad, “to rattle their cage.’’  I guess that makes me a provocateur.

Over a decade ago, I brought in Mum Puppet Theatre with a production about Leonardo Da Vinci that questioned the very meaning of creation.  Half a decade ago, I portrayed John Wilkes Booth in a diatribe on terrorism.  Two years ago, with the presidential race in full swing, I mounted George Orwell’s 1984 at the PAC.  And this year, I am bringing in a touring production called Jabber.

Jabber tells the story of a teenage Egyptian girl adjusting to American culture who falls in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.  This modern take on “Romeo” and “Juliet” confronts the very same issues our own students are dealing with on a daily basis (issues that we as parents and teachers are hesitant to discuss) and it does so without condescension.

We all get stuck in the rut of day to day life with our heads down, pushing forward as best we can.  So, it is my task as the provocateur to stir things up and encourage folks to take chance, look up and get out of the rut.  This month at the PAC, some cages may be rattled by a play – a “spoonful of sugar” – about the rainbow of human emotions shared between a boy and a girl just trying to understand each other and the world in which they live – a play called Jabber.

Watch scenes from Jabber and learn more at: https://thepac.net/jabber/

This month the PAC Kid Spotlight shines on Allie Sutton from North Hardin High School.  Catch her and the rest of NHHS choir at the PAC on February 4th.  Learn more about Allie and our other PAC Kids.

Congratulations to our Peter & the Starcatcher Survey Winners:  Samuel Coachman, Laura Durham, Gwen Frayser, Brenda Heady, Shawn Jenkins, Tish Necessary, Dianna Walker, Darlene Witten. We hope to see them back at the PAC very soon!