The county is anxiously awaiting the premiere performance of the Edgefield County Theatre Company this weekend at the Joanne T. Rainsford Discovery Center in Edgefield.

An evening of “Cornbread, Buttermilk and Wine” will be the debut for the Theatre Company Saturday at 8 p.m. and again Sunday at 3 p.m. Both plays will be presented again on Oct. 9 and 10.

“Cornbread & Clay” and “The Buttermilk Guild” are original one-act plays set in the Edgefield region and are written and directed by Tony Baughman.

On Monday night, as actors and stage people shuffled here and there, Baughman reminded everyone that there were only two more actual rehearsals.

“This is what is known as ‘Tech Week,” said Baughman. “In other words, it’s our last opportunity to work out any technical aspects associated with the productions, such as lights and make-up.”

On Thursday evening, the grand dress rehearsal and a special gala will be held by invitation for the major theatre donors. This will be the actual first for both plays.

“We’ve done well with these casts,” Baughman said in an interview. “We have only three—actually four, counting myself—experienced actors. The rest are novices. It’s their first productions. They have been unbelievable.”

He referred to Robert Mitchell, for instance, who plays the title role in “Cornbread & Clay.”

“He’s fantastic as ‘Cornbread,’” he said. “The last stage experience he had was public speaking in high school.”

Baughman went on to say that he wrote a very challenging play in “Cornbread & Clay,” with a long monologue at the end.

“Robert has done an amazing job at handling this. He is as good as any experienced actor I’ve seen.”

He said in 30 years of watching Strom Thurmond football, Mitchell has only missed one game. For the grand rehearsal this Thursday, he will miss the second one.

“He has incredible integrity and commitment to go the extra mile,” he said. “That’s the kind of actor I want.”

He talked about others also.

“In ‘Buttermilk Guild,’ there are five women who are busy forming a sisterhood. That’s what the play is all about,” he said. “Three of the five have limited stage experience. This is Linda Clancy’s first time on stage.”

Baughman himself will play Percy Pickens in “Cornbread & Clay.”

“Interestingly, we had an actor to drop out 10 days ago,” he said. “I had a choice to recast, cut the scene or to step into the part. A part of me wanted to have a finger in it, so I said, ‘Why not? If I hadn’t written and directed the play, I certainly would have wanted to. Alfred Hitchcock did it and so did others.’”

Baughman said actors have been rehearsing for the past two months and everything is falling into place.

“I think Edgefield County is ready for live local theatre.”

He said ticket sales so far have been good.

“That’s why we’ve added the two shows the following weekend,” he said. “There’s only a handful left.”

Tickets are $12 each, $10 for seniors, and if seats are available, can be purchased at the door. Or they can be picked up at the Discovery Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

They can also be charged by phone by calling the Discovery Center at 637-3833. Checks should be made out to the Edgefield County Theatre Company.