Olympics A Recipe For Revival For Wiregrass Town
By: Kevin Presley
Updated: July 23, 2012
In the early 1990's, Colquiit, GA was about to "dry up and blow away." Buildings were dilapidated, the town's economy depressed, and the peoples' spirit at an all-time low. A chance meeting between a town leader and a Chicago playwright would change everything. Richard Owen Geer pitched his theory that if a town could collect its own stories and retell them through theater, wonderful things would happen.
The seed was planted and "Swamp Gravy" was born. A play performed twice a year in Cotton Hall Theater (an abandoned cotton warehouse) now brings in millions of dollars worth of town revenue through ticket sales and tourism. When the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, Swamp Gravy went international. The cast was invited to perform in Centennial Park and competed to win medals in the newly established "Cultural Olympiad" awards.
The honor put Swamp Gravy and the town of Colquitt on the map and 16 years later, the play and the town are going strong.
Kevin Presley traveled to Colquitt and learned that Swamp Gravy was the town's recipe for revival.
The seed was planted and "Swamp Gravy" was born. A play performed twice a year in Cotton Hall Theater (an abandoned cotton warehouse) now brings in millions of dollars worth of town revenue through ticket sales and tourism. When the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, Swamp Gravy went international. The cast was invited to perform in Centennial Park and competed to win medals in the newly established "Cultural Olympiad" awards.
The honor put Swamp Gravy and the town of Colquitt on the map and 16 years later, the play and the town are going strong.
Kevin Presley traveled to Colquitt and learned that Swamp Gravy was the town's recipe for revival.
