BY LUCIA MAURO
BackStage
Theatre Company's name'while catchy and straightforward-'is meant to stress
the importance of theatre beyond the actors on stage. So the designers
and technicians'even box office volunteers'get credit for an art form
that thrives on collaboration. Take Matthew W. Roth, the company's advisory
board chairman, with more artistic leanings than corporate cachet. The
actor holds a masters degree in theatre arts from State University of
New York-Stony Brook and has worked as a production manager, dramaturg,
lighting designer and director for the three-year-old, non-Equity BackStage.
Even co-founder/managing director Amy Monday does fundraising, public
relations and acts in productions.
'We
wanted to emphasize that people backstage are as important as the actors,'
says Monday, an actor with a journalism degree from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 'I wanted to create a home for artists to explore
different opportunities as actors, designers, directors.'
In
2000, Monday'a former member of Boxer Rebellion Theater'teamed up with
original artistic director Janette Benton and Carl Yukawa to establish
the small, not-for-profit BackStage. It started as an environmentally
oriented theatre, with a well-received production of Arsenic and Old Lace
at the North Lakeside Cultural Center which mirrored the play's Victorian-style
parlor setting. A series of one acts, Montage a Trois, took place at Gallery
2828. The troupe, which now consists of 10 ensemble members in various
capacities, segued into another part of its mission: contemporary interpretations
of the classics. For example, The Misanthrope was set in 1920s Prohibition-era
America.
'We're
a small theatre company,' says Monday. 'We didn't want to get lost. Focusing
on environmental theatre grew out of a desire to make theatre more personal
and more immediate. Theatre in a traditional setting can feel distant
and removed.'
Then
BackStage made an unexpected move in 2001. The site-specific theatre got
its own space at the Cornelia Arts Building, a 40-seat black-box theatre
in a warehouse, where it shares space with visual artists' studios near
the Ravenswood 'L' tracks. That's the same year Melissa Young became artistic
director and began to emphasize new works, Chicago premieres and plays
that showed female characters in a positive light. Productions include:
The Most Massive Woman Wins, paired with Women and Wallace; Me, the Devil
and Other Friends (which went to the New York Fringe Festival); the ensemble-generated
musical, Everything's Sexy! (and its sequel); and Perpetua, a movement-based
experimental work rooted in Viewpoints.
Now
Young has stepped down as artistic director to pursue a graduate degree
in directing. She remains on the advisory board. And the troupe is seriously
considering leaving its flexible and affordable'but challenging'space
at 1800 W. Cornelia, with a hard-to-locate alley entrance and no foot
traffic.
'The
space is quirky,' admits Roth. 'There are two large I-beams in the space
and a low ceiling. You have to figure out how to work around the I-beams.
We found lighting trees and pipes that use the top of the I-beam for support.
A lot of shows have relied on side lighting than front lighting.
'But
I've learned how to figure things out for one show, and I can apply it
to the next.'
His
latter statement underscores Monday's goal of a theatre company, where
artists can hone their skills and better understand the process of mounting
a show. Former artistic director Young notes that they were able to re-shape
the theatre for each show once they realized 'we can do anything in a
small black-box theatre if we don't think of it that way.'
Nevertheless,
as BackStage has discovered, a space comes with extra costs and a certain
degree of limitations'especially when the location is less than ideal.
'We're thinking about returning to our environmental roots,' concedes
Monday.
Being
itinerant is an option for the company, which just wrapped up its season
opener, the gay-themed comedy All Tied Up in Love, and will continue with
two more shows: a series of one acts by Alan Ball and a Shakespeare play
in the Viewpoints tradition. The company also plans to reduce its season
to two full productions, interspersed with late- or off-night offerings.
Young
would like to see BackStage move out of its Cornelia location and find
a space 'that's just as intimate but better technically equipped.'
BackStage
is currently reevaluating its fundraising efforts and by-laws and is growing
its board. The theatre has a four-member advisory board, which helps decide
policy and the direction of the company, and is building its auxiliary
board, the fundraising arm. Emphasis is being placed on grant writing,
individual donations and creative benefits (like its recent 'Homecoming
Dance'-themed fundraiser).
The
theatre is also conducting a search for a new artistic director who can
help solidify its identity. 'We're looking for someone who enjoys the
idea of environmental theatre, new works and fresh interpretations of
established works'and someone who is willing to work with our ensemble,'
says Monday.
BackStage
Theatre Company, 1800 W. Cornelia; 312/683-5347; www.backstagetheatrecompany.org.