We're expanding

We've decided to move forward with this little experiment. We were originally going to just cover four theaters: Catalyst, City Circle, Dreamwell and ICCT. Things are going well and so we're going to include all the Iowa City theaters in this blog, which means Aggravated Assault, Graffiti Theatre, MoonGarden Acting Company, Rage Theatrics, Riverside Theatre and Young Footliters have been added to the list. If you're the publicity person for any of those theaters, send the press releases to ictheatreblog AT gmail.com.

A quick snapshot of each of the ten local theater companies:

Aggravated Assault Ensemble was developed by Michael Sokoloff who uses a "rigorous physical approach to training actors, developing scripts, and mounting productions." Their methodology has a circular nature to it as "the physical training of actors creates a vocabulary that is fundamental to script writing; at the same time, the writing process is integral to the immediacy of mounting production, which in its turn makes further demands upon training." They have a stable of shows they have created and performed at various venues, including Fringe Festivals in Minneapolis and Des Moines.

Catalyst is the newest Iowa City area theater company. The recently produced Sisters Rosensweig by Wendy Wasserstein. They have an ambitious schedule planned for 2007-08 including Godspell, The Who's Tommy, and La Cage Au Folles. They plan to perform at various locations such as the Englert, Old Brick, and the Wesley Center.

City Circle Acting Company performed their first show, Nunsense, in 1998. Since then, they have produced over forty shows, from brand new plays to musicals to Shakespearean classics. They are an all volunteer, non-profit community theater supported by the City of Coralville. They performed at Oakdale for many years and are now moving to different Coralville locations, such as the Iowa Children's Museum, Northwest Junior High School, and the Marriot Hotel.

Dreamwell Theatre was founded in 1997 by Matthew Falduto, Sharon Falduto, Paul Chakrin and Ali Zimmerman. They carved out a specific niche in the theater scene, dedicating themselves to performing the lesser known, more risky shows that other theaters sometimes shyed away from, such as Corpus Christi, Baal, and Valparaiso. They perform at various locations in Iowa City, including the Unitarian stage and Arts a la Carte. They are an all volunteer, non-profit theatre.

Iowa City Community Theatre is the oldest theatre in town, having celebrated their 50 anniversary in 2006. They mostly perform at Exhibition Hall at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, with an occasional performance at the Englert Theatre. A traditional community theatre, ICCT offers a combination of musicals and plays that appeal to a wide range of audiences. They are an all volunteer, non-profit community theatre.

Graffiti Theatre is a professional theatre company that was established in Iowa City in 1997 by Mara McCann, Meredith Ratzel Caskey, Sandra DeLuca, and Erin Gee. According to the website, its purpose is "giving life to words and stories that are otherwise untold and unheard." Their mission is to "engage audiences with innovative theatre, sparking dialogue that creates lasting transformative movement." They are a touring company that has produced shows all over the country.

MoonGarden Acting Company began in 2001 with an evening of Shakespearean scenes performed under the stars. MoonGarden has done a number of shows in the past few years, including David Mamet's Boston Marriage and William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The website currently lists Romeo and Juliet upcoming in the fall of 2007.

Rage Theatrics began as the Shattock Schoole of Defence, a touring swordfighting company that appeared in many Renaissance festivals over the last eight years. In 2006, Rage Theatrics was created which includes the Shattock group, as well as an eductional component and Rage Presents, which is the theatrical division. Rage Presents produced Love and Rage last January, an evening of short scenes or plays that featured stage combat and centered around the theme of love. They also took an original show, Your Swash is Unbuckled, to the Iowa Fringe Festival and performed it at the Englert in cooperation with Dreamwell's Fringe entry.

Riverside Theatre is Iowa City's professional theater company. Founded by Ron Clark and Jody Hovland in 1981, Riverside has consistently created quality shows for many years. Riverside is located on Gilbert Street in Iowa City and also produces a Shakespeare festival every summer at the Riverside Festival stage in Lower City Park. Riverside offers educational progams such as the Young People's Company and WILLPOWER, a Shakespeare themed school outreach program.

Young Footliters was founded in 1982 by Patti Mott. They produce around four shows each year, offering little kindergarteners all the way up to high school seniors the chance to tread the boards. They perform in various locations including the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, the Iowa City Community Theatre, and the Riverside Festival stage in Lower City Park.

Now that you've read all that, I hope you'll take a moment to be grateful and maybe even a little humbled by the fact that you live in a community with so many varied and amazing theatre opportunities. We are truly lucky to live in such a rich cultural community.