Elenor Sapir and Lena Wyllie

How It All Started

Elenor Sapir and Lena Wyllie had been friends for only a couple of years and yet it didn’t take long before they both knew that there was something they needed to do together.  They both had the realization that they wanted to create an atmosphere and space that brought performers and audiences together to share the joy and intimacy of live entertainment.  The idea of Epiphany Arts was born.  

So on the 1st Friday of January 2005 they had their first music and dinner night.  It is now a monthly event at Stokers Siding Hall which gives expression to talented artists in all fields:  music, dance, poetry, theatre, comedy etc while providing a setting where families can enjoy a meal together and a concert at a reasonable price.  

Elenor and Lena cook the meals and set up with the help of their respective partners and then on the night they have a handful of wonderful helpers to wash dishes, pack up and clear away.   Trestle tables are set up with tablecloths, table decorations, candles, glasses and serviettes.  The stage also gets a makeover with black back drops and some delicious wine coloured front curtains. There is a high quality sound system that is managed on the night by Elenor's husband David Weir - a musician and composer who runs his own recording studio.  The hall is slowly transformed from being a lovely old wooden hall into a beautiful, sparkling place where a real feeling of community is created.

It's All in the Name

We are often asked how we came up with the name Epiphany and what it means.

It was during the Christmas Holidays and New Year period that we were planning our first event.  We were trying to figure out a catchy name.  All the names we came up with seemed clever but didn't have the magic factor, that zing of 'yes that's it!". 

The date we were planning to have our first event  was the 7th January 05.  Then someone said "that's the time of Epiphany in the religious calendar" and there was something special about the sound of the word Epiphany.  As Lena says: "When I heard that word, the hairs on the back of my neck started tingling.  I knew we were on to something". 

There was a short debate about whether it sounded too religious as we didn't want to give the impression that we were associated with, or promoting, any particular religion.  So we checked out the dictionary meaning of the word - "a revelation, a manifestation of the divine or of an essential truth", "a transforming moment, a moment of realisation, of clarity". 

This seemed to be the essence of what we were trying to create - a space where those magic moments can occur - when a live performer reaches out to the audience and the audience spontaneously responds - when the spirit of the performer and the audience come together.

We knew we'd found the name for our performance nights. 

And the Result - Some Magic Moments......