The Cut was OCT's last mainstage production which closed earlier this month.
LGBT Theater is something that is unheard of when discussing the American Theater. All at the same time, LGBT theater is nessessary for our community to grow and blossom, you just might not realize that. Little be known to the eye who only lives for queer theater, there seems to be only one true outlet for LGBT live theatre in Seattle (aside from Re-bar which only focuses on campy comedies in my eye) from serious drama to campy comedies. I’m speaking about Open Circle Theater who is on the outskirts of celebrating their 20th anniversary with the slight hidden fear of closing their doors. During the economic downfall within the last two years, there have been many theaters to close their doors and it’s really depressing to think about art not existing on the performing arts level.
According to KP Ramsdale, the company’s Managing Director:
OCT is on the cusp of its 20th anniversary of being a fringe theater in Seattle. This is almost unheard of especially with the recent news of many theaters closing due to the current economic conditions. Two years ago we moved from South Lake Union into Belltown and created Seattle’s finest fringe theater space – just check out any of the reviews! Who could foresee the economic downturn that has hit everyone so hard? In response to this change, Open Circle Theater has a new Artistic Director, a new Managing Director, a new acting Board President and in the last year has added at least eight more company members. In addition, we reached out to the community and asked for collaborators. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fill that need in the timeline we had. Because of that, we’re in jeopardy of losing our space.
You can send your thoughts, concerns, donations and the such to the following:
Open Circle Theater
2222 2nd Avenue, Ste 222
Seattle, WA 98122
There is even a PayPal option
You can reach KP Ramsdale at KP@octheater.com
Is this really any surprise for your eyes? We all have been tracking to what is happening at Intiman Theater, which we do hope they make it through their pains because they really do produce amazingly talented live theater that makes you think, drink, and dream. But, for a company who is just about to celebrate their 20th anniversary and who predominatly produces scripts that are either written by a gay playwright or surrounds any issues or themes in the LGBT community, I feel an urge to challange you to support this group of company members and dedicated staff members who work hard to tackle a side of the theater that no one else in the American Theater will touch: gay theater.
Please Note: This writer is not affiliated with Open Circle Theater.
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The theater will survive. We really would like to prevent a stall in our current season to keep the blood flowing while we rethink our situation. Thanks for bringing attention to this! It is so appreciated.
The show must go on! My thoughts are with you guys and I know that you’ll survive!
Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but I never knew OC was LGBT-focused. Certainly the two shows I did with them (years ago) were not marketed specifically to that audience…maybe it’s something for the new staff to investigate. As a long-term surviving fringe theatre, Open Circle has an important place in the arts community and I hope it can weather these hard economic times.