The Actors Company Theatre

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The Actors Company Theatre (TACT)
Address 900 Broadway Suitue 905
New York City
United States
Type Off-Broadway
Opened 1992
Website
www.tactnyc.org

The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) is an Off-Broadway theatre company that was founded in 1992 by a group of New York stage veterans. For their first several years, TACT produced a number of concert performances, a cross between a staged reading and a full production. In 2006, TACT began a residency at the Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row to produce two full plays a year. TACT focuses on reviving lesser-known productions that have not been performed in New York for several years. Their mission statement, according to their website, is "to present neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit, with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life."[1]

In the 2006/07 season, TACT took a bold step forward. Following their critically acclaimed full productions of Long Island Sound by Noël Coward (May 2002, world premiere) and The Triangle Factory Fire Project by Christopher Piehler and Scott Alan Evans (May 2004, world premiere), TACT presented a season of two full productions at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row on 42nd Street, becoming one of their resident companies.

For their Sixteenth Season, TACT followed the trajectory begun in 2006 and presented two more productions in their Mainstage at Theatre Row.

In addition to their Mainstage offerings, TACT is continuing its Concert Performance readings in the TACT Salon Series, presented at 900 Broadway (see Salon Series) as well as continuing newTACTics (see newTACTics).

For all their productions they commission original incidental musical scores through their on-going creative partnership with The Manhattan School of Music.


History

TACT’s company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Over the past twenty-one seasons and more than 125 productions, TACT has grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on an shared artistic vision and collective body of work. TACT’s company of professional theatre artists are veterans of the stage, film, and television whose cumulative experience includes scores of Broadway shows, hundreds of Off-Broadway plays, over a thousand regional theatre productions, and many films and television shows. These artists are committed to TACT because of the artistic opportunities offered: creative challenges, professional growth, and the chance to work on great plays that deserve to be seen more often in New York City.

From the compelling poetic language of Tennessee Williams’s The Eccentricities of a Nightingale to the ironic subversive wit of Vaclav Havel’s The Memorandum, the plays TACT presents are propelled by language and ideas. Whether American farce or English drama, Italian satire or Russian tragedy, TACT presents works that explore the eternal truths of the human condition. Time and again, TACT’s audiences discover how a well-written play, of any age, can produce both the joy and discomfort of recognition. Whether they take us to the darkest corners of the soul or to the highest reaches of the spirit, these plays ultimately enrich, involve and entertain.

Thanks to the company of actors’ talent and depth, TACT presents plays that the commercial theatre often finds daunting. Large-cast productions such as of Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy, or challenging texts such as William Inge’s Natural Affection, seldom find their way onto the contemporary professional stage.

From the beginning, TACT made its reputation with its Concert Performance productions: fully rehearsed presentations stripped down to their essence. Staged in our intimate studio space, these performances (currently known as our Salon Series) feature simple staging, costuming, and lighting, refocusing the emphasis of the drama away from spectacle and production and back to the words and the actor – creating theatre in its purest form. This style grew out of the belief that the true magic of theatre lies in the special connection between the artist, the work of art, and the fully engaged audience.

TACT is a resident company of NYC’s famed Theatre Row and produces their Mainstage, Off-Broadway productions there in the Beckett Theatre. In addition, TACT presents the Salon Series in their studio space at 900 Broadway. Both spaces allow audiences to enjoy an up-close and personal experience with both the play and the artists.

The 2012/2013 season marked the company’s twentieth anniversary and TACT was honored by being named The Wall Street Journal’s 2012′ “Company Of The Year.”

Current productions

The current 2015/2016 Mainstage season includes Hard Love by Motti Lerner and Widower's Houses by George Bernard Shaw. The current 2015/2016 Salon Series will focus on four centuries of comedy. Plays include Imaginary Invalid by Moliere, She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, The Magistrate by Arthur Wing Pineiro, and Arsenic & Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring.

Past productions

TACT has received notably positive reviews, particularly from the New York Times for its productions of Home[2] and Eccentricities of a Nightingale.[3]

Notable Productions

Salon Series

This series of rehearsed, staged readings takes place at the TACT studio at 900 Broadway beginning in November and features live music by composers commissioned through its partnership with the Manhattan School of Music. Highly popular with subscribers, the Salon Series allows TACT to investigate lost works of dramatic literature without constraints of cast size, sets, technical demands, or "impossible" production elements.

newTACTics

newTACTics is a creative sanctuary for emerging as well as established playwrights to develop contemporary dramatic works of literary merit. Through collaboration with TACT‘s resident company of actors and communication between the artists and their audience, this initiative seeks to conceive alternative viewpoints for dramatic literature and cultivate the continued evolution of the language of the theatre.

Cultivation

newTACTics accepts electronic submissions of unproduced and unpublished new plays on an open basis. Scripts are evaluated by the artistic directors and newTACTics producer. Plays of particular interest are selected as semi-finalists for the New Play Festival. The playwrights receive a private table reading of their work with members of the TACT company of actors, followed by a discussion about future development. The newTACTics producers welcome revised drafts and are available to provide further feedback to the writers after these readings. This extended review process creates an invested relationship between the producers and playwrights, encouraging thoughtful consideration of the dramatic possibilities within the written word.

Collaboration

Four scripts are awarded 2 public performances each in the annual newTACTics New Play Festival in June. The readings are cast with TACT Company Members and invited guest artists. Rehearsals are held in accordance with the Actors’ Equity Association 29 Hour Staged Reading Guidelines. newTACTics prioritizes utilizing the maximum rehearsal time allowed by AEA, providing a process-focused environment for the writer, director, and actors to act in cooperation to support the script and influence one another’s work.

Communication

Readings in the newTACTics New Play Festival are free of charge and open to the public, including TACT‘s loyal subscribers and invited industry professionals. This audience is encouraged to participate in talk-back sessions after each performance to ask questions and provide feedback to the playwright. This open dialogue inspires further advancement for the script after the festival is over and creates opportunities for future production.

Awards and nominations

In 2012, TACT was named Company of the Year by the Wall Street Journal saying "...Smart programming, superlative productions, a track record of consistent excellence: TACT is what off-Broadway ought to be." In addition, their production of Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon brought TACT their first Drama Desk Award nomination, being nominated for Outstanding Revival of a Play. A list of reviews for TACT's other productions can be found on their website.


Year Award Nominated work Category Result
2012 Drama Desk Award Lost in Yonkers Outstanding Revival of a Play Nominated

Members

TACT's co-artistic directors are founding members Scott Alan Evans and actor Cynthia Harris, along with Jenn Thompson.

Acting Company members

Adjunct Company members

Emeritus Members

References

  1. ↑ TACT – The Actors Company Theatre
  2. ↑ Alighting in the Confines of a Lonely Cuckoo's Nest by Neil Genzlinger, nytimes.com, Published: December 8, 2006
  3. ↑ A Heroine’s Inner Flame, Fueled by an Excess of Feeling by Rachel Saltz, nytimes.com, Published: May 9, 2008

External links

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