Bayou Playhouse stays local with ‘Torn Page’

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The Bayou Playhouse in Lockport opens its sixth season with a production of “Torn Page,” a live performance written by John Doucet. The play takes place in a remote southern Louisiana town of Cajun people and displays the struggle of one group after losing a member to the Baton Rouge college, where his pride prevents him from returning home. The character, “T-Joe” never appears in the production, though he is one of the main characters.


“I wrote a story about a character that never appears in the play,” Doucet said. “He inherited something genetic and ran off to college and is not coming back because of this genetic issue. The play displays a mother dealing with her guilt when it has nothing to do with her biology that caused it.”

Though Doucet has long considered himself a creative writer, having written a handful of plays and published a book of poetry, he has spent his career as a geneticist, teaching at Nicholls State University and now serving as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. It was his experience and research that inspired him to write “Torn Page.”

“I’m a geneticist and I spend time traveling to rural communities,” Doucet said. “There was always this overwhelming response that every time a baby was born with something genetic, the mother always felt the guilt because she was carrying the child. Without the proper understanding, it was assumed that it must’ve been something mother did. It was a fascinating and totally regretting attitude; a great premise for a play.”


The biological and genetic complications discussed throughout the play were something of personal value to Doucet as well as the artistic director, Perry Martin.

“I think it’s the best thing he’s written,” Martin said “It was the first play I had read of his that had a lot more substance. The subject matter appeals to me; I was originally born with glaucoma – I see shapes, colors and movements. He had very cleverly woven this genetic subject matter in the story as a side plot that I thought was fascinating. He surrounded all very heavy themes with humor.”

The two have been working together for years; “Torn Page” is their 10th production together. The relationship began when Doucet was mistakenly volunteered to write a play – he had never written nor seen a live production.


“I was doing my post-doctoral fellowship when a group of community members were interested in doing a festival for the Cheniere Caminada hurricane,” Doucet said. “With my marginal writing skills, I thought I could compose a brochure. The guy misunderstood me, stood up and said, ‘Hey everyone, this guy came to write the play.’”

“I got a phone call one day in 1993 from a young man who I had never heard of,” Martin said. “I had just gotten back from New York and he says, ‘You don’t know me but I went to school with your sister and I wrote a play and I want you to read it.’ He had never written a play nor seen one. He also didn’t tell me the play was in less than a month.”

Martin said the first draft was five hours long, though Doucet slightly disagrees. After Martin’s advice and editing, the two put together a two-hour play that Martin said “was solid.” The show was performed to sold-out audiences and won many awards, as well as started a long relationship.


When Martin began searching for productions to feature in the Bayou Playhouse’s sixth season, he finally took a look at “Torn Page,” a production Doucet wrote in 1998, and was instantly inclined to produce it in his playhouse.

“It’s a theatrical piece about Louisiana culture – it reflected our mission,” Perry said. “We enjoy featuring southern playwrights, and the script is perfect. At the onslaught of the telephone and oil companies, it displays a small family trying to keep their traditions and deal with a lost son. As with John, it is a serious subject but he finds a way to throw in some humor. He understands that Cajuns can get beat down but that they always find a way to laugh.”

The casting process for the show was uncomplicated and made the initial preparations easy for Martin. The cast includes four actors: Randy Cheramie is Joe, T-Joe’s father; Suzanne Pitre plays Tant Sourd, T-Joe’s mother; Juliana Pennison plays Thelma, the neighbor; and Travis Resor is Dr. Sherman.


Whereas Cheramie and Resor are well seasoned actors, Martin said Pitre took him by surprise with her talents.

“I’m 54 years old and went to high school with Perry,” Pitre said. “I hadn’t been in a play since then. I had gone to a play one time and he said I should come and read so I took him up on it and I got a part. For our first reading Randy Cheramie and everyone else seemed to do so well. I’m like the new kid on the block, so I’m just hoping my memory holds out.”

She had been asked to audition before, but Pitre didn’t have the connection with any other play.


“I read another play but I didn’t like the language,” Pitre said. “I related to this – I grew up in early 60s and whole half French, half English was the way I grew up with parents and grandparents talking. The script isn’t over the top, it is how things probably were, plus there’s a twist at the end. I think the audience will really enjoy it.”

The script seems to capture the attention of all who read it, and should provide entertainment for those seeking a live performance. The production will provide laughter and tears as well as an educational opportunity from the geneticist through his characters.

“Torn Page” runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 20 at the Bayou Playhouse, 101 Main St., Lockport. Tickets are $30 on opening night; subsequent shows cost $23 in advance or $25 at the door. For more information, call (888) 992-2968 or visit www.bayouplayhouse.com


Dr. John Doucet, dean of arts and sciences at Nicholls State University, wrote “Torn Page,” which runs at the Bayou Playhouse from Sept. 27 through Oct. 20.

COURTESY MISTY McELROY