History:
Year after year, Swamp Gravy, the Official Folk Life Play of Georgia, produces plays that delight audiences of all ages and all backgrounds. While definitely steeped in Southern tradition, Swamp Gravy presents stories of universal appeal- stories about life and death, about family, about community. Each performance is a crowd-pleasing blend of comedy, drama, and music with a cast and crew of over 100 people who transform southern life into unforgettable theatre.
This was started in 1991 when Joy Jinks was at a meeting in New York City. She was talking about how she wanted to preserve Colquitt's heritage and record stories about the community. Richard Geer, a student who was working on his doctorate degree, overheard this conversation, and he approached Joy Jinks and said that he wanted to be involved in the project.
So a team of volunteers led by Charlotte Phillips and Sara Ann Keaton began collecting and recording stories from the people of Colquitt, GA. After many stories were gathered they were passed along to Jo Carson who adapted a portion of the stories into the play format. Karen Kimbrel wrote the songs and with the help of Steve Hacker, these were set to music. Richard Geer directed the play and before we knew it, we had Swamp Gravy.
This name is indigenous of the area. It is a stew like dish that is made from pouring "fish drippings" that you have left in the grease after frying fish. Then you add tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and whatever else you have on hand and make a side dish or it could even be the whole meal if you don't have enough fish for everyone. So basically, you take whatever you have and make something out of it, which is what we have done in Colquitt, GA with our rendition of "Swamp Gravy."
May-Haw, Colquitt's own version of Hee Haw was added to the Cotton Hall schedule. This fun show served as a fund raiser to benefit the "Nuthin' But A Will" mural project and now will continue to be a fundraiser for various arts council projects.
Gospel of the Rock premiered in Cotton Hall in the summer of 2006. This was a true story about two Georgia boys who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962. This was the first production in Cotton Hall that will bring both both professional actors and local talent to the stage for a production.
