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Cast members David McNeill White, who is also the director, Karen Loos, Liat Faver, Jack Molnar, Daniel White and Katie White all stand around the time machine that is featured. (Photo/Stephanie Hill)
Have you wanted to travel back in time?
Well you can when you see the performance of It’s About Time! at the Sautee Nacoochee Center this month.
This play by Emory Jones is based on his book Zipping Through Georgia … On a Goat-Powered Time Machine with Ludlow Porch and a Parrot Named Pete. Jones said the idea for the book came after he had a dream about a time machine and Porch, who was well-known author, humorist and radio broadcaster.
“I came home and went and talked to Ludlow and said, ‘I’m going to write this book about you and I, and a time machine,’” Jones said. “I said, ‘Tell me what a time machine looks like.’ He said, ‘Give me a week.’ So I went back in a week and he said it’s two jon boats – they’re upside down on top of each other – and they’re held by four posts. It’s powered by the Fleebish system – it’s going to be the Fleebish 7 – and it’s got the little fan on the back. The operating system is Fleebish, but it’s got a goat running on a treadmill.”
While the book and the play have the same concept, there are differences in some dialogue and scenes, Jones said.
In the play, Porch and Jones are trying to go back in time to see James Oglethorpe land in 1733 to stop him from naming Savannah something different. Because of issues with the time machine, they keep ending up in different time periods.
Jones said he decided to make the book into a play after a radio host in Atlanta repeatedly told him he needed to do it.
“I started writing it [and thought] this is going to be okay. It’s going to be fun,” Jones said. “I finished it, and I let some people look at it and read it, and they all thought it was funny.”
Performances were originally scheduled for 2020 but were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. This will be the third work of Jones to be performed at the Sautee Nacoochee Center, with the first two being Cheever and The Valley Where They Danced.
The performance will feature David McNeill White, who is also the director, Karen Loos, Liat Faver, Jack Molnar, Daniel White and Katie White.
It’s About Time! will be performed at the Sautee Nacoochee Center from Aug. 12-14 and 19-21 at 7:30 p.m., and Aug. 15 and 22 at 4 p.m., in the center theatre. Tickets are $20 for members, $23 for non-members and $8 for students. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit snca.org.