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By Steve Sumerford

Ten years he's worked that same machine,

and not one time complained. ...

He gardens on the lot beside his doublewide.

Corn, tomatoes, beans. His wife works nights

at the nursing home, changing diapers, giving baths.

Some days she comes home crying, another one gone,

and another.

-- From "Velma and Bud on First Break at the Mill" in "Piece Work" by Barbara Presnell

 I always suspected that Brenda Schleunes had some kind of magical powers, but after seeing Touring Theater of North Carolina's performance of "Piece Work" last May, I know she does.

Somehow, Schleunes, the artistic director of the Touring Theater, had transformed a small book of poems by Lexington poet Barbara Presnell into a dynamic theatrical production. It was almost as if Bud, Velma and the other workers had walked out of the poem right onto the stage of the Greensboro Historical Museum.

The theater was packed the night I saw the production. Many of the audience members had once worked in mills here in Greensboro. I guessed that they came into the theater somewhat skeptical about whether what they would see on stage would resemble what they had experienced in the mills. However, during the post-performance discussion, they regaled us with stories -- some funny, some sad -- of mill life, and they confirmed what I, a grandson of textile mill workers, already felt: "Piece Work" had an authenticity about it that is rarely found in literary treatments of "blue-collar" workers.

Presnell, an award-winning poet, is the daughter of a Randolph County textile mill supervisor. The mill where he worked, and which she visited often as a child, is now closed. So, when she decided to write "Piece Work," she spent months talking with workers at another mill that was still operating, but before she finished the book, it too was closed and the workers she had come to know, like Bud and Velma, would soon be without jobs. Suddenly Presnell's book about the daily life of mill workers was transformed into a book about weavers, spinners and supervisors who would soon be joining the unemployment lines.

And many of these displaced workers would soon be doing something they hadn't done in years -- sitting in a classroom. Thanks to our community college system, thousands of Buds and Velmas across the state are getting retrained for new lines of work.

This gave Schleunes another idea: Take "Piece Work" to community colleges so that all the Buds and Velmas could experience theater that tells their story.

Schleunes then consulted with JoAnn Buck, head of the English Department at GTCC, and six months later community colleges in 10 counties had decided to make "Piece Work" part of their curriculum. English teachers would use the poems in classrooms, and the Touring Theater would perform "Piece Work" on their campuses.

In most of these counties, the local public library also agreed to sponsor related programs.

Said Touring Theater managing director Sarah Hillenbrand: "'Piece Work' helps students connect their own life experiences to theater and music. These communities where we will be taking 'Piece Work,' like Gastonia and Asheboro, have been hard hit by industrial layoffs. People there are really suffering right now because when a person loses their job, their entire life's structure is impacted -- their sense of self and how they fit into the world -- and their family's life is deeply impacted as well. Barbara's poetry speaks to all of that. And Brenda's production adds an entirely different emotional component. The audience can live Barbara's work for that hour and 15 minutes. And they will be changed by it."

Staging "Piece Work" wasn't the first time that Schleunes had adapted a book for the stage. She's been adapting literature for theater for more than 30 years. When asked about the challenges of the "page-to-stage" process, Schleunes chose instead to praise the poet.

"Working with Barbara's poetry was a delight," she said. "It resonates with the nuances of natural conversation; so I simply scripted it into the voices that I heard within her work."

But when Presnell was asked about the theatrical presentation of her book, she said she loved it and "Brenda is amazing."

If you'd like to see "Piece Work," it will be performed at GTCC twice on Monday.

Presnell will be the featured poet for "Poems About Work" on Nov. 16 at the Central Library.

After Presnell's reading, there will be an open mike. Everyone's invited to read favorite poems about work -- either personally written or a favorite by another poet.

 Decimal Points is a regular feature on the News & Record Books page. If you have comments about books or libraries, we would love to hear from you.

Steve Sumerford is assistant director of the Greensboro Public Library. He can be reached at 373-3636 or steve. sumerford@greensboro-nc.gov