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Curtain Call
The Cast and Crew of Medea Thanks You All For Your Support! Give ‘Em Hand as They Take Their Bow!
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Director’s Note: Medea
Thursday – Sunday, May 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 at 7 PM Performed at the Ft. Caspar Campground: Follow the Signs to the Tent Sites Of all the plays written since Thespis first stepped out of the chorus, the Medea of Euripides is among the most difficult to reconcile. The protagonist, a…
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Novissima
“The Most Recent Things” Get your tickets today for the TotP Fundraiser/Showcase, which is planned for Saturday, July 5, 7 PM at the Studio, 140 E. Midwest Ave. We need your support to maintain the Studio and all of unique productions and workshops. If you can’t come to the Fundraiser/Showcase, please consider making a donation…
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Support TotP KIDS: Donate to Free Theatre Education
We are delighted to announce the return of TotP KIDS, our FREE acting workshop for youths ages 10-17. Last fall we had an amazing turnout. The young actors learned all about the ancient Greek Theatre and the classical acting style. At the end they performed a showcase for family and friends, and all were impressed…
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A Question About the Post Performance Lobby Receiving Line
In this post, Artistic Director William Conte thanks our audience for their support of A Doll’s House, and requests opinions on the practice of actors going into the lobby after bows to greet and be greeted by the audience.
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Director’s Note: A Doll’s House
The Historical Context From the 1830s to the 1870s, when melodrama was the preponderate dramatic form in America and Europe, theatre was the primary source of public entertainment for most people most of the time. The working and middle class audiences saw their own aspirations mirrored on stage: right conduct and hard work were rewarded,…
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Update: “A Doll’s House” Opening Postponed to Friday January 10.
Due to a boiler breakdown in our building we have no heat and have to push back the opening. We should be up and running next week. Meantime, get your tickets in advance for one of the six performances at our box office.
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Err…”The Halftime Report”
The 2024-2025 season is halfway through; our “Year of the Phoenix” has given rise to new possibilities for Theatre of the Poor and our partners, colleagues, collaborators, and supporters throughout the community. Here is a brief overview of what we’ve done so far, and thank you so much for your support: Caspar Collins Day, Ft.…
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Director’s Note: Life is a Dream
Our “Year of the Phoenix” begins! The plays of this season circulate around the idea of new beginnings; as the phoenix rises from the ashes, so do the protagonists of this slate of dramas “die” to their old selves and are “reborn” as something else. We hope you will join us for each production as…
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Novissima
ACTORS’ MASTER CLASS! This Sunday, Sept. 1, 1-3 PM, find out more here:
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About the Current Season
Our inspiration for this season is taken from the image of the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, renewed. The protagonists in the plays we’ve selected all experience a transformation that turns them, not into something else, but into what they always were or were meant to be. In a sense,…
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Director’s Note: Hamlet
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark By William Shakespeare Directed by William Conte, March 2-12, 2022 “Oh God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.” So says Hamlet to his erstwhile friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II,…
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Rich Theatre, Poor Theatre
Mamet’s American Buffalo: Two Sides of the Coin At the moment in the United States of America there are two productions running of David Mamet’s American Buffalo. One is running in New York City in a major off-Broadway production featuring famous actors in the leading roles. It is directed by a seasoned luminary of the…
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Director’s Note: American Buffalo
by Julia Conte American Buffalo, a tragicomedy by David Mamet, is a hilarious, heart breaking and warming story of three rough and tumble men trying to make ends meet. Performed in the actual location of the play, a local junk shop, the audience will get the unique experience of a fully immersive show, in which…
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Director’s Note: “The Inspector General”
We begin our season, “Found in Translation,” with a 19th century farce regarded by Russians as a national treasure. First performed in St. Petersburg in 1836, Nikolai Gogol’s Inspector General shocked its audience as no play had before. With incisive wit and raw slapstick Gogol exposed the corruption of Russia’s bureaucratic kleptocracy, which fostered a…
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Director’s Note: “Largo Desolato”
Among the guiding principles of the Theatre of the Poor is to present plays that are timely and relevant. As much as possible we try to produce plays that can reflect or refract our moment in history, even though they were written long ago. We believe that theatre speaks to us in the here and…
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“Jesus Christ Superstar”: A Passion Play
Conte situates Weber and Rice’s landmark rock opera within the medieval tradition of Passion plays.
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Performing “Prufrock”
Reflections on Poetry in Performance
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Driving “Miss Julie”
In this essay, Conte expounds on the social and historical context of “Miss Julie” and the literary movement known as “Naturalism.”
THEATRE of the POOR 