Until recently it’s doubtful anyone from Blackshear, ever had their life story adapted into a musical.
That is, until now.
Bobbie O’Quinn, a lifelong resident of Blackshear, passed away in April 2019, roughly one month after her husband of 55 years, Russell O’Quinn.
Mrs. O’Quinn left a lifetime of memories, stories and anecdotes.
All those stories floated around the mind of her only grandson, Collin Hendley, for months after her passing.
“I knew I needed somewhere to record everything,” said Hendley. “So, in June 2019 he began to write.”
Three years later, he has been awarded a $1,000 grant through the University of Georgia to produce the result: a two hour fifteen minute stage show featuring fourteen original songs.
Hendley has been a storyteller for a long time.
A 2019 graduate of Pierce County High, he was active in the theatre program, winning numerous awards and recognition at state competitions.
In his speech as salutatorian to the Class of 2019, he recounted a recent collegiate theater audition where he tried explaining to a panel of judges how growing up in Pierce county had shaped him as a person.
“‘Do you know what it’s like for your entire community, one big family to gather in a stadium....Can you imagine having nothing to do for entertainment except play hide and seek, barefoot, in the middle of a blueberry field?’” he said.
As Hendley attempted to write down and organize everything he remembered about his grandparents, that storytelling impulse emerged again.
First, he had the idea it might be interesting to outline the story of their lives dramatically.
Then, he zeroed in on his grandmother and her path from adolescence to her final years.
The show, currently titled “Brighter Than the Sun” slowly emerged from there.
Eventually he discovered a central theme binding together the anecdotes he had turned into scenes.
“The through-line of the piece is the pursuit of one’s dreams, and the ways in which those dreams evolve and change as we go through our lives,” Hendley said.
When she was young, Mrs. O’Quinn dreamed of spending her life singing and creating music.
Hendley shared her enthusiasm, playing multiple instruments in both marching and symphonic band throughout middle and high school.
During quarantine, he began developing songs influenced by folk and southern gospel on the piano that could weave into the story.
As each new song was finished, he would play it through for his parents.
He was less willing to share other parts of his writing, keeping the text to himself until he considered it presentable.
“I continued writing and fleshing out the piece...during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after about a year and half of work, I finally had a completed piece that I was incredibly proud of,” said Hendley.
Even then he didn’t have any ambitions about sharing it with a wider audience.
“I wrote this for myself in all honesty,” said Hendley.
After all, would anyone care about the story if they didn’t know the people involved?
The story mainly takes place in Blackshear, watching Bobbie grow into adulthood and tracking her involvement in the community.
A large portion of Act II explores Bobbie and Russell’s decision to take in close friend Sis Young.
In early August of 2020, Hendley sat down with one of his closest friends and read the script out loud to her, singing through the music as it came up.
By the end, she was in tears, and Hendley realized the story might speak to a larger audience than he assumed.
After approaching his faculty advisor for guidance in fall 2021, it was suggested Hendley apply for the New GA Playwriting Grant, an annual grant sponsored by a group of UGA Theater alumni.
In its criteria, the grant calls for “artistic risk-taking and new approaches in concept and expression.”
Hendley submitted the script and a demo album recorded with a group of friends in January, 2022.
He was notified in April that he had won.
In addition to receiving a $1,000 production budget, Hendley was granted one week in a production space to stage performances.
Hendley has already sought out a co-director, scenic designer, costume designer, stage manager and music director, who will be meeting soon to discuss their collective vision for the play.
After that the search for the four woman, five man cast will begin.
Currently, Hendley hopes to premiere “Brighter Than the Sun” in early January or May of 2023.
If that initial staging is successful, Hendley says he would love to try and license the production further and he is working with faculty at UGA to put together industry invitations for Atlanta theater representatives.
“I am a big believer in finding beauty in the mundane and also that smaller scale legacies are integral parts of historical preservation,” said Hendley.
“I am so proud to have this opportunity to share the stories of my grandparents in this way to audiences who most likely would never have the chance to hear about what amazing humans they were.”
Hendley has had small roles in several TV shows including Netflix’s Stranger Things, and Cobra Kai.
He has a small part in the upcoming Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy III and recently performed with Peach State Summer Theater in Valdosta, also serving as dance captain.
He is the son of Chad and April Hendley of Blackshear.
