Since You Asked: Jeff Hufford

FRANK DENZLER

A series of questions and answers with RCHS teacher Briar Patch writer/director Jeff Hufford. The annual series of shows begins Sunday in the Laughlin Center.

Q.) How long have the Briar Patch Players been a tradition in Rush County?

A.) “I created the Briar Patch group in 1991, so this marks our 17th season. The group is loosely based on what was formerly known as the Slabtown Players with Marcia Blair at the helm in 1965.”

Q.) How many spoofs are contained in this year’s show?

A.) “There are six scenes in this years show. One of the scenes was written by Marcia Blair.”

Q.) Has the popularity of realty TV had an impact on the humor of the Briar Patch skits?

A.) “I have always wanted to do a skit about reality television. Cable television actually give us a lot more fodder for making fun of society in general because cable creates more entertainment news. For example, we would not care about Anna Nicole Smith of Paris Hilton except there they are on television all of the time. In years past one had to have some talent to be on television, that is not the case anymore. Society has become so starved for entertainment that now we can sit here in Rush County and make a lot of fun of society because people here have real values, real principals and care about people.”

Q.) How do you think the county reacts to having actual events being made light of?

A.) “ We are a county with a great sense of humor, especially about ourselves, and I like that about Rush County. We are all able to sit back and laugh about each other, ourselves and the situations we get ourselves into and our behaviors. A lifestyle like ours in a rural community is really great. What the Briar Patch does underscores the quality of young people we have and the knowledge that this is a good place to grow up.”

Q.) What, if any, connection do the sequence of the scenes have to one another?

A.) “ The five scenes that lead up to the finale are basically an opportunity for the teens to show off their talent. The last scene is where we say growing up in Rush County is a great thing.”

Q.) Are the Players allowed to ad lib parts of the show?

A.) “The show is pretty well structured because I will not let the actors do anything on stage that they haven’t passed through me first. Sometimes the student will give them an idea, but my thought is don’t do it on stage unless the idea passes through me first. Every once in a while something will slip through our fingers, but generally we want the kids to be responsible and understand that there are many ages represented in the audience and just as many outlooks. We want the kids to have respect for other people.”

Q.) Do you think some of the intimacy of the production is lost by the use of a big stage versus the Slabtown Players performing in the closeness of a smaller setting?

A.) “I think the current environment gives the viewer a better forum because you are watching kids acting either alone or in small groups. By using the Laughlin Center we do lose a little of the folksiness offered by a smaller environment, but at the same time the audience can see and hear the performance better — not to mention air-conditioning.”

Q.) What are your thoughts on this year’s show, “Rush County: Feel The Excitement?”

A.) “I think this show will be great fun. The kids have been very loyal and that is the thing I want to underscore. The way the show is put together, as far as the kids are concerned, echoes the kind of values that we are trying to represent: togetherness, serendipity and working together. Everybody contributes on their own and in their own way. In Rush County a lot of things are possible because people do and can work together. We are trying to keep the tradition alive that began in 1965 with Mrs. Blair. I like this year’s show, there are a lot of different things in it.”

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