November 17th, 2009
New York Theatre Shakespeare in the Park Inspires Original Theatre Company
Carrie and William were both part of a small theatre company from Kansas. Their ambitious ensemble was known locally and also throughout the state for producing some of the best new cutting edge work. One summer they had the opportunity to travel to New York and stage one of their original productions there. This was in part funded through a small grant the theatre had received and the company members couldn’t have been more excited. They worked hard for six months on their latest play, titled How and Why, which dealt with an objective comparison of psychotropic medications to substance abuse. They also worked over time trying to save a little money to provide for their stay in one of the NY hotels, which the grant didn’t provide for.
Finally, in the middle of July of that year, the company, then known as Kansas Live, was landing in New York City and was ready to show their stuff. Meanwhile, neither William nor Carrie had ever been there before and were immediately captivated by what they saw and the general atmosphere of the city. They loved getting up early and walking along the streets in the morning. That energy in the air had a certain expectant buzz. And the feeling seemed to be duo oriented. It was as though the vibrancy in the people had an expectant quality, but in return the feeling from the city itself seemed to expect something too. This was difficult for Carrie to express but it gave her a thrill that went well with her first coffee of the morning.
The company members found their theatre and assemble the small set piece they were able to bring with them. They rehearsed in the space for two days before their opening night. They had a fair amount of audience members their first night and on general seemed to average about half of the house being full. This in itself was thrilling for William, Carrie and the rest of Kansas Live, however some of the theatre they saw will they were in the city was equally or more exciting. They went to a production of Billy Elliot: The Musical on their first night in New York and knew they were positioned in an atmosphere of great theatre. The company was also able to catch one of the final performances of Twelfth Night in Central Park. They were all incredibly inspired by this production of Shakespeare in the Park by the Public Theatre and decided they should do something similar back in Kansas.