Story by Cindy Reid | Photos by Tonya Perry

The Hive Repertory Theatre is an educational theatre located in Rincon, Georgia, serving the Effingham county community. Since opening in March 2019, The Hive has been busy producing children’s theatre, dramatic plays, musical theatre, revues, as well as theatre camps and theatre classes. Founder and Managing Director Lisa Wood is a certified performing arts teacher who is dedicated to enhancing the theatre arts scene in our area.

Lisa grew up in Effingham County and has an extensive background in the performing arts. A graduate of Effingham County High School (Class of 2002), Lisa says, “I have been involved with theatre for a long, long time. I did a lot of theatre at ECHS as well as community theatre, and then went on to study performing arts in college.”

After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Jacksonville University and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of North Florida, Lisa decided to open The Hive in Effingham County.

“I wanted to create an opportunity for both children and adults to participate in community theatre because there was not a lot here and I love helping people find an outlet to perform,” she says.

The Hive is a resource for the whole community, says Lisa. “At The Hive, we work with people of all ages, from PreK to their late 70s. We have opportunities for every single person because our shows run the gamut from straight drama to musicals and everything in between.”

In addition to acting classes, they have classes for “behind the scenes” interests such as costumes, theatre tech, set building and stage craft. No stranger to performing, Lisa steps into roles if needed, in fact she recently played Capt. Hook in Tinkerbell because the actor who was originally cast moved out of the area. Lisa says, “I can sing, act, direct, do costumes, set design and dance—but I am not a great dancer!”

Upcoming Events at the Hive

“All show dates are tentative due to the pandemic, so we will continue to greenlight every show and keep working on them until we know for sure when we will be open for performances at any given time,” says Lisa. As it stands now this is the slate of upcoming shows:

• Pygmalion
• Writers Runaround
• Alice in Wonderland
• A Christmas show to be announced.

Tinkerbell, which had been postponed due to Covid-19 was performed in mid-July and the “Just Disney” and “Just Broadway” summer camps have been completed.

A New Starring Role: Teacher

This fall, Lisa is starting a new position as the Theater & Chorus teacher at South Effingham High School. No stranger to academics, she has been teaching theatre for 15 years, most recently at Oglethorpe Charter School. She says being involved with performing arts is beneficial for all students, even the ones that think they won’t like it.

“My favorite student is the one who doesn’t like theatre, because they are a challenge. I love to see that light they get when they ‘get it.’ I never worry if they are going to like it because I know at some point, they are going to love it!”

Lisa says students are told what to do all day but theatre, marching band, other performing arts gives kids back ownership of their time. “It’s so important to kids and to me to be a part of bringing it to them.” For children being homeschooled, Lisa offers theatre classes privately through The Hive.

Family Fun

The Wood family resides in Rincon, and Lisa says her husband Kyle Wood, “is absolutely my biggest supporter!” They have two daughters, Cadence, 16, and Lillian, 11, who love performing on stage, being backstage and helping out at The Hive in every department. Lisa says, “This spring the girls helped for weeks building sets and doing lots of work at the theatre.”

In their free time, the family enjoys being outside, and this year they started camping. As Lisa says “We ran away and went camping. We loved it!”

Why Theatre?

The arts are important because “you can learn all subjects from the arts—from math, science and literature to the human values including empathy.” Lisa adds: “The arts bring our community together, they give ownership, they make you feel a part of things. But the most important thing the arts do is make people happy!”

There's always something buzzing at The Hive!

www.thehiverep.com

(912) 433-5902

102 International Dr. Rincon, GA 31326