LEGEND SAYS THE CITY OF ENOCH was a utopian hub, shining with wisdom and fairness. Ann Bonner took this vision of an equitable society as the symbol of her hopes when creating the Enoch City Arts playhouse. Since its establishment in 2021, Enoch City Arts has brought a dozen carefully selected plays to its home in a strip mall near Sheridan Park.
This studio has spaces for the acting, voice, and ukulele classes that Enoch City Arts offers, room for play rehearsals and drama summer camps, and holds the theater where an audience of 40 can watch a dramatic performance unfold.
Under Ann’s leadership, every play is chosen for its ability to inspire its audience, thereby fulfilling this non-profit’s mission.
Ann still carries the wonder, delight, and amazement she felt on first seeing a live play as a teenager, which is immediately apparent when she speaks of her work in community theater. She believes in the performing arts’ power to uplift and is wholeheartedly committed to bringing that positivity, community, and inspiration to Enoch City Arts’ patrons.
The audience responds. I heard the delighted surprise in comments around me at “The Space Pirates of Penzance”, the play they staged in May. It was a clever update of Gilbert and Sullivan, preserving the witty wordplay while adding a science fiction element that a young audience could understand.
Other past plays include “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane”, a story of a lost porcelain rabbit that undergoes many hardships before being reunited with its owner. I found the story surprisingly dark. However, it spoke directly to the heart of a child who had been in the foster care system for too long; she was so glad to have found a character that was just like her.
During Enoch City Arts’ summer drama camps, kids from 8 to 18 develop improvisation and acting skills as they rehearse and perform a one-act play. The campers learn theater etiquette and the play gives a framework in which to develop teamwork. Ann has found that neuro-divergent kids soar while performing; the theater can be a successful environment for those who might struggle in traditional school settings.
Currently the playhouse is staging Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons”, which dramatizes the history of Sir Thomas More’s protest of conscience against King Henry VIII.
As she directs the play, Ann is moved by More’s commitment to his principles. She and the actors discuss the integrity of noblemen involved in the prosecution of More and how it might manifest in tone of voice and behavior. Ann guides them, “What is the function of the character in the scene? What does the playwright mean? Honor that!”
The actors work together to create the meaning, the play is coming together. // LORI BIER
‘A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS,’ about the history of Sir Thomas More’s protest of conscience against King Henry VIII plays thru June 15 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at Enoch City Arts, Bremerton. Tickets and more at enochcityarts.org
