Description
Our season runs September-May and includes a four-show main-stage season and two new short runs of main-stage add-on productions to start and end our season, a three-show Children’s Reading Series, a 5X5 Reading Series of new works, and a Contemporary Music Series. In addition to the above we have just started a new education program called BCT Theater Lab. The creation and performance of original contemporary theater is a powerful force for shared understanding in a community. There is currently no established program in the Treasure Valley to teach the skills and techniques of modern playmaking to young artists. Lead by talented actor and educator, and now BCT associate artist, Dwayne Blackaller, the BCT Theater Lab is dedicated to doing just that. A diverse group of students, from ages twelve to eighteen, will be given the opportunity to work as an ensemble to devise and compose new works for the stage. Taught by professional theater artists, the classes will include devising, composition, playwriting, acting, contemporary movement, and voice training. Students will be encouraged to explore multiple artistic mediums with the purpose of bringing their unique stories to life for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to experience. In collaboration with professional theater artists, these students will produce those plays locally in fully realized public performances on the Boise Contemporary Theater stage. Scholarships will be provided for underserved students to ensure that these new plays reflect the views, perspectives, and experiences of our entire community. After its first successful session in March 2011, Boise Contemporary Theater continues its commitment to support the further development of the BCT Theater Lab. Now is the perfect time to build a theater program for young people in our area. When budgets are tight, public schools are forced to scale back on arts education and students are left with fewer or no performing arts options. We are attempting to fill that gap by creating a vibrant home for students who crave professional training in an environment that puts the focus on their unique voice, interests, and stories. We also run BCT’s New Play Development Program, called The First Stage, whcih has presented the World Premiere of THE PHYSICS OF REGRET, written by Michael Rohd with BCT, the Western US Premiere of LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING by Don DeLillo, and the commission of two new plays, LAST OF THE BREED by Maria Dahvana Headley, NO...YOU SHUT UP, written and performed by Lauren Weedman,THE KRUMBLIN FOUNDATION written and performed by Tom Willmorth and Joe Conley Golden, r e / f r a c t i o n by Dwayne Blackaller, A PERMANET IMAGE by Samuel D. Hunter and OFF THE RECORD by Lynn Allison.
BCT employs local actors, designers, directors, technicians and managing staff, thereby helping to sustain jobs for the talented artists who chose Boise as their home. These employment opportunities produce the added benefit of keeping these artists’ talents in the Treasure Valley. During the 2010-2011 Season our audience base was over 11,000 patrons for our main-stage productions, approximately 1,500 for the staged reading series, and approximately 1,600 for other special events. BCT strives to create, for Idaho theater artists, an environment where the collective talents of these artists come together to create a high level of entertainment that enhances the cultural landscape and life of city residents. In addition to the job opportunities the company provides, the location of our performance space gives the Cultural District and surrounding area additional exposure, bringing business to downtown restaurants and shops. It is part of BCT’s continuing mission to provide these associated benefits to the city of Boise.
