NASHVILLE THEATER 101: Bethany Langford & Tim Larson

It's a question asked of theater artisans forever, it seems: Why do you do theater? Plain and simple, to be sure, but clearly it's a query filled with portent and gravitas. Is applause enough to keep longtime actors on the job? In fact, is it enough to persuade a neophyte to seek a career onstage?

Why do you do theater? We've been putting that question to members of the Nashville theater famiy for the past month to find out what it is that motivates creative types to pursue an illusory and challenging career, while for others the theater gives them a creative avocation that helps keep them sane. Today, in our latest installment of Nashville Theater 101, we introduce two more members of our wildly divergent, almost prototypically dysfunctional theater family: directors Bethany Langford and Tim Larson, both of whom have been represented by productions onstage of recent vintage.

Our questions: Why do you do theater? And why, for the love of God, do you do it in Nashville, the city most widely known as Music City USA?

A Nashvillian since 2009, Bethany Langford directed Seascape With Sharks and Dancer for Spaghetti Theater, which ran in December, and she has studied directing in Belmont University's acclaimed theater program.

Why do you do theatre? I have witnessed first-hand how theater can educate the public on a subconscious level. It is far more effective than reading a book or watching a video. Theater doesn't tell the audience how to think or feel, it lets them discover how they are feeling on their own. The change in perspective happens after the audience reacts. Audience members feel deep rooted emotions towards a character or subject and they reason accordingly. The reasoning that occurs during a show is what actually teaches them the lessons. Theater educates people about the world through themselves, which I find to be the most effective method in changing the perspectives of your audience. When I read an article on global warming, I felt more educated. However, seeing a character whose farm land and family have been affected by global warming not only educates me but allows me to empathize. That is when my own perspective is forever shifted. In my opinion, the empathy created in a theatre setting will always be the quickest and easiest way to change the public's opinion on a specific topic. That is why I continue to research and continue to direct plays.

Why Nashville? I have been to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago. Do you know what I noticed about the artists in those cities? They work full-time jobs just so they can afford to audition/write/direct. I admire those artists greatly; however, I never wanted to be one of them. Studying at Belmont made me realize how valuable an artist's "down time" is. When an artist is constantly busy, they have no time to be inspired by the world around them. My art is a result of the experiences of my life in so many ways. For example: the moment when I decided to climb that mountain for the first time, those drunken nights I spent on the rooftop at my friend George's apartment, that trip to Mexico when I walked the beach for hours after dark, etc. These moments in my life have helped inspire my directing in some incredible ways. That is why I find Nashville so refreshing. It's an affordable city where artists can work and still have free time to live their lives without worrying about finances.

Having served as president of the Circle Players board of directors, Tim Larson is well-versed in the way a community affects theater and vice-versa. A 2012 First Night Star Award winner, he most recently helmed the critically acclaimed Ragtime the Musical for Circle Players' 65th season.

First I do theatre because I just love it. I have been in love with it since an early age when I got to play Sonny Flood in Dark at the Top of the Stairs for a college production.(By the way, I love that show, I should add it to my bucket list). I later went to college to study Performing Arts and after that did a few stints in Regional and Professional Theatre, while directing many local and some regional productions. Skip a few years and in 1988 I gave it all up to pursue a career in Healthcare, moved from Atlanta to Nashville to travel full time with my job and really never looked back until 2003.

In 2003, with my job traveling, living in hotels, and eating on a expense-ed budget over a seven year period, I had gained 200 pounds and thought enough was enough and decided to have surgery to help me loose the weight. When I lost 150 pounds I decided to celebrate and audition for a show here in Nashville, and I never looked back once again. The show was A Christmas Story at Lakewood and I got cast as the Narrator. Lakewood was so nice to me and such great people to work with. After that I did a few shows onstage but wanted to get back to my first love, directing. That is when I ran across Circle Players in one of their darker years and submitted to direct Annie. It was like birthing a baby, building the sets in the dark, in a no light or heated warehouse which by the way is the current Circle rehearsal space today. Honestly, it only had one light which we ran from the hallway, and NO HEAT and this was in November/December! That was true love or just craziness. We did rehearse at different locations and our performances were at Father Ryan High School and it did come off fairly well but I was again hooked, it seemed like all those years I was on sabbatical had disappeared.

I have directed for other theaters here in town but I always go back to Circle because I love the all-volunteer aspect and the risks they have let me take with several shows and the most recent mounting of Ragtime, which is now one of my favorites because I would not give up on my vision and stuck to my guns and the cast was so wonderful to work with. I love the Nashville talent, it is vast and so extraordinary. I am so amazed at the caliber of talent and how they just love to do a show, and be a part of a theater family.

I think that is why I love theater because it is such a family and even though many families have their drama and there is no lack of it with directing a show, the cast and crew always come together on opening night (no matter how hard it took to get there) and relish in the love of the audience and the love for each other. Maybe I did not get a lot of love growing up - especially by my peers - and when I did find theater I did. I no longer felt like the "quirky kid" on the block. It opened its arms and welcomed me and, yes, even though I left it for a while, (I believe in Kismet) it finally caught up again. Since living here in Nashville and directing some of the funnest shows I have have done, I hope its arms will keep me safe and let me do many more wonderful things with many wonderful people for many more years to come.

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