Taproot Theatre Company Programs
Out of our theatre in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, Taproot produces six Mainstage productions each year (often including at least one regional premiere), providing imaginative and thought-provoking theatre to Northwest audiences. We reach out to the community by donating over 800 tickets each year to city non-profits, offering discounts to students and seniors, and hosting one Pay-What-You-Can performance during the run of each show.
TTC's Road Company exists to reach the hearts and minds of children throughout the Pacific Northwest. We use the creative and captivating medium of theatre to teach life-changing lessons with our productions focused on the dangerous trends of bullying, cyber-bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary school settings. Each show incorporates lessons taught in the award-winning anti-bullying curricula offered by Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit.
TTC's Acting Studio was founded in 1992 to provide affordable, encouraging, and artistically challenging classes for kids and adults interested in working closely with theatre professionals to discover their unique artistic gifts and learn the craft of acting. The year-round curriculum invites students of all ages to take creative risks, build new friendships, and sharpen their acting skills in order to be more competitive in the professional theatre world. We also partner with other organizations in Seattle to provide in-depth drama opportunities for youth and seniors. Some of these partners include the Greenwood Senior Center, James Madison Middle School/YMCA MOST after-school program, and Fairfax Psychiatric Hospital.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
In 2012, our regional premiere of Freud’s Last Session challenged our theatergoers’ own preconceived ideas and beliefs, as they witnessed the characters of C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud bantering and battling over the meaning of love, war, suffering, and God. With themes of science and religion, body and soul, reality and fantasy, Freud’s Last Session was ultimately a celebration of the power of civil dialogue. We were able to gauge audience interest and reaction by the large numbers who stayed after Wednesday evening performances for free post-play discussions: consistently, 50% or more of the audience stayed. We partnered with The Kindlings Muse, a local movement that cultivates invigorating discussions and debates via podcasts and events, to develop a free Conversations event titled “Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis: Friend or Foe?” This event brought two experts on Freud and Lewis into conversation and was moderated by Dick Staub, host of The Kindlings Muse.
In partnership with The Gathering Place at the Greenwood Senior Center, our Acting Studio launched a pilot improv drama program for seniors facing Early Stage Memory Loss (ESML) in 2012. This program fulfills a true community need. As one class participant said, “Living with Alzheimers is so dark and depressing. We come here and we laugh. It makes everything better.” Our challenge is to secure funding to keep the class fee minimal, and to meet requests to extend this program to other centers around the city. Your help can make this possible!