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By JENNIFER MOONSONG
Glasgow News 1
It is said that the influence of a good teacher can never be erased. Although former Barren County teacher Jimmy Lowe is the first to say the Barren County drama program was well established before his time, and has accomplished much after his time, it is undeniable that his love of theatrical productions and the written word had a lasting and meaningful impact on the program, and it would be impossible to separate his story from the story of that success.
“I hail from the metropolis of Pig,” said Lowe. Since fourth grade he has lived in Barren County. As a young man with the world stretched out before him, Lowe had a dream.
“I wanted to write the great American novel,” he said. He loved literature, and initially studied English and Creative Writing at Western Kentucky University. He spent his early adulthood in studies and exploration.
“I think ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee is one of the best books ever written. I also love Kentucky writer Jesse Stuart, and think ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ was a masterpiece,” he said.
“I visited Fairfield, Connecticut because there was a haven of writers there,” Lowe said. He attended a drama workshop at UCLA, and took a class in directing at Yale University where he had the same professor as Meryl Streep. That was not his only brush with fame. Later in life he sought out famed author Ray Bradbury, who became a friend and pen pal. Although he loved the adventure of youth, practicality set in.
“At the same time there was something adult in me that felt settled, and I had a good life, and had to look at what I would do that was not writing the great American novel,” Lowe said. That was into early 1970s.
He married, had children and took a job teaching English at Barren County High School, and eventually taught Drama. The two concepts, for Lowe, went hand-in-hand. He loved the teaching experience.
“I always liked it when students were engaged and learning and I could step back and watch,” he said. He was also devout to inclusion.
“Everyone in the class had a part, even if it was not on stage,” Lowe said. “We taught the fundamentals of drama, lighting, costumes and backdrops, and the production of a play was the ongoing assignment.”
There were different types of productions, including plays for children and musical numbers that Lowe would work on conjunction with. One production a year however was “straight drama.”
One of the plays performed at Barren County was written by Lowe.
“Once upon a time, I wrote a play. There was a contest and the winners got to see their play performed on stage at the Kentucky Center for the Arts,” Lowe said.
Lowe’s play was a moving tribute to changing times in his own generation, titled “Old Luther’s Store.” The entire play takes place in an old-fashioned general store on the day of Kennedy’s assassination.
Music, costumes and lighting were incorporated and taught .
“Old Luther sits and whittles and does very little talking, and a lot of listening,” Lowe said. “The wall calendar is several months behind because Luther likes the picture better, which was of course symbolic of his reluctance to move forward in the new world,” he added.
It captured third in the contest, but perhaps the bigger prize was watching it performed back in Barren County.
Other productions included “Staurt Little,” “The Wind in the Willows,” and the beloved classic, “Our Town.”
“’Our Town’ was a wonderful experience. It says so much of how we need to look to the ordinary to find the extraordinary. Why waste your time feeling something grand is around the corner, when you find it in ordinary life?” Not only does that sentiment encapsulate “Our Town,” it sums up Lowe’s entire outlook.
For Lowe, the magic came off stage, looking to the limelight.
“I would sit back and not say another word. I’d just watch and enjoy,” he said.
Lowe taught for 40 years, 27 as a high school teacher. He recalls many of his students and their dedication and talent.
“Chris Houchens was wonderful. He had lots of lines and was stage manager. He was excellent,” Lowe said.
Scenes from back in the day, when Lowe fused his love of literature and drama for great performances.
In retirement, literature and drama remain big parts of Lowe’s experience.
“My wife calls me a completist, I have to read all of a writer’s work,” he said. They still attend lots of plays, and read lots of books.
As for teaching, the man of many words summed it up in few: “It enriched my life.”
Lowe believed in teaching the fundamentals of drama.
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