Raconteur Theatre Company

“The audience is the most revered member of the theater. Without an audience, there is no theater. Everything done is ultimately for the enjoyment of the audience. They are our guests, fellow players, and the last spoke in the wheel which can then begin to roll. They make the performance meaningful.” - Viola Spolin

Ghosts closes tomorrow night and I find myself thinking back through the process of how we got here. As Marketing Rep I was concerned with getting people to the show. It is easy for devout theatre-lovers to forget that although every theatre student knows the role Ibsen has played in shaping theatre over the past century, often audiences may not even recognize his name. This is frustrating and surprising given the fact that he is the second most performed playwright in the world.

So as the days grow cold and dark, we found ourselves in the perpetual gamble of theatre companies everywhere. We made our calls, sent our emails, hung our posters and even tromped around in the streets at a couple local events to raise awareness. But it came down to this: every night at half past seven, we opened our doors, crossed our fingers and hoped.

Now, on the eve of our penultimate performance of Ghosts, I would like to extend my thanks. Thank you for venturing out in sunshine and in rain, on nights when you had to get up early the next day, and in the middle of sunny Sunday afternoons. Thank you for taking a chance on us. Thank you for spending your money in a time when cash is tight and for coming to a show which is challenging and unnerving during the tension of an elevated presidential election season. Thank you for sharing your kind words, your thoughts and insights with each of us every night. But mostly, simply, thank you. You are the reason we are here.

Thanks!
Molly St.Cyr-Reid

Starting a new theatre company is hard. It isn’t a simple formula where you take one-part actors with two parts designers, add sugar and stir and everything comes out right. We are constantly working trail and error - testing things out, seeing what works and what doesn’t and how to improve. Ghosts has been a continuation of our first show – striving forward to grow together as a company and individually as artists. We have had many struggles throughout this process that have given me so much more respect for the process of producing plays. I firmly believe that we learn more from our mistakes than our triumphs and that every obstacle we have encountered has been for the betterment of the company as a whole.

One of the first obstacles I ran into as Producer/Production Coordinator was in the communication of performance dates. After After the Afterglow closed, we had very little time to get things together before auditions for Ghosts. Although I did everything to make sure all our bases were covered, something did slip through the cracks. The week after auditions we got a call from MadLab, where we are renting space for the show, to say that our website had different performance dates than our contract with them. When I first heard this, I went into panic mode. How could the most obvious thing on the planet have been missed? Four of us met to discuss the production calendar. The Board of Directors had been talking about Ghosts for months with an October 2nd opening and yet here we were facing a dilemma. Should we ask MadLab to change the contract or ask everyone involved to push the production back a week? In the end, after many phone calls and emails, we decided to honor the MadLab contract and push the production back to an October 9th opening. In the end, it was the best choice for the production. It was hard for me to not beat myself into the ground, deal with it and move on. I had simply assumed the date we had talked about for months would obviously be the same date as the one in the contract and didn’t need verification. The good thing was that it was discovered pretty early on in the process and was able to be rectified quickly and with very little inconvenience.

We have also had an incredible amount of turnover for a show. Losing various artists due to a varying length of reasons and then having to scramble to find someone else to come in and help us out. It’s always hard to keep the show moving forward when these situations occur, but I have to applaud the entire production for moving forward without fail. As is always the case, the show must go on, and it does.

The show process has not been without speed bumps, but I am incredibly proud of the amount of hard work and dedication everyone on the cast and the production team has shown in striving towards our ultimate goal, which is to do good theatre. As we prepare for our Load-In and 1st Tech tomorrow, I am excited to see all the elements finally come together. Ghosts is an incredible story and I can’t wait to share it with Columbus.

Suellen Kasiara
Producer, Ghosts

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.)

Welcome to our provisional blog - soon to be replaced by our official website…

DEBUT PRODUCTION 

Raconteur will debut with its first annual “FLEX SERIES” this spring.  The FLEX SERIES is an evening of two one-act plays allowing patrons to choose to attend just one of the two or - for a discounted ticket price - to attend both.  Here’s the line-up:

AUDITIONS

Open auditions will be held at Kafe Kerouac on Sunday, April 6 at 4pm and Monday, April 7 at 7pm.  We will be looking for:

• 2 males, twenties

• 2 females, twenties

• 1 male, middle aged, tall

Bring a headshot and resume if available; auditions will consist of readings from the scripts.  You may peruse the scripts online here.

Aster Holger Gunn by Justin Toomey

Unable to let go of his love for Aster, Holger writes 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. In his struggle we see our own efforts to construct our reality and make sense of the pain we encounter in life. What will release Holger - and us - from this cycle of living in the past?

Roulette by Douglas Hill

After four years of a painful marriage, Janine and Matt decide divorce is the only way out.  But when the couple embarks on a final road trip to drop off Matt in Las Vegas, they start to question their decision.  Strange, inexplicable things start happening: money appears and disappears in Matt’s wallet; Janine throws their photo album out the car window but it keeps returning to them.   In this raw portrait of love on the brink of annihilation, Janine and Matt must decide whether their marriage is anything more than a high-stakes gamble.

If you have questions, please send an email to Tricia Jones

PERFORMANCES

Shows will be at Kafe Kerouac on the following dates:

• May 29-June 1, June 5-8, and June 12-14

• Thursday, Friday, & Saturday shows at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm

Information for purchasing tickets will be posted soon.