|
|
 |
| The Actors Company Theatre is dedicated to presenting 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. |
| THE COMPANY |
| TACT's company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Over the past fourteen seasons and more than 80 productions, we have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on our artistic vision and collective body of work. Our actors and directors are veterans of the stage, film and television whose cumulative experience includes significant roles in scores of Broadway shows, hundreds of Off-Broadway plays, over a thousand regional theatre productions, and many films and television shows. They have received Emmy Awards, Obie Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and Tony nominations. These professionals are committed to TACT because of the artistic opportunities it offers: creative challenges, professional growth, and the chance to work on great plays that deserve to be seen more often in New York City. |
| THE PLAYS |
| From the compelling and poetic language of T.S. Eliot's The Family Reunion to the sparkle and urbane wit of The Women by Claire Booth Luce, the plays TACT presents are propelled by language and ideas. Whether American farce or English drama, Italian satire or Russian tragedy, our work explores the eternal truths of the human condition. Time and again, our 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, all of our plays ultimately enrich, involve and entertain. Thanks to our actors' talent and depth, TACT presents plays that the commercial theatre often finds daunting. Large-cast productions of plays such as of Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk or challenging texts such as Luigi Pirandello's Right You Are (If You Think You Are) seldom find their way onto the contemporary professional stage. (For a full list of TACT's productions, see our Production History). |
| THE PRODUCTIONS |
| For thirteen seasons, TACT made its reputation with its Concert Performance productions: fully rehearsed presentation stripped down to their essence. With simple staging, costuming, and lighting, we refocus the emphasis of the drama away from spectacle and production and back to the words and the actor - creating theatre in its purest form. Our style grew out of our belief that this is where the true magic of theatre lies: in the special connection between the artist, the work of art, and the fully engaged audience. In the 2006/07 season, TACT took a bold step forward. Following our critically acclaimed full productions of Long Island Sound by Noel 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. While maintaining our aesthetic of creating theatre which focuses on the text and the actor's craft, these productions, with their extended performance schedules, garnered exceptional critical and audience praise. (for more information see Current Season). For our Fiftheen Anniversary Season, TACT followed the trajectory begun in 2006 and presented two more critically acclaimed productions at Theatre Row. We celebrated our anniversary with a Cyrstal Gala at the Hudson Theatre honoring the ledgendary Julie Harris. (read more about it). This season we continued to be a residence company at Theatre Row and are presenting two productions with extended five week runs. In addition to our Mainstage offerings, TACT is continuing its Concert Performance readings in the TACT Salon Series, presented in our intimate studio space at 900 Broadway. For all our productions we commission original incidental musical scores through our on-going creative partnership with The Manhattan School of Music. The music, often performed live, heightens and enhances the theatricality of the evening and is an invaluable component of the "TACT Experience." Since 1993, this partnership has created so much delightful music that we have made a selection of highlights available on a full-length CD. (See TACT Merchandise) |
| NEWTACTIC |
| newTACTics is a new program initiative dedicated to discovering, developing, and exploreing new works for the theatre. newTACTics seeks to encourage new playwrights as well as experienced, produced writers to continue to write for the theatre and to discover new ways to use the extraordinary language of the theatre to tell their stories. To find out more click here. |
| Queens college |
| Dramatic developments are under way at Queens College of the City University of New York! Building on the success of its MFA program in creative writing and literary translation, the school is joining forces with TACT to launch an innovative two-year MFA program in playwriting. This unique MFA curriculum—the only one of its kind—will allow would-be dramatists to have their scripts developed and performed by members of our acclaimed off-Broadway troupe, one of the few true repertory companies in the city. Under the leadership of “Obie”-award-nominated playwright Richard Schotter, the Queens College MFA program offers the rare interplay of practical theatre experience and intensive workshop training. In Professor Schotter’s words, “There’s nothing more useful and exciting for a young playwright than to see and hear his or her work performed by professional actors in a real-world theatrical setting; that’s what our partnership with TACT will provide.” Participants will also have the chance to cross genres and study with members of Queens College’s distinguished MFA faculty in poetry, fiction and translation. For further information, visit the Queens College MFA Web site at www.qc.cuny.edu/Creative_Writing |