Community Based Arts, Theatre and Civic Dialogue, and Ensemble Creation
Community Based Theater is generated in, with, by and for members of specific groups, often with the goal of discussing important issues facing the community and helping to foster some kind of change. It is distinguished from Broadway theater because it isn't created to make a profit, and is somewhat different from not-for-profit regional theatres in the U.S., because it relies directly on the involvement of both theatre professionals and local community members for its content and its production.
Ensemble theatre is often devoted to making less of a hierarchical distinction between members of the creative team than is typical of commercial theatre in the United States. Even when it uses a more traditional rehearsal and production process, the goal of ensemble theatre is in placing creative control back in the hands of groups of artists.
This collection of resources, some of which we used in the "Creating a Community Based Play" course, gives an overview of how community based theater is made, why it's made, and some of the range of people and companies doing this kind of work. There are also a couple of resources about theatre that is created with non-hierarchical methods that place the focus on the whole group rather than just singling out individual artists.
Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts by ISBN: 9781613320242Publication Date: 2017-09-12
Local Acts by ISBN: 0813535506Publication Date: 2005-04-30
Remapping Performance by ISBN: 1137366400Publication Date: 2015-07-13
Ethnotheatre by ISBN: 1611320364Publication Date: 2016-11-14
Strategies for Playbuilding by ISBN: 0325003408Publication Date: 2001-03-15
Theatre for Community Conflict and Dialogue by ISBN: 0325000026Publication Date: 1998-05-26
Community Performance by ISBN: 0415392292Publication Date: 2007-04-11
- Cornerstone Theatre CompanyWebsite for Cornerstone Theatre Company, a community based theatre company located in Los Angeles, CA.
- Anna Deavere Smith's WebsiteWebsite of Anna Deavere Smith, an actor and artist committed to the arts and civic dialogue who creates performances from verbatim pieces of recorded interviews.
- Network of Ensemble TheatresWebsite about "ensemble theatre companies," who are groups committed to the process of collaborative creation.
- Howlround Articles on Theatre and CommunityA collection of articles about theatre committed to exploring and developing community, from HOWLROUND, "a free and open platform for theatremakers worldwide that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and facilitates connection between diverse practitioners."
- Sojourn Theatre CompanyWebsite for Soujourn Theatre Company, an ensemble in the United States committed to performance and civic engagement.
- Ensemble Theatre at The Humana Festival of New American Plays, 2011A 2011 NPR story about ensemble companies presenting work at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays.
Community Created Theater at St. Mary's College of Maryland
Collaboratively devised theater and performance are not new to the Theater, Film and Media Studies Program at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The department has a history of producing work generated with and by students that deals with issues of social justice on campus and in the larger world.
Most recently, On Contentious Grounds was directed by Professor Daniel Bear Davis in Spring 2017. Professor Merideth Taylor directed several productions generated collaboratively with students, including Crossroads: On Common Grounds, which was originally produced in 1999, and was then re-imagined in 2016 as part of the college's 175th Anniversary celebration. Taylor also directed a series of performances, called The Big Picture, The Bigger Picture, and The Big Picture App. In 2011, playwright Caleen Sinnet Jennings wrote and directed a play called St. Mary's Hear and Now, which was based on interviews in the community about the experience of being Black at St. Mary's College of Maryland and in St. Mary's County.
