Fourteen-year-old Laurie Murphy says play practice at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is the best part of her week.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, she hurries off her school bus, heads home for a quick snack and runs down the street to Evanston’s Family Focus Center, 2010 Dewey Ave., where the theater group she is a part of holds rehearsals.
“The theater has been my life since I started performing a year ago,” Murphy said. “It’s a great way to express myself and meet new people.”
But the theater program might not exist next year if City Council passes its proposed budget, which recommends eliminating the program. Last year the city gave the theater about $160,000.
The program at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, founded in Evanston about 20 years ago, gives adults and children the opportunity to produce plays. The children’s program, which Murphy attends, puts on three shows each year plus a summer workshop. Children ages 8 to 14 make costumes, design sets and write scripts, said Amy Eaton, the artistic director.
“The theater builds self-confidence, develops speech and gives a sense of community,” Eaton said. “It’s been an important part of development for many children.”
The theater program for adults produces four shows each year, with topics based on the black experience, said Martha Logan, a spokeswoman for the city’s parks, forestry and recreation department, which oversees the theater. Past productions include “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Applause.”
About 30 children began practicing this week for “The Revenge of the Space Pandas,” which will debut in March. They ran around the theater and hugged each other as they asked, “Which part did you get?”
Murphy will play Edward Farpis, a movie actor. She said she’s looking forward to acting in the play and hopes the program will be around in future years.
“It’s astonishing to me that the city would consider cutting this program,” Murphy said. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard about it.”
A parent of one of the children in the cast sent a letter to the rest of the participants, informing them of the proposed cut, Murphy said. In response, some children sent e-mails to city officials. Others wrote letters.
Laura Fox, 14, who has acted in four children’s plays, said she wrote a letter to Mayor Lorraine H. Morton to complain.
“I told her that a lot of people’s lives revolve around the theater,” Fox said. “A lot of people will be disappointed if the funding is cut.”
Ald. Joseph Kent (5th) said the parks, forestry and recreation department has suggested alternatives to cutting the program. For instance, the theater could be moved into a city-owned building, he said, which would save the city about $50,000 in rent. He mentioned the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, the Noyes Cultural Arts Center or the Levy Center as other possible venues.
Offering fewer shows or employing fewer staff members would be other ways to save money, Kent said.
“I’m not going for the elimination of the program,” he said. “But if the community puts anything else on the table, I am willing to consider it.”
