Nuci Story Project to document impact

Community benefits from Space

By: BRIANE DAVIS

Posted: 6/8/08

After a long battle with clinical depression, 22-year-old musician and University student Nuci Phillips committed suicide on Thanksgiving Day 1996. Four years later, his mother, Linda Phillips bought and renovated an old warehouse on the edge of Athens.

The warehouse, now known as Nuci's Space, includes four practice rooms, a stage area, a coffee bar/lounge and a library. Its mission is to help with counseling and raise money to spend on therapy for musicians suffering from depression, anxiety and other neurological disorders. The support center aids musicians with no health insurance by requiring a small fee to pay for a therapist or psychiatrist while Nuci's Space pays the balance.

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Contact Brandon Deyette at info@uzupistheatre.com to make an appointment or for any input for the project.

The building also aids Athens' music scene by providing spaces for musicians to practice, renting out rooms for as low as $6 per hour. Inspired by Linda's mission, producer/director Brandon Deyette tells the story of Nuci Phillips and the impact of his suicide on the Athens community.

"Through theater and art people can see the change; recognize the problem, and it can hit home," said Deyette, co-owner of Uzupis Theater Company.

The Athens-based company, which opened last year, is a theater for social change, including issues such as poverty and suicide. The company embraces stories and issues that affect a community as a whole.

The Nuci Story Project is a community-wide project about how the death of Nuci Phillips and the birth of Nuci's Space has affected everyone in and surrounding Athens. It will consist of a documentary with interviews from people around the community, while also exposing the work Nuci's Space does for those who have considered or attempted suicide and suffer from disorders.

The theatre company also is producing a play that links all of the stories from the interviews together.

Deyette said that Uzupis is looking to interview individuals, families, friends or groups that either knew Nuci Phillips or have simply benefited from the organization made in his honor.

"Nuci's Space provides not only the space for the musicians but also the intangible element of discussion," said Will Kiser, volunteer coordinator at Nuci's Space.

Kiser said that Nuci's Space provides a place where people can come to talk about their issues.

"The feeling of having no one to turn to is a stigma to these kinds of mental illnesses and talking about it helps."

The idea for the project came around after the theater company performed plays dealing with the issue of suicide in Barrow County schools. Then, after meeting Linda Phillips, Deyette asked her to speak to the students after the play and to tell the story of her son. Deyette says that after hearing Linda Phillips speak the message of the play really made an impact on the kids. When he found out that there has never been a formal documentary made about Nuci Phillips and Nuci's Space, Deyette grasped onto the idea and it grew from there.

"This is an interesting way for us to reach out to people and get the message out about what we do here," Kiser said.

Deyette was inspired by how the story of Nuci's Space had a "ripple effect" and was able to reach so many others who struggle or know someone who struggles with issues of depression.

"Anyone can play a part in this project," Deyette said. "It's not just how you can help us, what can we, as a project do for you. That includes recognition, sponsorships, and any donated items."

Any donations made towards the project are tax-deductible.

For the interviews, Uzupis is looking for stories of inspiration, hope and overcoming obstacles. The preliminary interviews will be on Saturdays, beginning June 7th and continue through August, excluding some Saturdays.

"The main idea of the project is to show how you yourself can make a change for yourself or for your community," Deyette said. "It's about how his mother took a horrible situation and turned it into something beautiful. She gave back to the community what she couldn't give to her son."