Raconteur Theatre Company

I have a hard time talking about our last show without talking about the Board who brought everyone together. I came into this experience not really knowing what to expect. I only knew half the group of the founding members when we first got together. It was a strange place to be, this past November, when the eight of us met at Cup O’ Joe’s to discuss what was to become Raconteur Theatre – just as another theatre company many of us were a part of was closing its doors. I was incredibly sad to lose Bison and yet incredibly hopeful with what this new company would bring, not only to me but to the rest of the Board and Columbus Theatre. We wanted a company that would last – we didn’t want to go through the incredible sadness that comes with seeing yet another Columbus Theatre have to fold for any of the number of reasons that many Columbus Theatres do. And yet goodbyes are inevitable regardless. Whether they are the closing of a theatre or the closing of a show, the goodbyes give a little tug at your heartstrings. And yet at the same time, that is the nature of the business.

But our debut show was about hello’s. Our company was incredibly lucky to have 8 very different artists, whose talents run the gamut of the sphere of talents it takes to make a production possible - directors, actors, writers, techies, stage managers and businessmen. We spent several months working up to our first show and it was an incredible feeling seeing everyone’s hard work brought together. We were blessed with a fantastic cast and crew who came on board knowing that things were going to be a little bumpy on our first show, and they embraced it.

In terms of my own personal experience on the production, I would say stage managing this show was probably more demanding than most shows I’ve worked on in the past. The Flex Series was set up as 2 one-act plays that offered flexibility to the audience who could see one or both of the one-acts. The plays worked together as a whole and yet also demanded the attention as if they were independent beings. I was always trying to find a balance between the two shows, figuring what I should approach independently and what I should look at as a whole. I had worked with one-acts before, but not in the same way that these two came together. Both shows had very similar themes and yet were very different technically – Roulette had 7 scene changes where Aster had none. Roulette was about an hour and fifteen minutes while Aster was almost half that. Roulette had a film feel to it while Aster was very black box theatre. The theme united them and yet these two pieces came together in the end to offer two very different theatre experiences. Another challenge was working in a non-theatre space. Kafe Kerouac is an awesome coffee shop on High Street near OSU campus with a side room stage where poetry readings often take place on Wednesday nights. It’s not typically a theatre space and yet with the guidance of our Set Designer and Tech crew, we managed to convert that room into a theatre space and make it work. It took a little bit of time and patience, but the final transformation was a pretty cool to see. It goes to show that you don’t need an actual theatre space to do theatre.

Despite these challenges it was probably one of the coolest shows I have ever put on. We didn’t have the comforts of home that established companies have and yet we made it work. I learned so much about what it takes to make theatre possible, how to accept the challenges that arise and how do the best we can with what we have to work with. And even after our afterglow ends, there’s still another show on the other side waiting for us to embrace it. And I look forward to it.

-Suellen

Here we are at Raconteur, no longer basking in the afterglow of After the Afterglow, looking forward to our production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. And now that we’re looking forward, we’ve decided that it’s time to look back on our last production. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be putting up various reflections on people’s experiences with After the Afterglow, starting here with mine:

I was stunned by the entire experience. Starting a theatre company was both more exciting and difficult, and yet at the same time easier and more natural feeling, than I ever expected it to be. There was a lot of work that went into our front end, much of it stuff I never would have considered being a part of starting a company, but man did it pay off. We played to close to sold out crowds every night, and the responses we got from the audiences was better than I dared to hope.

The list of people to thank is longer than I could ever compile, since it includes not only Bread and Circus theatre and Madlab for giving us items to help put the show together, or Tricia’s church for giving us chairs to sit people in, or the different members of the board - all of whom did way more than anyone could ask them to do for the show, or the actors who performed brilliantly and never once complained about strange rehearsal schedules and locations. But it also includes every person who came to see the show, and every person who told their friend to come check us out.

It’s hard to remember the excitement that came with opening night now that we find ourselves starting fresh with Ghosts. But I know that come October I’ll look back at where we’re at now and say “Oh yeah, this is why we do it.”

Check out this from The Other Paper and our other review at  Ohio News Network. And come out for the show- this is the FINAL WEEKEND!

~Jill

“Two short plays about love on its last legs”
BY RICHARD ADES
The Other Paper, June 5, 2008

If it weren’t for the buzz of conversation filtering in from the next room, you might think you were back at 2Co’s Cabaret.

The Raconteur Theatre Company is making its debut with a double bill that includes Douglas Hill’s Roulette, the kind of relationship play that often kept viewers entertained at the now-defunct cabaret. Adding to the illusion is the presence of J.T. Walker, a ponytailed actor who was sometimes seen at the Short North venue.

Walker plays Matt, a Tucson resident who has been no more successful at marriage than he has been at finding a career.  When wife Janine (Jill Ceneskie) pushes his buttons once too often, he decides to hit the road for Las Vegas.

Only one problem: Matt doesn’t have enough money to get there. After some arguing, Janine decides to take him, if only to get him out her life once and for all.  

So the two drive off, which is when things start to get weird. Matt begins finding wads of dollar bills in his formerly empty wallet, while their junky car seems to sip gas at a rate that would make a Prius jealous. These and other unexplained occurrences make Janine suspect the universe is trying to tell them something,  but Matt, for reasons he keeps to himself, is in no mood to listen.

Working under Tricia T. Jones’s skilled direction, Walker isn’t bad as a man who has trouble expressing himself, though his craft was sometimes too obvious on opening night. Ceneskie is more natural as Janine, a woman whose attitude toward her difficult husband can change from anger to protectiveness to affection within a span of seconds.
Marital tug of war: Jill Ceneskie and J.T. Walker in the Raconteur Theatre Company’s production of Roulette.  Photo by Sam Blythe
The same can’t be said for the other play on the After the Afterglow double bill, Justin Toomey’s Aster, Holger Gunn. An original work by a Raconteur board member, the one-act begins promisingly enough but eventually falls apart.  

Like Roulette, Aster looks at romance past its prime. It’s a credit to Toomey’s dialogue- writing skill that the play initially captures viewers’ interest despite relying on that most self-conscious of gimmicks author who has a conversation with his own characters.

Andrew Cronacher is good as the writer who tries to come to terms with a failed romance by creating a stand-in for his former lover. Molly St. Cyr is nearly as good as the vaguely mocking stand-in, except that her soft voice is sometimes hard to hear above the scraps of conversation drifting over from the other side of the host coffeehouse.

Though a mixture of psychology and philosophy makes the pair’s early conversation interesting, Toomey then commits the error I of introducing a third character (Sam Blythe) who seems totally superfluous. The play goes downhill from there.

The work’s saving grace is that it doesn’t take long to see it-if you decide to see it at all. One nice thing about Raconteur’s freshman effort is that it doesn’t force viewers to attend both halves of the double bill. Pay $5 (rather than $8) and you can leave early after seeing Roulette - or arrive late and see only the briefly interesting Aster.

Either way, you get the chance to sample Columbus’s newest theater company for a minimal outlay of time and money. If you’re like me, the experience will leave you eager to spend more time with the group in the coming months.
The Raconteur Theatre Company will present the After the Afterglow double bill through June 14 at Kafe Kerouac, 2250 N. High St.  Roulette will be presented at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; Aster, Holger Gunn, at 9:15 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes (both plays, plus intermission). Tickets are $5 for one play, $8 for both.  614-804-1695 or http://raconteurthetre.com

Raconteur’s After the Afterglow Makes it Easy to See a Show!

Columbus’s new Raconteur Theatre Company theorizes that one reason people don’t go out to see local theatre is because of its total inflexibility! That’s why they are premiering with After the Afterglow, a show in a flexible format.

After the Afterglow allows patrons to choose from viewing one of two one-acts or enjoying both for a discounted price. Board member Jill C. Hartley explains, “In an increasingly hectic world, this gives our patrons options. If they’re booked until 8 o’clock, no biggie- they can catch the second piece. We want people to see theatre as a real option for their weekend.”

After the Afterglow consists of Roulette by Douglas Hill and Aster, Holger Gunn by Columbus’s own Justin Toomey. Roulette follows Janine (Jill Ceneskie) and Matt (JT Walker) as they decide to divorce after four years of a painful marriage. But when the couple embarks on a final road trip to drop off Matt in Las Vegas, they start to question their decision as strange, inexplicable things start happening. In Aster, Holger Gunn, Holger (Andrew Cronacher) is unable to let go of his love for Aster (Molly St. Cyr), and turns to writing a dialogue between the two of them in the hopes of working through his attachment to an obviously dead relationship. Despite having complete control over every move Aster makes and every word she says, Holger cannot change the ultimate destiny of their relationship.

After the Afterglow runs May 29-June 14 at Kafe Karouac (2250 N. High St., Columbus). Shows are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 & 9:15pm and Sundays at 2 & 3:15pm. Roulette will start at 8pm Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays. Aster, Holger Gunn is at 9:15pm Thursdays through Saturdays and 3:15pm Sundays. Tickets are $5 for a single one-act or $8 for both. Local singer songwriter Andy Ceneskie will provide music before each one act and Kafe Kerouac will sell beverages and snacks from their menu.

For additional information visit www.raconteurtheatre.com/currentshow.html.

As Tricia mentions in the comments, we have a name!

Raconteur Theatre Company (RTC) is now for real… (we’re comin’ to getcha)!

Watch this space for updates, changes and announcements about what we’re doing!