The idea began about this time last year. At the time, this idea didn’t seem that radical…
The idea was this... to put together a theatre company that was small and fast and wily. This theatre company would do small, dynamic, high-quality productions not seen anywhere else in the area. This small theatre would be started by a group of artists not right out of school, but mature artists in their late twenties to mid-thirties, who have worked for years in the theatre and have developed their own voices. This theatre company would invest in emerging playwrights – not playwrights who are already well established on the regional theatre circuit and still labeled “emerging,” but genuine, hard-working, up-and-coming writers who haven't broken through yet to the broader mainstream theatre scene. These writers would have small, but defined and idiosyncratic bodies of work under them. This theatre would stay small with a beginning operating budget under $12,000, with the idea that one production would pay for the next. More time and energy would be spent on each project, and, flying in the face of traditional models, the “season” would consist of just two full-out productions. The artists in the company would also have the freedom to create, develop and devise smaller-in-scope, more personal projects under the theatre's name - fitting in with the mission, of course - and take these projects to festivals around the country, do site-specific work, or what-have-you. There would be no subscriptions. Fund-raising would be kept to a minimum. The artists would strive to be out creating the art rather than constantly asking for money. When they inevitably would have to ask for funds, they’d cast their net wide instead of deep, usually soliciting individual donations of $50 or under. This theatre would stick close to its mission. This theatre would serve the community and that community of audience members would be respected, cultivated and appreciated. This theatre would be a laboratory, but it would keep in mind that the word “Experimental” is but a modifier for “Theatre”, therefore its first priority, like that of all Theatre, would be to engage and entertain. This theatre would assert that small doesn’t have to mean shoddy; compact doesn’t have to mean low-quality. This theatre would be called Audacity and it would be a laboratory for a new way of approaching how small theatres create, operate and serve.
Initial incorporation plans began last winter, just after the New Year. Donations came in from supporters from around the country. We enlisted the help of a volunteer lawyer for the arts who filed our articles of incorporation with the State of Texas. That came through last May. In mid-September we acquired out tax-deductible 501(c)3 status (meaning all contributions by individuals can be written off on their taxes).
Last May we presented our first full-scale production with Greg Romero’s THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LULLABY YOU’VE EVER HEARD. It was a solidly successful production and we established ourselves as a progressive, fearless little group in the Dallas area. A website was created and now this blog.
Now we are gearing up for our first major national festival, a innovative experiment in radio drama, another showing at the largest fringe theatre festival in the southwest, the world-premiere production of a hilarious new play by one of Dallas’ favorite self-exiled playwrights and finally a return to the strange and beautiful world of Greg Romero with the regional-premiere of his intimate time-travel saga MILKY WAY CABARET. Please come back and check in with this blog. It gives a good run down on what we’ve been doing and what is in the works, as well as our thoughts on theatre in general.
If you are reading this, thanks for your interest and support.
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