Since I’ve been telling a video story about the tribulations of the currently nomadic PURE Theatre, it just made sense to me to complete the set by attending the two productions they’re currently presenting at Lance Hall, in the middle of the cemetery at Circular Church. It was The Tragedian at 4 p.m., and Vaud Rats at 7:30…

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PURE Theatre: Episode 2. The Move-in. from Dan Conover on Vimeo.

The crew — including family members drafted for the effort — assembles at Circular Church downtown, and the unloading and construction of the new theater space begins.

No matter what their roles on stage, everyone becomes a laborer when PURE is between productions, from respected actor (and PURE company manager) R.W. Smith to the young cast and crew of “Eurydice,” which staged its final performance the night before.

Rodney Lee Rogers and Sharon Graci juggle the physical labor, the direction of the set-up and the parenting of two young daughters. But the overworked crew’s most daunting task might just be doing math in their heads in front of a rolling camcorder.

Still ahead: Sharon’s first turn behind the wheel of the “big rig” Penske rental truck…

PURE Theatre: Episode 1 from Dan Conover on Vimeo.

I met the founders of PURE Theatre about four years ago through a newspaper assignment and I’ve been an admirer of their work ever since. They’ve got four plays in this year’s Piccolo Festival (Eurydice, Vaud Rats, The Tragedian, and Cloud Tectonics), and that’s a lot for any small company, but there’s one thing that makes that number even more remarkable: PURE Theatre no longer has a theater.

I bumped into Rodney Lee Rogers outside the Gaillard a week ago and asked him how they were handling the logistics of running a homeless theater company with a busy schedule… on top of running an enormous family (Rogers is married to PURE co-founder Sharon Graci, and they have two young children in addition to her three teenagers from a previous marriage). One thing led to another, and on Tuesday I showed up on James Island a little after 8:30 to begin following Rodney and Sharon through their day.

It’s a glimpse of what it means to make demanding professional theater work in a small market, but it’s also a fairly funny glimpse at a talented family that’s adapted to an unusual life on the run.

Local writer/blogger/critic/filmmaker and SpoletoToday SpoJo Nick Smith alerted us yesterday to this series of videos he made about PURE Theatre’s Eurydice, a 21st-century re-imagining of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. And then, oddly enough, I ran into PURE co-founder Rodney Lee Rogers (Eurydice’s father) during my Thursday rounds.

PURE built an enviable reputation for creative, challenging theater during its years at what is now The Cigar Factory, but it’s been homeless ever since losing that lease. This production is staged at 10 Storehouse Row on the former Navy base in North Charleston, where one drawback is the simple fact that so many locals have never been there and don’t know what to expect if they go.

We’ll let Nick introduce you to the piece, and maybe we’ll come up with a SpoletoToday “Follow Us to Eurydice” trip here soon…

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