The Ensemble Theatre
Encyclopedia
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, is the largest African-American professional theatre company in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that produces plays in-house and owns its own facility.
History
The Ensemble Theatre is a non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
founded by George Hawkins in 1976 as a touring company that rehearsed in a church basement.
In 2003, the company was awarded $250,000 from the Houston Endowment Inc.
Houston Endowment Inc.
Houston Endowment Inc. was founded in 1937 by Jesse H. Jones and Mary Gibbs Jones as an extension of their personal philanthropy to help establish institutions and organizations that help facilitate the growth of Houston and develop its people...
, with which it retired its original capital campaign debt and made some improvements to the facility. Since 1991, Houston Endowment Inc. has granted a total of $1,220,500 to the Ensemble, including an annual operating grant.
In August 2006, the Ensemble Theatre celebrated its 30-year anniversary, as it launched its 2006-2007 production season. This celebration included the presentation of an award to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, as the 2006 "Lifetime Achievement" honoree.
The theatre building
METRORail
METRORail is the light rail line in Houston . It is the second major light rail service in Texas following the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. With an approximate daily ridership of 34,155, the METRORail ranks as the fourteenth most-traveled light rail system in the United States, with the...
stop bears its name, Ensemble/HCC Station
Ensemble/HCC Station
Ensemble/HCC is an island platformed METRORail light rail station in Houston, Texas, United States. The station was opened on January 1, 2004, and is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas...
, an honor shared with the nearby Houston Community College ("HCC"). The facility includes a main stage auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
with seating for 200, an arena stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
that seats 125, and a grand performance hall that accommodates 500 people.
The company
Each year the theatre presents a repertoire of critically acclaimed dramas, comedies and musicals that demonstrates the artistic ability of more than 250 professional local, regional and national artists and support staff. A non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, the Ensemble Theatre also has an educational touring program and a summer young performers training program.
The Ensemble's mission is to preserve African-American artistic expression. To do so, it collaborates with and presents works by artists such as Joseph A. Walker, Pearl Cleage
Pearl Cleage
Pearl Cleage is an African-American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah’s Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an...
, Cheryl L. West and Shay Youngblood
Shay Youngblood
Shay Youngblood is a novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. She was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1959. She has been fascinated with the written word since she first learned how to read. Her favorite recurring dream as a child was one in which she lived in a library...
.
Though the Ensemble is an African-American run troupe, it is colorblind when it comes to welcoming directors, designers, performers, playwrights and audiences. Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning playwright August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
has visited the Ensemble, and influential dramatist Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
has directed the troupe. Performers Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
and Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
have also offered their support to the company.
In August 2006, the Ensemble announced its selection of Eileen J. Morris as its new artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
. As the artistic airector, Morris will manage the Ensemble's repertoire of six main stage productions, an aggressive tour education program, a young performers program and other projects to advance the artistic mission of the theatre.