Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Hunter.
Elizabeth, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2003 a small group of us–myself, my husband and sister, and a couple of friends–noticed a lack of community theatre in Somerville and decided to put on a show. We put out a hand-painted sign on College Ave and a few posters around Davis Square and got more than forty people at auditions. When we performed Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in the spring of 2004, more than four hundred people turned out to see our work and we realized there was a real hunger on both sides of the curtain for quality, affordable theatre in local spaces.
Since then Theatre@First has created more than forty fully staged productions, performing at local churches and community spaces, as well as the Rockwell (formerly the Davis Square Theatre) and on the big stage at the Somerville Theatre. We’ve also established Bare Bones, a popular series of staged readings, which allows us to bring more plays to our audience each year, as well as FirstWorks, a workshop program for new plays. We have hosted special events including cabaret nights, vaudeville performances, Shakespeare slams, and performances of The Vagina Monologues and The Bully Plays to raise money for women and teens at risk in our community.
More than six hundred individuals have worked with Theatre@First on stage and behind the scenes over the course of our fourteen years and a strong community of returning participants has developed. We’ve fostered dozens of lasting friendships, celebrated ten weddings, and welcomed many new babies into our midst. We’ve reached out to city government and local businesses and organizations to expand our work and root ourselves firmly in the community of Somerville.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We’ve had challenges and adventures along the way. In our first home, there were five different boxes controlling the electricity–some breakers and some fuses–and we had to learn them all as we overloaded circuits with our lights, in one memorable case having to send our Technical Director to the hardware store during intermission so we could continue the show! Once our lead actor had to have emergency gall bladder surgery the day before we opened and so we plucked the proverbial ingénue from the chorus, taught him the lead’s solos, and still managed to put on a good show. Another time an actor re-injured a shoulder during performance and we got to call out “Is there a doctor in the house?’ before sending her off to the hospital while the stage manager took over the role–without a script! Winter Storm Nemo shut down the entire city in February 2013 on the single day we were performing The Vagina Monologues. We had to cancel the matinee, but we took the stage that night with several cast members who’d hiked through the snow and one who appeared just moments before her cue–she had been the first car behind the state troopers as they re-opened the Pike. We had an audience of over two hundred that night–after all, we were the only show in town!
On a larger scale, we have faced the eternal struggle of every arts organization, to generate the support and attention required to continue our work. As we grew, we were forced to leave the church basement that was our first home, which was a significant challenge and transition. And during the 2008 recession, our coffers grew alarmingly bare. But throughout our existence we have been awed by the amazing resources of time, space, and financial support offered by our community. Again and again, individuals and organizations have come through to keep the lights on and the doors open and our sense of commitment and community have grown and flourished.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Theatre@First – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Theatre@First strives to create quality theatre experiences for our audience while providing creative outlets, learning opportunities, fun, and connections for all of our participants.
One of the things that sets us apart from other theatre organizations is our approach to selecting projects. Each show we do is the dream of someone within our community. Plays are proposed by directors, supported by administrative and technical staff, and approved by a steering committee made up of dedicated participants. We harness the energy of these dreams and provide the institutional experience and organizational infrastructure to make them a reality.
New audience members are often surprised by the high quality of our performances. As an all-volunteer organization, we delight in discovering hidden talents and scrounging resources from within our community to allow us to present shows that can challenge, surprise and delight our audiences. We often receive comments that favorably compare our work to that of professional theatre companies and we are very proud of the strides we’ve made over the past fourteen years and the creative risks we’ve taken in that time.
The thing that everyone notices is how open and welcoming we are. We are famous for our friendly, easy-going auditions that help people to feel included from the moment they walk in our door. At the same time, we strive to break down the barriers between actors and technical staff, so that people feel free to move between jobs and take on new roles. We work to find opportunities that suit the availability, interests, and talents that our participants bring to the process and encourage everyone to learn new skills, from using power tools to doing community outreach. Many of our participants have found their engagement with us to be life-changing and we take great pride in the effect we have as an organization, in and out of the theatre.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have a busy season ahead of us. Up next is the ninth Festival@First, our summer one-act program. This year’s theme is Wicked Boston! and we’ve assembled a slate of short plays by local writers that focus on the history and culture of the Metro Boston area. From the Great Molasses Flood to the fire at Cocoanut Grove, and from the digging of the first T tunnels to the rising waters of our future, our amazing creative team are going to show audiences many different sides of our area in a fun evening of theatre at the Rockwell.
This fall I will be directing The Magic Fire, a memory play by Argentinean-American playwright Lillian Groag. This enchanting and rarely performed work invites you into the lively home of an immigrant family in Buenos Aires of the 1950s. Together we’ll explore the connections among memory, history, and art through the eyes of a child, revisited from the perspective of adulthood. By turns funny, loving, and politically alarming, The Magic Fire weaves a spell of tango and opera, treasured memories and hidden truths.
And in the winter of 2018 we’ll be bringing R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) back to life! This 1920 Czech play coined the word “robot” and introduced the world to ethical questions about free will and personal responsibility that still resound today.
Pricing:
- Ticket prices vary from $12 to $25, depending on the show.
- Readings are free with a suggested donation of $5.
- There are no membership dues, costume fees, or other pay-to-play costs to participating in Theatre@First.
- Theatre@First is an all-volunteer non-profit arts organization.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theatreatfirst.org
- Phone: 888-874-7554
- Email: taf@theatreatfirst.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/theatreatfirst
- Twitter: twitter.com/theatreatfirst
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 2004
Image Credit:
Photos by Johanna Bobrow, Elizabeth Hunter, Matt Ringel, and Rachel Sommer
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