BOA 2012 producing partners include 11th Hour Ensemble, Instrumental Theatre, No Nude Men, PianoFight, Playwrights Foundation, Precarious Theatre, Ragged Wing Ensemble, SF Theater Pub, Sleepwalkers, and Threshold, all of which share a commitment to the development and production of new work.
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11th Hour Ensemble is a new collaborative ensemble eager to make their mark in the vibrant San Francisco artistic community. Assembled by Director Allison Combs, 11th Hour Ensemble focuses on providing a platform for innovation and exploration of new methods through the melding of established forms. Utilizing risk-taking physicality and fresh spins on new and classic theater methods, 11th Hour strives to consistently create raw and expressive performances that will attract and unify both dance and theater patrons.
Instrumental Theatre is committed to producing work by Bay Area playwrights that highlights the beautiful complexity of human experience and asks provocative questions about how we live today. By focusing on the primacy of the actor’s instrument as it intersects with the written word we create theatre that retains its power to move, entertain and change.
No Nude Men Productions is an independent theater collective of like-minded theater artists who have been coming together since the spring of 2003. Though they do not officially exist, they have produced a number of classic plays, as well as world premieres by Stuart Bousel, Nirmala Nataraj, David Duman, Hilde Susan Jaegtnes, Alison Luterman and Wylie Herman. In the spring of 2010 No Nude Men collaborated with Conlan Media to produce Giant Bones, a new play inspired by the short stories of Peter S. Beagle (author of The Last Unicorn). They host a monthly traveling salon and executive produce the San Francisco Olympians Festival, an annual new works festival that uses Greek mythology as its inspiration.
PIANOFIGHT is an SF-based production and venue management company founded by Rob Ready and Dan Williams. PianoFight produces two of the Bay Area’s best sketch comedy shows, the female-driven Monday Night ForePlays and the longest currently-running sketch show in the City, The S.H.I.T. Show, as well as the nation’s largest audience-judged playwriting competition, ShortLived. In the process of building out a new theater complex in the heart of Downtown San Francisco while also running a Los Angeles operation, PIANOFIGHT is committed to producing new work by new artists. For more information please visit www.pianofight.com
The mission of the The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco (PCSF) is to encourage and develop local playwrights and promote script writing, audience development, and related arts. PCSF was established in 1980 as a forum for playwrights to get together and hear their work read. Over the last 30 years it has grown to a membership organization that offers a number of successful programs that offer support and feedback to new and experienced playwrights alike and provides opportunities for actors and directors as well. Most of the playwrights in the organization have had their work produced around the country and in some cases the world. The focus at PCSF is to help playwrights learn the critical skills necessary to hone their craft, while providing an open, semi-formal but relaxed and friendly environment to develop new local work.
Oakland-based Round Belly Theatre Company was founded by Brian Quakenbush and Patrick Holt in the summer of 2008. Since then they’ve upgraded from backyards and clip lights to renovating empty spaces and converting them into quality black box venues with clip lights. Their focus is primarily on original material and freelance adaptations of classics. Previous productions have been Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, eight installments of their tentpole “24 Hour Theatre Projects”, and assorted sketch comedy, one acts and performance pieces.
Founded by Stuart Bousel, Victor Carrion, Ben Fisher and Brian Markley in the fall of 2009, the SF Theater Pub operates out of Cafe Royale (800 Post Street at Leavenworth and Post) and plays on traditional theater “dark nights” like Mondays and Tuesdays. The company takes advantage of the non-traditional space and more relaxed environment to focus on shorter small-scale, bare-bones works, theatrical experiments and artistic whim projects, with shows ranging from one-off performances to three or four week runs and a new show every month of the year, pulling together disparate elements of the theater community and providing individuals a chance to work together without the time sacrifice or expense of a “full production” and run. Additionally we hope to be very audience inclusive, encouraging the breakdown of the wall between artist and audience as well as between artist and artist.
Threshold is a theater company co-founded by UC Berkeley theater grads Jessica Holt, Alex Curtis and Pamela Davis in 2008. The company is dedicated to creating bold, original, adventurous new work and seeks to challenge artists and audiences to imagine the edges of the possible in an environment of risk, growth and change. Threshold’s work is surprising and immediate and embraces the poetry of language and physical space.
Woman’s Will is a performance company dedicated to providing opportunities for women working in theater. We seek to reveal the complexity and variety of women’s lives through telling stories that provide a interesting perspective of women, producing plays by female playwrights, and performing all-female productions of Shakespeare’s plays. This year we are launching a monthly forum to discuss issues that impact women within the theater community as well as starting a 2-week Shakespeare camp for girls. To celebrate our 13th season, we are developing our first full-length original play which will tell personal stories behind the Woman’s suffrage movement. Thank you BOA for including our “gynecocentric” company!
I hear PianoFight is awesome!!!