Theatre can be defined on numerous levels. Theatre is not just actors on a stage. It’s not just a director calling out certain demands. It’s not the tech crew building a set or the lighting director finding the perfect shade of yellow. Nor is it audience members idly sitting while a play is performed for them. Theatre is a sophisticated composition of all these things combined and much, much more.
For its 50th anniversary the Theatre Communication Group (TCG) has conceptualized and created a 50 week video series entitled “I Am Theatre.” This series is dedicated to showcasing different people in the theatre world who truly are what theatre is all about. As TCG puts it, “I Am Theatre” is about “capturing pivotal moments in the lives of theatre makers.” The unique thing about “I Am Theatre” is that it is not limited to a specific type of person from the theatre world. TCG recognizes that theatre is a gigantic basin of individuals that all come together to make theatre what it is today.
Each week, a new video is posted to the TCG website featuring a person that they feel has a valuable story to tell about their theatre experience. Week one’s video starred the Connectivity Director for the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Rachel Grossman. Grossman spoke about a time that a 2nd grade girl’s loud reaction during the play “A Year With Frog and Toad” resonated with 400 other elementary school kids for a collective feeling throughout the theatre. This moment was special for Grossman because she knew that the shared feeling that all the kids were experiencing was something they could all connect on. To Grossman, that is what theatre is all about.
Other videos feature such people as Lou Bellamy and Eric Bogosian. Bellamy is the founder and Artistic Director of Penumbra Theatre Company. As an African American man, he expresses the importance of being able to communicate and act out the stories of his ancestors on stage. In Bogosian’s video he recounts his spontaneous audition for Joe Papp and how it changed his life as a playwright and got him a show at the Public Theatre.
The impact of TCG’s “I Am Theatre” is yet to be determined. However, as the weeks progress, I predict that a good number of people will show interest in the significance of this project. Besides getting people already involved in theatre to follow this new series, it is even more important that people outside of theatre catch a glimpse of what “I Am Theatre” has to say. By promoting the idea that theatre is not just individuals trying to find their place in the world but a group of people working together to make something truly priceless is more than a worthwhile message. TCG is just at the beginning of something that will ultimately be a beautiful series of stories.
Nicole Younger, Marketing Intern
TCG: I Am Theatre
Eric Bogosian, Playwright and Actor
Rachel Grossman, Connectivity Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Lou Bellamy, Founder and Artistic Director, Penumbra Theatre Company
