Jeremy Seghers is known in Orlando for producing and directing shows in unique locations.
In 2016, he staged a production of Equus in a barn and a production of Dracula in an oddities and taxidermy shop. This time, Seghers is taking audiences to the Timucua Arts Foundation for a new original play titled Three Stories.
The play is comprised of three unrelated scenes that are tied together by a longer fourth scene. Seghers collaborated with three playwrights, each of whom was only given the last line of the scene to work from.
Each piece involves three actors and takes place on one of three levels usually used for seating. (Timucua, for those who haven't been there, is a three-story concert hall in a private home in Delaney Park.)
"I thought it would be really cool if somebody switched [the space] around and had the audience sit on the stage and on the floor, and have action take place on the three levels," Seghers says. "Because when do you get a three-level set?"
Seghers says he came up with the idea for Three Stories with co-creator Kevin Becker, a producer with storytelling troupe Phantasmagoria, by combining this staging idea with a theatrical version of the drawing game Exquisite Corpse.
In the drawing game, three players fold a piece of paper into thirds. Each player draws a different part of the body without seeing what the others drew. The paper is then unfolded to reveal what is usually an amusingly mismatched composite.
Similarly, Three Stories has three distinctly different parts. The first piece is an original folk/punk musical, the second a devised movement piece and the third a drama.
"It just so happened that each one kind of found a parallel to the game of exquisite corpse," Seghers says.
"You start with the head and both [the musical's creators] are very heady, intellectual people. The second one is all heart and because it's devised, it's based on gut instinct. The bottom one is really solid and grounded in drama, so it made sense for it to be on the bottom level."
Seghers says the cast is excited about the production because it's unique and allows them to play against their type.
"The cast is really enthusiastic," Seghers says. "To them, it's exciting because it's not your typical run-of-the-mill play."
Without giving too much away, the play explores contemporary issues of equality and the rights of those who are marginalized.
"It's very modern, and not in a contrived way," Seghers says. "It just happens to be that all of the voices that are being expressed feel very modern."
Seghers says he hopes to introduce audiences to the Timucua Arts Foundation and make those already familiar with the venue think about both the space and contemporary issues in a new way.
Three Stories will be performed from 7-9:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, at the Timucua Arts Foundation at 2000 S. Summerlin Ave. Tickets can be reserved online for a suggested donation of $10-$20 at timucua.com. Guests are encouraged to bring food or wine to share.