A B O U T
Mission
FREE THEATER is committed to freeing classic texts from their academic bindings, in order to make them visceral, timely and accessible.
Principles
Free Theater is operated under certain creative restrictions in order to better fulfill the goals of our mission statement. We strive to be:
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Visceral: A play should live in the room with its audience.
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Clear: The audience must be able to follow the story.
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Accessible: Neither price nor form should discourage audience attendance.
Other Guidelines
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The play acknowlages and engages with the audience as equals, entered into a transcation of storytelling.
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The play must be presented on a donation basis.
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The play must present a fleshed-out, imaginative world.
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The play should be related to a modern context without being simplified in its content.
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The setting of the play must encompass the dream/subconscious world as well as the waking/conscious world.
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Text work must be clear and comprehensive ("No Word Left Behind")
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The play must engage with, not ignore, the architecture of the space. ("Ignore No Inch")
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The play must present the audience with FREEDOM of intepretation / application to their daily lives.
History
Free Theater was founded in 2009 by Sam Gibbs and Ryan Castalia, in a desire to produce theater in a way that was free from expectation and inhibition. Since then it has been a shifting collective of theater artists, always looking for a powerful storytelling outlet and a rigorous theater practice. As it stands now, Free Theater is run by artistic director Sam Gibbs and is localized in New York City.