New community theater group launches in Yuba City

Jul. 9—The local arts community was all abuzz on Tuesday with the announcement of a new community theater group, Convergence Theatre Company (CTC).

In a post shared on Facebook, CTC said it was seeking actors for its inaugural show, "Roe," by Lisa Loomer. "Roe" is based on the historic Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade.

The formation of CTC adds a third option for local performers who were recently limited to only Yuba City's The Acting Company, founded in 1984, or the Yuba College Theatre in Marysville.

The company was founded by Matt DeMeritt, Crystal DeMeritt, Aaron Watkins, and Betsy Johnson. These members have already made a name for themselves within the community's performing arts world and are eager to expand their passion moving forward.

Matt and Crystal DeMeritt met when they were co-directing the Young People's Summer Theater Program at Faith Christian School in Yuba City. After their marriage, the couple continued working on several summer theater and after-school programs throughout Northern California. Now, Matt DeMeritt is the arts director and theater teacher at Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts (MCAA).

Watkins met the DeMeritts nearly seven years ago when his son was attending the Performing and Fine Arts Academy at Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, for which Matt Demeritt was the principal. In the fall of 2020, Watkins volunteered his home, "Butte Manor," to be used in a haunted house fundraiser for The Acting Company. This "COVID-cautious" event was largely successful and was even featured on Fox 40 News. It was around this time that Watkins introduced the DeMeritts to Johnson at one of his outdoor movie screenings. Johnson has been highly involved with both Mainstage and Magic Theater productions at The Acting Company and is the proud parent of several MCAA students.

"We realized we all had mutual interests and goals when it came to our vision for the local arts community, but there just wasn't much we could do about it at that time," Matt DeMeritt explained.

As pandemic measures continued to ease, and in light of current political movements, the group felt like it was finally time to launch and that they could no longer postpone their development.

"We had tossed around the idea for a while," DeMeritt said. "Roe" is a play that we had been thinking about, and then with the recent Supreme Court decision, we were like, 'this isn't a when we get to it piece,' we need to do it right now."

Currently, CTC is operating as an individual entity under the umbrella of Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture (YSAC) and is based out of the historic Sutter Theater Center for the Arts venue in downtown Yuba City located at 754 Plumas St. YSAC will be funding CTC's first venture through its recent American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. CTC said it will be using this production to "test the waters" of the community and build a support base of actors, volunteers, audience members and other like-minded individuals.

The company states that its goal is to bring members of the community together to address tough topics, and its mission is to inspire curiosity, awareness, and understanding by producing high-quality performances that explore important social topics.

The name "Convergence" comes from its founders' desire to bring divergent viewpoints into one space.

"We know that our country and our community has become even more polarized in recent years," Crystal DeMeritt said. "Instead of having meaningful conversations with those who have different opinions, people tend to surround themselves with those that they agree with. But here at Convergence, we believe that iron sharpens iron and it's good for us to get together and share different perspectives."

Theater, in its most traditional sense, exists only when the audience and performers share the same space with one another. The immediacy of this actor-audience relationship stimulates a type of dialog and empathy that the DeMeritts feel is hard to replicate on other platforms such as television or social media. Another thing that sets CTC apart is its interest in engaging and partnering with other community organizations.

For "Roe," the company said they have already started reaching out to A Women's Friend, Planned Parenthood, and other groups that support women dealing with some of life's most important and controversial issues.

"We want to talk to those organizations about coming out and doing post-show talk backs or prologues with us to really stretch out and enhance that conversational experience," Matt DeMeritt added.

Auditions for "Roe" will be held on Wednesday, July 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Sutter Theater Center for the Arts. There are many roles available and prospective actors should anticipate the possibility of playing multiple parts. The audition is open to all members of the public regardless of their acting experience or political views.

"We don't want people to assume we're coming at it from one perspective or another," Crystal DeMeritt explained. "We actually decided on this play when we realized it's not a divisive play, it may be a divisive topic but the play itself has a very balanced perspective of presenting the history behind the decision and then the fall out from that and the lives of those who were involved."

"We deeply hope that people from both sides of this issue will come out and take part in this production so that the conversation isn't theoretical, but it's real in the rehearsal hall all the way up to the performances themselves," Matt DeMeritt added.

Moving forward, the company will continue producing pieces that are relevant to the times and hope to include more diverse works that highlight people from various social and ethnic backgrounds. Once the group secures its foothold, aspiring playwrights may soon find a home within the CTC network.

"Original works sourced from within this community, that would be a primary role of ours," DeMeritt said. "Betsy Johnson is actually an individual who has done a lot of original written work and I think that is a role I'm hoping she will bring to this organization as we continue to grow."

With DeMeritt and Johnson heading up the directorial department, Crystal DeMeritt has helped secure the copyrights and facilitates communications while Watkins lends his hand at design and marketing.

"We're still figuring out what everyone's role is in this," Matt DeMeritt said. "And we know there are people in the community who are wanting to be a part of something like this, we just have to find out where they all fit in."

To learn more about Convergence Theatre Company, visit convergencetheatreco.org or call 530-742-2787.