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For the past eight years, with the exception of last year, local judges and lawyers have performed a play centered around a real-life crime event that occurred in Bastrop County at the turn of the 20th century.
The plays, which are historically-accurate portrayals of murders and trials in the county, help fund the Bastrop County Bar Association’s Bobby Jenkins Scholarships, which assist high school students in the county with paying for college.
While the 2020 edition of the play was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the seventh edition of the play is set for later this month as live theater has returned with the reopening of the Bastrop Opera House in September.
The continued implementation of Bastrop’s Cultural Arts Master Plan reached another milestone last month when the Bastrop City Council confirmed the appointments of seven people to the city’s newly formed Cultural Arts Commission.
The City Council created the Cultural Arts Commission in January as part of the years-long process of developing and instituting the arts master plan.
During the Feb. 23 Bastrop City Council meeting, the seven members of the commission were officially named, with each appointment representing a different arts and culture asset from the city.
Lisa Holcomb, Phil Hurley, Michael Jones, Luis “Chico” Portillo, Kaye Sapikas, Dick Smith and Maria Montoya Stayton were appointed to the commission.
During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, Lisa Holcomb kept a simple routine.
She knew there was a slim chance she could continue as normal with the season of live shows scheduled at the Bastrop Opera House, where she serves as executive director.
New developments with the pandemic arrived and changed by the hour. The city and county issued disaster declarations related to the spread of the disease.
The opera house went dark.
As Holcomb accepted a new reality, with a potential return date for the theater unknown, she settled into a pattern.
After locking the doors to the opera house, she decided to return to the building only to water the indoor plants and make sure no disturbances damaged the stately 131-year-old facility on Spring Street in Downtown Bastrop.