Enhancing the arts behind the scenes: Counter/Current: Collective
- Courtney Hayes-Jurcheck
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
By Kyle Laurita, Midcoast Villager Staff Writer Jul 5, 2024 Updated Sep 18, 2024
BELFAST — “I’m going to take you on an adventure,” John Jurcheck said. “And I might not even be able to tell you where we’re going. But you can trust me, I’ll be your guide… And I’ll put the question back to you. ‘What made it different? What made it unique?’”
“Different” and “unique” are two words often attributed to the city of Belfast. From its name — chosen by coin-toss — to the personality of the city itself, Belfast has always invited the wild and the wanting; the wanderers and wayfarers both. So when John Jurcheck and Courtney Hayes screeched to an idle in their 1987 Volkswagen van on Main Street in December 2022, there was probably appreciation on both sides of the window; both for and from the city of Belfast.
“It was like, man, we didn’t know what we were looking for,” John said, “but I think it might be this.”
John and Courtney, along with their two children, left Denver, Colorado, at the start of the pandemic with a whim and a will, their future uncertain. They both came from a background in theater and production, and set off with the thought that they might try their hand at farming.
“We ended up spending three years traveling all over the country,” John said, “learning how to garden and just being self-reliant, being outside, really being totally free and wondering if we would ever really get back to our art at all.” After stints traversing the country, John and Courtney found Belfast. Belfast having a fair share of farmers already, they decided to re-engage with their art, being “20 years strong in theater and events,” as Courtney said.
While in Denver, she said, “We started to marry our professional theater background with our event background and create our own original, immersive theatrical events.” One of those was an immersive jazz tour of a historically Black neighborhood undergoing gentrification.
Now, John and Courtney have decided to bring their expertise to newfound streets and cafes, theaters and parks, and founded Counter/Current:Collective, an organization with the mission of bringing immersive artistic and theatrical events to the Midcoast.
Through Counter/Current:Collective, John and Courtney plan to organize “happenings” in the area. Already, they have orchestrated several freeform dances, dubbed “Rhythm Sanctuaries,” at the First Church in Belfast. On Friday, July 12, at a secret location in downtown Belfast, they will unveil “The Aliens,” written by Annie Baker.
“The Aliens,” is a play, set in a small town in Vermont. “But, instead of putting it in a theater and having people sit in theater seats to watch it,” John said, “we’re going to set it in a site-specific location, in a secret location right here in downtown Belfast… [People are] going to go into the spot that maybe they’ve seen every day, walking by, but wouldn’t ever think they would experience it in this way.
“And then beyond that,” he said, “just really asking the community what stories are important to them and telling those stories in really creative ways. We’ve had a lot of experience producing things, working with playwrights… and going into communities and saying, this is your story to tell. We just want to help you tell it in a really exciting way that gets people interested.”
Courtney added, “It’s kind of one of those things where we want to say, ‘You’re not going to understand it until you experience Counter/Current:Collective. And once you do, we’re pretty confident you’re going to want to come back for more.’”
John and Courtney said they are also committed to paying artists; to encourage art as a profession and reinforce artistic excellence within the Midcoast by raising funds, applying for grants, and taking every dollar that comes into the Counter/Current:Collective and giving it back to the community.
“Everything that comes into this company,” Courtney said, “is going to be funneled either into our shows, which are going to hopefully just enhance our community through culture, and also into this fund to be able to provide more access to arts for everybody.”
“Counter/Current:Collective is our love letter to Midcoast Maine,” Courtney continued. “We are totally enamored with this community and with the people here and just being welcomed in, and we want to devotedly give our art here.”
Visit becountercurrent.com to find more Counter/Current:Collective events, and see their first show, “The Aliens,” on Friday, July 12, at a location to be announced.
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