Raconteur Theatre Company

Our next show, Ghosts, deals with long held secrets, family legacies, and how people either accept or try to change the circumstances of their life. It also happens that the opening weekend of Ghosts coincides with the Columbus Walk For Autism, which is put on by Autism Speaks.

Raconteur Theatre has dedicated itself to being not just a “community theatre” but being a theatre that is part of the community. To this end, we are going to try to assist Autism Speaks in their mission. At all performances of Ghosts, we will have a donation jar at the box office and concession stand, with 100% of all donations going to Autism Speaks. Additionally, you can make a donation to Autism Speaks through the following donation site. (It doesn’t matter which name you click to make the donation through.)

This marks only the first step in Raconteur’s giving back to the community. All future productions will have a tip jar available, with the proceeds going to charity. The charity will be determined by the Board of Directors on a per-show basis, but we will make every effort to keep our audiences well-informed.

Excited to be able to give back to the community,
Aaron

(In the interests of full disclosure, we have a personal stake in this charity. One of my children has autism, which is what drew me to this particular charity.)

I recently had the honor of being nominated by the Critics Circle as the Best Actress in Columbus. While I didn’t win, it was, as they say, an honor just to be nominated. It seems that my award ceremony invitation was, unfortunately, lost in the mail. However, I prepared this acceptance speech, and figuring that a good acceptance speech should never go to waste—despite losing—that I would share it here.

“Oh! Wow! I can’t believe I’m standing here right now. This is even more fantastic than I ever imagined. I want to thank everyone who has believed in me from day one for encouraging me to continue on as well as the people who didn’t believe in me, because it was those people who fueled my desire to prove them wrong. Thanks to my family and friends, and especially my husband who always pushes me to realize my dreams. I love you, Andrew. Finally, I wouldn’t be here without the wonderful direction of Tricia Jones and my inspiriting co-actor, JT Walker. Thank you all!”

And my time is up.

That was awesome. Thanks for going on that little journey with me. Seriously, finding out I was nominated was very exciting. One of my favorite things about this nomination is that it was for a role in Raconteur’s debut show. I think that makes it doubly awesome.

And since I didn’t know about this until the winners had already been picked, I didn’t have all that wondering to do; I could just enjoy the fact that I was considered among all the actresses in all the shows that took place over the last theatre season.

Still grinning,

Jill

It’s amazing to see something emerge from what was previously nothing. I still remember my amazement during our first rehearsal for Roulette. We were in Jill & Andrew’s living room (generously made available to us for the duration of the rehearsal process) but instead of “just talking” about starting a theatre company, we were audaciously being a theatre company. Actors stood with scripts in hand, our stage manager sat ready to take notes and I was giving direction. We were all diving in with complete faith that our efforts in this improvised rehearsal space would evolve into a finished piece of theatre that would be worthy of an audience, legitimate enough to charge for tickets and meaningful enough to truly speak to people.

It’s true that nothing comes from nothing. In this case, Raconteur Theatre and its debut production came from the sustained outpouring of heart, soul and really hard work. I was exhausted by directing, co-producing, marketing, selling ads, writing to donors, telephoning theatre critics and doing a million other things required to start a theatre company. But it was worth it. I was SO PROUD of After the Afterglow. I felt like we lived up to our vision of producing the best show possible. My feelings were confirmed by the countless positive comments I received from friends, family and strangers who came to see the show.

It has been about a month since we closed our first show, After the Afterglow, and after all the reflection we have done as a company on our processes and what we can improve for next time, it’s finally time for me to reflect on it in a personal way.

It was awesome.

Opening night was the most thrilling theatrical experience I’ve ever had. Yes, it’s always exciting to open a new show and to perform in a play that I feel attached to. But selling out Raconteur’s first performance ever was more than I could have imagined. I think I wore myself out smiling from the accomplishment. That was a day I had envisioned for over ten years, and on May 29th, my stubborn dreams and goals got me there.

It was gratifying to see people walk out of the theatre having not only enjoyed themselves but also having shared in the emotions of those on stage and the collective audience. Even just today two typically non-theatre going people who attended the show commented on how they were drawn in to the emotion and taken on the roller coaster that the characters were on. For me, there is nothing quite as satisfying as knowing that theatre has made an impact on someone.

And this is what I need to remember when I’m drowning and drudging through administrative work for Ghosts. Already I have moments when I need to remind myself of how it felt to see people come to a theatre company that I was integral in building and to see the reviews of our first production reward our hard work. It’s worth it to see people enjoy theatre. Here’s to our future as a theatre!

Excited for what’s next,
Jill

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