Cornerstone Theater Company
Encyclopedia
Cornerstone Theater Company is a theater company based in the United States that specializes in community
-based collaboration. According to the mission statement published on the company's website,
Typically, Cornerstone artists take up residence in the community they will be working with and develop the script for a production. Using members of the community, Cornerstone creates a performance company mixing the professional Cornerstone ensemble with local talent. The resulting plays are often adaptations of classics, but they are always informed by and often address local concerns. These plays are often organized into "Cycles" which include several related communities. For example, Cornerstone's Faith Based cycles included plays created with members of the Jewish community, Catholics, Muslims, and so on. http://www.aldrichpr.com/BridgeReviews.htm
This artistic strategy is specifically aimed at developing and serving new audiences, and yields a unique theater form that blends professional actor
s, playwright
s and stage designers with artists and actors who are in some way telling their own stories, or the stories of their community.
and playwright Alison Carey in 1986. The impulse behind the group, according to Carey, was to create theater for audiences that they otherwise would never come in contact with.
Gathering a group of theater artists they had worked with while students at Harvard University
, Rauch, Carey and their fellow artists picked a destination for their theatrical experiment that none of them had ever visited before: Marmarth, North Dakota
. There they performed the Old West Shakespearean adaptation Marmarth Hamlet. For the next five years they traveled to small towns in America, including Port Gibson, Mississippi
, Norcatur, Kansas
, and many others, creating theater with the local inhabitants.
While the company normally spends weeks-to-months preparing for performances, the idea of "rapid response theater" had been suggested since the 1992 Los Angeles riots
, which occurred shortly after the troupe's relocation to the city. In April 2006, Michael John Garcés replaced Bill Rauch as artistic director. Rauch moved to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
. On June 14 of the same year, Garcés put the "rapid response theater" concept into action with staged readings from John Steinbeck
's Grapes of Wrath in protest of the eviction of the South Central Farm
ers from a privately held plot of land that had been used as a community garden.http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-ca-cornerstone25jun25,0,2053519.story?coll=cl-stage
Starting in the Spring of 2007, Cornerstone began a new cycle of plays concerning the topic of Justice
. 2007's Los Illegals concerned the presence of undocumented workers in America, and 2008's Someday focused on reproductive rights in an era when technology makes new interventions and treatments possible.http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-myatt25-2008may25,0,3057238.story. The Justice Cycle will continue through 2009 with three more productions.
At the end of the company's initial rural residencies, Cornerstone and its community partners produced The Winter's Tale: An Interstate Adventure. This musical adaptation of Shakespeare with a cast and crew of 50 from all 12 previous residency communities toured 10,000 miles, culminating Cornerstone's national touring phase.
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
-based collaboration. According to the mission statement published on the company's website,
"Cornerstone Theater Company is a multi-ethnic, ensemble-based theater company. We commission and produce new plays, both original works and contemporary adaptations of classics, which combine the artistry of professional and community collaborators. By making theater with and for people of many ages, cultures and levels of theatrical experience, Cornerstone builds bridges between and within diverse communities in our home city of Los Angeles and nationwide."
Typically, Cornerstone artists take up residence in the community they will be working with and develop the script for a production. Using members of the community, Cornerstone creates a performance company mixing the professional Cornerstone ensemble with local talent. The resulting plays are often adaptations of classics, but they are always informed by and often address local concerns. These plays are often organized into "Cycles" which include several related communities. For example, Cornerstone's Faith Based cycles included plays created with members of the Jewish community, Catholics, Muslims, and so on. http://www.aldrichpr.com/BridgeReviews.htm
This artistic strategy is specifically aimed at developing and serving new audiences, and yields a unique theater form that blends professional actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
s and stage designers with artists and actors who are in some way telling their own stories, or the stories of their community.
Origins
Cornerstone was founded by director Bill RauchBill Rauch
Bill Rauch is an American artistic director. Rauch succeeded Libby Appel as the fifth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2007...
and playwright Alison Carey in 1986. The impulse behind the group, according to Carey, was to create theater for audiences that they otherwise would never come in contact with.
Gathering a group of theater artists they had worked with while students at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Rauch, Carey and their fellow artists picked a destination for their theatrical experiment that none of them had ever visited before: Marmarth, North Dakota
Marmarth, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 140 people, 66 households, and 35 families residing in the city. The population density was 55.2 people per square mile . There were 101 housing units at an average density of 39.8 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 99.29% White, and 0.71% from...
. There they performed the Old West Shakespearean adaptation Marmarth Hamlet. For the next five years they traveled to small towns in America, including Port Gibson, Mississippi
Port Gibson, Mississippi
Port Gibson is a city in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,840 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Claiborne County.- History :...
, Norcatur, Kansas
Norcatur, Kansas
Norcatur is a city in Decatur County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 151.-Geography:Norcatur is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 169...
, and many others, creating theater with the local inhabitants.
Los Angeles
In 1992 the company decided to settle in a city that would allow them access to a wide variety of communities to collaborate with. Since then, the company has expanded its definition of "community". Initially only defined geographically, the company's collaborations have incorporated religious communities, workplace communities, and age-based communities. For the company's 10th anniversary in 1996, the "community" was defined as "people whose birth date is the same as that of the company".While the company normally spends weeks-to-months preparing for performances, the idea of "rapid response theater" had been suggested since the 1992 Los Angeles riots
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
, which occurred shortly after the troupe's relocation to the city. In April 2006, Michael John Garcés replaced Bill Rauch as artistic director. Rauch moved to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
. On June 14 of the same year, Garcés put the "rapid response theater" concept into action with staged readings from John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's Grapes of Wrath in protest of the eviction of the South Central Farm
South Central Farm
The South Central Farm, also known as the South Central Community Garden, was an urban farm and community garden located at East 41st and South Alameda Streets. in an industrial area of South Los Angeles, California which was in operation between 1994 and 2006...
ers from a privately held plot of land that had been used as a community garden.http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-ca-cornerstone25jun25,0,2053519.story?coll=cl-stage
Starting in the Spring of 2007, Cornerstone began a new cycle of plays concerning the topic of Justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
. 2007's Los Illegals concerned the presence of undocumented workers in America, and 2008's Someday focused on reproductive rights in an era when technology makes new interventions and treatments possible.http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-myatt25-2008may25,0,3057238.story. The Justice Cycle will continue through 2009 with three more productions.
Bridge shows
Another unique facet of Cornerstone is the production of the "Bridge show", a production which links two or more communities together by combining their members into a new show that then performs in each of those communities.At the end of the company's initial rural residencies, Cornerstone and its community partners produced The Winter's Tale: An Interstate Adventure. This musical adaptation of Shakespeare with a cast and crew of 50 from all 12 previous residency communities toured 10,000 miles, culminating Cornerstone's national touring phase.