a word from the executive director...our history...
When you mention to someone that you run a theatre company the first question out of their mouth is "What's it called?" The second question out of their mouth, after they've feverishly searched their brains to figure out Whether or not they've heard of you before, is inevitably "How did you come up with THAT?" So, in the interests of all, here are the answers to those two questions:
1. "What's it
called?"
The company is called Spring Theatreworks. Not "Spring Theatre Company," not
"Spring Theatre Works," not just "Spring Theater". It's Spring Theatreworks, two
words. The second isn't a real word, I know, but this is theatre after all, and
we theatre people have the inherent right to do things like create new words
whenever we like. (Although, hard-pressed by my lawyers, I have to point out
that I wasn't the first one who created the fake word "Theatreworks," so I'm not
allowed to take any credit. Oh, and I should also state that we are in no
way related to or affiliated with
Theatreworks/USA or Illinois
College TheatreWorks or the
Madison Area
Technical College TheatreWorks Program or the
Theatreworks Theatrical Troupe at NYC Technical College...although all fine
cultural institutions.)
(Have I heard of them before?? Hmm...)
2. "How did you
come up with THAT?"
Interesting story there (at least, it is to me...). I hate long plane rides.
They're pure torture really. I have to be sedated to endure a flight
longer than 5 hours or given a steady stream of movies I've been meaning to see
but hadn't had the chance because I don't often find myself strapped to a chair
for this length of time. And late night flights do well for me because I can usually
fall asleep pretty easily. (Don't worry this is going somewhere...) On January
6, 2000 I was on a flight from Dublin, Ireland to New York, USA (as opposed to
the other New York...) which took off from
Dublin at the bright, sunny, cheery hour of about 3pm. This was an 8 hour flight
from hell. I couldn't sleep a wink. I was wide awake the entire time. It was
crowded, noisy and inexplicably smelly. I was going completely insane and getting no help
from the flight crew (again, my lawyers intervened here and won't let me name
the airline, but let's just say it rhymes with "hair fungus"). So, to
fight off the insanity I decided to think of a name for the theatre company that
I was going to create the moment I got back into the States. Honestly, I have no
idea why Spring Theatreworks is what I wrote down during that fateful flight. I
tell people it was because I was trying to think of pleasant, calming things
like green fields and pretty flowing streams I had just seen on the Irish
countryside, but whether or not that is true, I don't know. I wasn't in the
frame of mind to remember. Regardless, the name stuck and now has a clear
significance to me: whether you define "spring" as a natural source of fresh
water, or as the season, the season of new life, new growth, or renewal,
rebirth, with promise of a bright future, I realized that was a good way to
define the work that Spring Theatreworks seeks to create. And, yeah, that's exactly what I intended
all along, of
course.
I founded Spring Theatreworks (or, as company member Karen Forte called it: "The Pipe-Dream") in 2000 together with a group of actors, directors and writers that I found mostly through tireless rounds of interviews and auditions. I didn't want to just use the theatre artists I already knew. I wanted a new company with new relationships and new blood. Along the way I've brought in some old friends to mix with the new friends.
I set up shop in July 2000 in a studio at 55 Washington Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. I had always had an affinity for the neighborhood and jumped at the opportunity to share a space there. Naturally, we stuck out like a sore thumb. There weren't many theatre companies in DUMBO back then (not a whole lot now either, for that matter!) and we were looked at like the "crazy neighbors who make too much noise banging on the walls." From there we rehearsed and created our first 5 productions.
In January 2002, after more bad looks from our neighbors, I decided we should move into our more cozy DUMBO digs at 25 Jay Street, a few blocks over from Washington Street. This space started out as 4 dirty, grungy white walls with a painted gray floor, one fluorescent light and a blue sofa on wheels with no seat support. Or what some in real estate might refer to as "raw." We gave the space a dark purplish-bluish coat of paint (giving the space its current "Prince Charming" glow), warmed up the lighting, spruced up the gray floor, painstakingly painted the ceiling black and built ourselves a storage closet (we can be pretty handy when we need to be!). We even kept the sofa out of nostalgia. Then in January 2005 we got cabin fever and decided to rip down some walls, throw away that old sofa and open our doors to the public. We took over the adjoining studio and created the space that you see today nestled snuggly amongst the "new" condo-version of DUMBO.
Some other cool
facts to throw around at parties include:
- We were incorporated in March 2001.
- We started with about 35 members in 2000, and we've focused that down to 10
now. Did you know that not all theatre artists can agree on everything? You
learn something new everyday.
- We received our tax-exempt recognition from the IRS in April 2003, making us
an official non-profit arts organization in NYC. Not that we needed the IRS to
dub us as "non-profit," we've been well-aware of the "non-profit" aspect since
day one, thanks!
- Vaclav Havel's first name is pronounced "Vat'-slav."
- Janusz Glowacki's name is pronounced "Yan'-noosh Gwuh-vat'-ski."
-
Jon Fosse's name is pronounced "Yoon Foe'-suh."
- So far we've performed at The Beckmann Theatre at the American Theatre of
Actors (twice, believe it or not), The John Houseman Studio Theatre (R.I.P.), The Present
Company Theatorium (R.I.P.), Center Stage NY, The Red Room above the KGB Bar,
The New Actors Workshop, Altered Stages (twice), The Milagro & Flamboyan Theatres at CSV,
The Culture Project and most recently in our own space in DUMBO!
- DUMBO stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. I'm surprised I still get this question on a regular basis.
-
We've produced 23 different plays involving over 100 different actors, stage managers,
designers, crew members, directors, writers and producers from 2000 to 2007.
My main goal with this company is to create a more unique relationship between the artists (the people who create, conceive and develop theatrical projects...directors and writers, but also actors, designers, dramaturges, etc.) and their producing company. We both have a common goal: to find a larger, more consistent audience for the work. The artists Spring currently represents were chosen because we are passionate about producing their ideas on a New York stage. The business of producing theatre today is a fragmented one. The people focused on producing your work should be the same people focused on promoting your work, selling your work, critiquing your work and, as a result, developing your work...all under one roof. This is the true nourishment of an artist's career. Why can't theatre artists be supported consistently this way by their producing company? With that said, we are constantly looking for additional artists that inspire us to get out there and tell more stories...artists that are focused on DOING, hand-in-hand with their producers.
I am very proud that, at least for now, we call DUMBO home, and I hope to continue bringing fresh, new, innovative "theatreworks" to this and surrounding communities.
Wishing you all
the shortest of plane rides,
Jeffrey Horne
Executive Director