What does dark comedy have to do with one of the brightest spots in our downtown cityscape? Well, you could say, metaphorically speaking, that it relates to the challenges faced by Gene and Natasha Williams when they set their sites on becoming a Lexington landmark.
In 2001, this optimistic husband and wife team relocated “that Russian place on Southland Drive” to downtown near the corner of Esplanade and Main Street. Their dream: to become a very cool place to go.
Little did they know that they would spend the next seven years wrestling with what Gene calls, “two monolithic obstacles of doing business downtown: a huge, negative brand (paid for by parking tickets) and absolutely no centralized marketing campaign by the city or other downtown authority.”
The Williamses realized quickly that they had immersed themselves in what could have been the darkest comedy of all: failure for their family-owned business of ten years.
Now, owning and operating three separate business entities and turning away droves at the door of Natasha’s Cafe, these entrepreneurs credit three things: a business strategy that is more of a balancing act, the attention gained by blatant contradiction, and the power of the creative mind that enables us to laugh in the face of fear.
The couple admits that they went into business, many years ago, clouded by idealism. They had no business plan. In turn after turn, they adopted a unique business philosophy that is experimental and theatrical.
“Experimental by necessity — since we are not a franchise, we needed to continually try out new systems, ways of doing business, test assumptions and incorporate fresh ideas,” stated Gene Williams.
From his wife’s point of view, their method of operation has always been theatrical, which really means changeable, flexible and expressive in all things from the design of the space to their management styles.
A retail contradiction
How difficult is it to be successful in retail in these days of the Internet? Well, it could be real difficult if your catch-phrase is “buy less of everything.”
According to Gene Williams, their retail philosophy is somewhat contradictory. “We would like to see our lives as more than linear journeys through a consumer landscape of collecting stuff — stuff we can’t take to the grave,” he said. Ironically, the notion has caught on as being so cool that sales via their online mail order company continue to climb.
Gene Williams’ retail experience began as a buyer for John Peterman, climbed to the heights of selling to Bloomingdales and closing on over 100,000 in sales, which earned him the unique title as “the first importer of the Russian hats.” In 1995, he began publishing a catalogue/magazine called Catazine and moved the mail order company to the Web in 1999.
After all these years, he has come to realize that retail is really a place where a community can look into a mirror and see itself. “To see at a glance the scope of its values, the level of its skills, the heights of its aesthetics and the depth of its greed, there is no better place to learn than from a sales counter. ... And if after fifteen years of it you can still love your fellow humans, you are ready to join the world of theatre.”
For that, he and Natasha turned to the kitchen.
A branding strategy based on the creative mind
Through the years, Natasha’s Cafe had nurtured not only an extraordinary new American cuisine, but also an abundance of local talent, including artistic minds of all types. “Cooks, poets, choppers, musicians, managers, greeters, eaters, actors, servers, and seaters” had married into something primal and energizing, something that Natasha Williams refers to as the intrinsic theatricality of life.
After the pair pondered why anyone would leave something so inspiring behind the swinging door to the kitchen, a unique marketing strategy was born: a branding strategy really, based in theater.
On April 30, 2003, the staff staged Kissing Christine, a play by John Patrick Shanley, that featured Joe Gatton, Anitra Brumagen and Kim Dixon. This powerful, one-act play revealed how just one kiss could transform a chance encounter into a fateful affair. The evening’s entertainment, which included dinner, was a huge success.
Motivated by the notion that culture happens around food, The Balagula Theatre Company became a separate 501c3, with Natasha Williams serving as the managing director and Ryan Case as the artistic director. The company considers itself an actor’s theater, seeing its mission as nurturing local talent, allocating its every resource to this purpose, and challenging not only the actors, but the audience as well — and their April performance of Pillowman will be no different.
The Dark Comedy - A Cathartic Affair
Christine Kuhn, a local artist who has been invited to paint her personal and professional response to the script, sees Natasha's vision as one of the highest caliber. And, if you were given the opportunity to meet Natasha Williams, you would know that her ambitions will not be satisfied with the light fare of a simple kiss and dinner.
“She has built Balagula Theatre so that she can produce plays of substance, plays which address real issues of our times and of human existence,” Kuhn said.
For Kuhn, two key questions posed by Pillowman are: “How is violence and abuse perpetuated through generations and how can it be stopped?” and “What is the role of art in this cessation and in healing?”
According to Natasha, Pillowman is a complex dream sequence that will be performed by four actors: Ryan Case, Pete Sears, David Richmond and Joseph Gatton. “The cast and crew are not only skilled, but also intelligent, highly educated, limitlessly creative, and willing and able to create collectively, a rare ability in the ego-driven world of performing arts,” Natasha Williams said.
Pillowman is a dark comedy, and the creators of this particular performance have learned not only to laugh in the face of fear, but also to rise above it. And what they want to know now is, can we?
Seeking partnership for the retail store
As the Williamses continue to focus more attention on Balagula Theatre, they are considering possible partnerships to handle their boutique line, which carries primarily women’s clothes and accessories, jewelry and gift items.
With the right help, they would like to see the boutique expanded to include a gallery presentation of jewelry, accessories, artwork and cards, and possibly moved to a more visible location closer to Main Street, which would also free up an additional 1,800 square feet of space in their current facility to add seats to their restaurant. Expanding their venue seating capacity would also open up the possibility of hosting more well-known performers, bands and theater productions, Gene Williams said.