The Seeing Place is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community theater located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. We exist to tell powerful stories onstage through beautiful, engaging productions that invite audiences to see themselves, one another, and the world with greater honesty and compassion.
We choose stories not only for what happens onstage, but for what audiences may carry home.
THE STORY COMES FIRST
Every production begins with a question:
What is this story asking us to see?
We believe theater can entertain us while also asking something of us. A comedy can make us laugh and still reveal something true. A musical can delight us and still send us home seeing ourselves, another person, or the world differently.
We choose work with meaning beneath the surface —
stories that are beautiful to watch, compelling to experience, and difficult to forget.
ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP
ERIKA BAIN | Founder and Artistic Director
Erika Bain selects and directs each production by asking what the story reveals, why it matters now, and what an audience may carry home from it. She is especially gifted at seeing what a story can become, finding its deeper meaning, creating beauty from limited resources, and shaping performance, movement, music, design, and imagery into one cohesive world.
Her artistic work is shaped by a belief that theater should be both engaging and meaningful: beautiful enough to draw us in and honest enough to stay with us.
STEVEN BAIN | Co- Founder and Executive Leadership
Steven helped rebuild The Seeing Place alongside Erika in 2021 and shares its story-first vision.
He helps steward the organization’s direction, sustainability, and culture so that each production can be created with clarity, integrity, and care.
Together, Erika and Steven lead The Seeing Place with a shared belief that the story comes first, artists gather to serve it, and what audiences carry home belongs to them.
The Pillars Youth Theater, Les Miserables, 2026