Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble

CONTACT:

P.O. Box 1148
Northampton, MA 01061
(413) 586-1438
website

Sheryl Stoodley, Artistic Director

DESCRIPTION:

Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble is truly exceptional —a small, artist-run training and performance program for young people ages 16 to 24, which has been honored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as the state's top small theater, has won a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has performed at an International Women Playwrights' Conference in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1994 on the premise that young people want to be challenged, not patronized, Serious Play uses rigorous training in a variety of avant-garde and traditional theatrical methods, to address significant themes for youth in both contemporary plays and reinterpretations of classics. Actors are challenged to explore their individual histories, creativity, and voices together, and to fuse these experiences into powerful drama with strong contemporary messages. Performances are in Northampton, Holyoke, and Springfield, and new pieces are enriched by "Talk Back" audience discussions, led by a local professor. Serious Play artists are ethnically diverse, of all abilities, and from both rural and urban backgrounds in Western Massachusetts. They are selected in open auditions and training programs, and with this serious physical, emotional, and intellectual experience, they learn to develop an influential voice for their own issues and concerns. You can be their patron.

(2001: CULTURE: Arts: Performing: Theatre and Film)