Features Editor

Dr. David Dye, veteran director of theater at Troy State University, went to the production of "Come Home, It’s Suppertime" at the "We Piddle Around Theater" in Brundidge not knowing what to expect. He went away not knowing exactly how to describe what he had experienced.

"I went to the performance, basically, to support the arts in our community and those who have developed this idea and made personal contributions to get it together," Dye said. "These people are making a difference in the cultural life of their community through the arts. But, knowing this was going to be an amateur production, I went with no particular expectations."

When Dye walked through the door of the "We Piddle Around Theater" he said he knew immediately he was going to experience something unique and something very special.

"There was sawdust on the floor, artists’ panels on the walls and tables with oil cloths and oil lamps," he said. "The architecture of the building was so interesting and the ceiling was open with the rafters exposed. I said, , ‘My, goodness this is the kind of place that producers in New York City would spend millions of dollars to recreate in a new facility,"

Dye said he was so impressed with the theater and felt it was all in harmony with what was to follow.

"It was a rich, rich introduction to what followed," he said. "As the play unfolded, there was this wonderful, warm feeling about the arts, about celebrating who we are and embracing our heritage. This play embraced the way of life in this part of the country I have not seen in my 32 years in Troy."

Dye said "Come Home, It’s Suppertime" celebrated the community’s heritage in a loving, warm generous way.

"The characters on stage, the stories, the music – everything was lovingly done," he said. "It was funny; it was sad; it was poignant; it was filled with local color. I just felt proud to be in the midst of people who seemed to be enjoying what they were doing.

"But, I suspect the people were focused on the experience and I wonder if they had any sense of the importance of what they were doing."

Dye said this was the first time in this community that he has seen interested citizens come together to put on a wonderful reflection of "who we are."

"I considers myself a sophisticated theater goer," he said. "I go to New York frequently to enjoy the theater and I directed theater for 25 years at Troy State. But, I would invite the most sophisticated person to come to Brundidge and be embraced by our culture. ‘Come Home, It’s Suppertime" is liking basking in the mirror of the community where we have grown up – where generations have come and gone. It is a wonderful sense of being connected – the thread of history of who we are. And, we all like to go home.

It is said that we can’t go home again, but Dye said we can.

"In our memories," he said. "We can all go home in our memories. And, we do so want to go home at suppertime. Now, we all have that opportunity. Community theater in Brundidge has invited us to ‘Come Home, It’s Suppertime.’ I just can’t find the words to express what a wonderful, warm experience it was to be at home at suppertime."