Lynne Raymond already had a full-time gig as director of Historic Hertford, Inc., when her minister approached her about starting a community theater group 11 years ago.
Raymond was skeptical of the idea at first.
“Mary Lou Soper and I go to the Hertford United Methodist Church. Our minister back then, Pastor Larry Bowden, said he wanted to talk to us about starting a community theater group,” she recalled. “It’s not nice to say no to the pastor. Still, we didn’t have the wherewithal to do that.”
Bowden told Raymond that he had someone who wanted to write a story about the Hertford community during World War II. Bowden’s parents had been involved in a community theater in Alabama for 25 years and loved it, so he thought, why not Hertford?
Raymond could think of at least one reason.
“I had no theater experience and no theater background. My children didn’t even participate in the theater,” she said. “I asked him, ‘I don’t know why you’re asking me. I haven’t ever done this. I know nothing about it.’ But he said, “You can put the people together.’”
Bowden apparently knew a leader when he saw one.
Raymond set about assembling 12 people who wanted to put Ray Sawyer’s local history story together as a play and present it publicly. The only problem Raymond could see with the project was that only one member of the play’s 12-person cast had been involved in a play before. Nonetheless, she could see that they all had different talents they could bring to the project despite their lack of theatrical experience.
Bowden made the Methodist Church available as a place to rehearse — “He owed us,” Raymond quips — and the American Legion provided a venue for the performance.
Sawyer’s play, “A Time to Remember,” was such a hit, it sold out in 36 hours.
The public loved the local story with universal themes of community history, war, tragedy and love. They ran the play again and sold out… again. A sequel, “Times are Changing,” was equally successful, but Raymond said they needed to find a new direction.
“We couldn’t continue to try to write plays because it takes so much time, and we weren’t professional by any means, so we started buying licensed plays,” she said.
By then the group also had a name: Carolina Moon Theater.
“Mostly, we do comedies now,” says Raymond who has remained with the group as its president. “Some people want us to do more musicals, but we were not set up for that. We haven’t found the right mix of people.”
In July 2019, Carolina Moon Theater moved into the Hertford Community Building and, later, into the old Perquimans County Library on Academy Street. Getting the building ready for patrons was challenging. They remodeled the inside and built a stage, theater, and lobby, but disaster struck just as the building was completed.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic struck in January 2020, canceling any shows until the health department approved public performances again. Oddly, movie theaters opened first, but it wasn’t until June 2021 that the Carolina Moon Theater held its first production in its new location at 110 Academy Street in Hertford. Love Letters had been planned for production before the pandemic, but postponed until after the crisis had passed.
Today, the theater has seating for about 90 patrons. Raymond said she can sit more but doesn’t like to, preferring to keep the theater less cramped.
Besides Raymond, Carolina Moon Theater Company’s other officers are Sawyer, who serves as vice president; Pal Hotz, who serves as secretary; Bob Leuthy, who’s the treasurer; and Linda Kaul, the group’s director.
The Carolina Moon Theater presents two plays each year. It’s newest production, “Wage Warfare,” will debut on Saturday, May 11, with performances that day and again on May 18 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $19 and may be purchased online at carolinamoontheater.org or at the Albemarle Plantation Farmer’s Market on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon before the performances. Raymond advises getting tickets early.
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