Hot, Hip and on the Verge

A dozen young American companies you need to know

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CHARTER THEATRE

No Artifice, No Turtlenecks
by Terry Hong

It refers to itself as "theatre without the black turtleneck." Indeed, unpretentious, surprising, innovative Charter Theatre is perhaps this performance-rich city's best-kept dramatic secret.

The company performs in the black-painted basement of a Georgetown church, at other times in a nearby, partially renovated warehouse, with minimal sets and without any fancy techno-whiz-bangs. There's no set ticket price at the door because the troupe believes cost should not be a barrier to seeing quality shows. In fact, this tiny, tight-knit group of devoted theatre professionals has agreed that not getting paid is okay for now, because it's all about the work.

"We're more of a cult than a theatre company," laughs founder and producing artistic director Keith Bridges, a self-described "theatre dropout" who decided he wanted back in after a decade away from the boards. What Bridges has assembled is a compact powerhouse of major talent. In a city dominated by three distinguished regional companies—Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre and the Studio Theatre—and home to the nationally recognized Helen Hayes Awards, Charter's record is noteworthy: 11 Hayes nominations and three wins over five short seasons. Included in that achievement is a 2001 Charles MacArthur Award for outstanding new play.

New works—about detectives (Hoboken Station by Chris Stezin), disintegrating relationships (A House in the Country by Peter Coy), dysfunctional couples (Church of the Open Mind by Allyson Currin), even tortured nuns (Watching Left by Bridges)—are exactly what Charter is about: "Putting intimate, immediate, simple and honest stories on stage is our mission," says Bridges.

"The aesthetic we're after is 'unvarnished,'" says actor, director and playwright Chris Stezin, who is Charter's associate artistic director, "not because it's unrefined or unsophisticated, but because it doesn't allow for excessive artifice to come between the audience and the story."

To ensure that unembellished quality, the Charter team relies on an involved process of developing new works that includes live readings, workshop rehearsals and frequent rewrites. "This entire engine is there to make sure that my voice is heard as vividly and vitally as possible," says playwright Currin, a Charter favorite, whose latest play, The Subject, opened Charter's sixth season this fall.

Next up for Charter is Sacred Cows, a new comedy that "skewers the comical state of religion in America," by Jim Helein and Mario Baldessari, running Jan. 7–30.

"D.C.'s a tough theatre town," muses Bridges. "Sometimes it's so touch and go, I worry. But those who come to Charter keep coming. And we're growing."

Terry Hong is the media arts consultant for the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Program.

Next: The Civilians, New York City

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