Nick Piper and his wife, Wendy Piper, in "Maytag Virgin
Nicholas Piper got hooked on the theater when he was 10 years old.
“My parents were both involved in theater when we lived in Chicago. I would see them act in plays together, and it made me want to try. Our town had a terrific children’s community theater, so when I was 10 years old, I auditioned for a play and got a small role.From there, I was hooked — I loved everything about the theatre: the rehearsals, the rituals, the nervousness and excitement of an opening night. All things I still love about the theater today.
“I was lucky to be exposed to the arts at a very young age by my parents, and they have played a central role in my life. The arts matter because they help us express those things that are un-expressible and yet, universal. The theater, in particular, is the most powerful medium for promoting empathy — the ability to live in another’s skin for a couple of hours — and therefore has the most possibility for promoting change. For these reasons, the arts are essential to the lives of young people — for those who feel isolated or alone or different—the arts help us see that we are not any of these things. The arts are the place where we can all find a home,” he says.
He came to Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Virginia, in 1990, when he was hired as an intern by Rex Partington. A graduate of the theater department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Piper spent two summers at Barter learning all aspects of the theater. He built sets, hung lights, worked in the box office, served as house manager, swept the stage and acted in shows.
In 1993, Richard Rose expanded the intern company to a year-round program. Called Barter’s First Light Theatre (now The Barter Players), Piper became a founding member of the company under the direction of John Hardy. He spent the next three years in a van with five other actors, bringing theater-for-young-audiences to the Appalachian region with the mission of making lifelong theatergoers by giving them an incredible theatrical experience at a young age.
It was during this time that Piper developed his skills as an actor and director. Performing up to 12 shows a week on gym floors, auditoriums, high-school stages and cafeterias across Appalachia during the school year, he would then act on Barter’s Main Stage and Stage 2 over the summers, complementing his experience as a young actor by getting to work with seasoned professionals. In 1996, he became a member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors.
In 1997, Rose started Barter’s Resident Acting Company, of which Piper became a founding member. In 1998 he moved to New York City, where he pursued his career as an actor and worked closely, ironically enough, with the Abingdon Theatre Company in NYC — a theater dedicated to developing and producing new work. He returned to Barter in 2002 to be a part of one of Barter’s signature new works, “Keep on the Sunny Side: The Songs and Stories of the Carter Family.”From there, he rejoined the Resident Acting Company and has been at Barter ever since.
He has performed in over 100 shows, including turns as Biff in “Death of a Salesman,” Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Sherlock Holmes in “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” Georges in “La Cage Aux Folles,” Edward Bloom in “Big Fish” and Jack in “Maytag Virgin.”
“Nick’s acting work is some of the finest in the nation, and Barter counts itself lucky to have his work on its stages,” says Katy Brown, Barter’s artistic director.
He is also integral to Barter’s directing corps. His productions include “The Glass Menagerie,” “Lying in State,” “Keep on the Sunnyside,” “Leaving Iowa,” “Winter Wheat,” “Madame Buttermilk” and “I’ll Never Be Hungry Again.”
In 2006 he was made an associate artistic director of Barter Theatre as well as the director of the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. Over the past 12 years he has helped develop dozens of new plays that have gone on to full productions on Barter’s two stages as well as regional theaters across the country.
Indeed, some of Barter’s most popular plays have been developed through the AFPP including “Keep on the Sunny Side,” “Man of Constant Sorrow,” “The Dryad,” “Don’t Cry for Me Margaret Mitchell,” “October Before I Was Born,” “Winter Wheat” and “Madame Buttermilk.”Hecreated the College Playwriting Festival, and just this year added the Black in Appalachia Initiative to the roster. Finally, he also serves as a mentor, not only to the members of the Resident Acting Company and the Barter Players, but also to students at Emory & Henry College, with whom Barter has an artistic relationship.
In 2011, Piper was honored along with Katy Brown with an induction into Barter Theatre’s Walk of Fame for Lasting Impact.
“I am humbled to be a part of this group of artists honored with this award.I have benefited from the arts in this region for many years — they have given me a life doing what I love, with people I love, in a community I love. They have given me a wonderful wife (Wendy), two beautiful children (Lucy and Maggie) and a place to call home (Abingdon). I am forever grateful to be a part of this community that has supported the arts for decades,” he says.
