The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: News

Media Credit: DANIELLE MOORE A photograph left at the memorial outside the Athens Community Theater features Marie Bruce (far right). [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: DANIELLE MOORE Mourners left bouquets of flowers outside the Athens Community Theater Sunday. Members of the Town & Gown Players describe the group as a "family" and said the loves one they lost would "not want the theater to stop.P [Click to enlarge]

On a warm Sunday afternoon, bouquets and cards blanket the doorway to the modest white building the Town & Gown Players called home for the last 40 years.

Were it not for the events that transpired underneath its burgundy awning the day before, the flowers might have served a different purpose - congratulatory gifts for the closing weekend of the company's latest play, "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure."

Now, they are gestures of condolences, mourning and loss.

"Town & Gown lost its heart, body and soul today; they were the three most important people at the theater," said Patric Ryan, a senior drama major, on Saturday night.

Ryan directed "Mother of God Visits Hell," a play hosted by Town & Gown in February. He arrived at the theater minutes after the shootings that left Marie Bruce, 47, Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, dead.

Crippled by the loss of three integral members, the close-knit theater group is coping with the support of one another, finding solace in relationships built around a shared passion for the stage.

"I'm still processing the unbelievable events," said Justin Sanders, director of the last main stage production, "Cabaret." "We are trying to be there for their families and for each other as this loss will take some time for all of us to accept."

Bruce served as the president on the Town & Gown board of directors for about a year and half. The mother of two was involved in "every capacity at the theater, artistically and administratively," according to Town & Gown's Web site.

"Marie was a beautiful and talented woman whose impact at the theater lasted over 20 years," said Lee Wenthe, a former Grady professor with close ties to Bruce and the Teagues.

Leara Rhodes, a Grady professor and member of Town & Gown since 1998, remembers Bruce as a "one of the best comedy directors that existed."

"She herself [was an] amazing actress," she said.

Just as Bruce immersed herself in many aspects of Town & Gown, both Teague and Tanner often took on various roles as well. In December 2008, Teague directed a production of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" in which Tanner starred.

"My best memories [of them] are from 'Arcadia,'" said Terrell Austin, a former University staff member who acted in the production. "It was a very close-knit cast. All of us learned to waltz. It was Ben's idea. We began every rehearsal with waltzing lessons."

Though they flourished in these capacities, Tanner and Teague were most in their element when constructing a set.

"They had this gift to make something that would bring a place to life," said Jeff Chen, a University alumnus and member of Town & Gown for two years.

He recalled their friendly, "squabbly" rapport.

"Tom and Ben were close - if not brothers, then father and son," Chen said. "People would always joke that you could make a sitcom out of those two."

Tanner designed sets for "Cabaret," "Arcadia" and "Sherlock Holmes" - all main stage shows of the season.

"Tom was amazingly creative and innovative in coming up with ways to make special sets," Austin said, "and there are a lot of people who owe all they know about building flats [units of a set] to Ben Teague."

Teague was considered a mainstay at the Town & Gown facility. Active in the theater for more than 17 years, according to his personal Web site, he was repeatedly referred to as a mentor by those interviewed.

"During 'Sherlock,' I had injured myself and gotten a few splinters. Before I had fully turned around, [Teague] was there; he'd already gotten the first aid kit," Chen said. "He always had the best intentions for everybody."

Always taking care of people, Teague is thought by fellow Town & Gown members to have confronted suspected shooter George Zinkhan III, putting himself in the line of fire so that others might escape.

"He would have shot others if Mr. Teague had not taken multiple bullets," Ryan said. "Everyone in Town & Gown is convinced of this."

Still struggling to come to terms with Saturday's incident, Austin said Town & Gown nonetheless possesses the "determination to pick up and continue."

"It's entirely volunteer-run. But people do it, even though it's time-consuming, because they love it," she said.

Out of love for the art form and for the loved ones they have lost, others also assured that Town & Gown would recover eventually.

"I do know that those we lost would not want the theater to stop," Ryan said. "The theater will move forward."

"We know there will be shows, we will go on," Rhodes said. "We're family."

All the same, the events of April 25 have left a haunting scar on the small theater with the burgundy awning - and on the people who found kinship within its walls.

"Every time I go across the threshold [to the theater], I'll always remember them there, even though I never saw their bodies," Rhodes said, her voice cracking. "I want to see [Marie] sashaying across the stage and Ben with his tools."

Audio of the 911 calls.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools