Centre Stage (theater) facts for kids
Centre Stage is a cool theater in Greenville, South Carolina. It's open all year and has 285 seats! A team of seven people works there full-time. They put on about six to eight big plays every year. They also have lots of other fun shows and events. Actors, directors, and other artists come from nearby or other areas to help with shows. Centre Stage is part of important groups like the Theatre Communications Group (TCG). This means it's a professional theater.
Working Together: Centre Stage Collaborations
Centre Stage works with other art groups in Greenville, like the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. This helps them offer even more cool things to do! You can see art shows, small music concerts, independent movies, and listen to talks about many different subjects.
Teachers and students from local colleges, like North Greenville University and Clemson University, often help direct and work on the plays. Greenville Technical College also teaches theater classes right at Centre Stage. Dr. Brian Haimbach, a professor there, teaches these classes and leads the Centre Stage New Play Festival. Centre Stage is also home to Greenville Light Opera Works (GLOW). GLOW is a professional opera and musical theater company. They put on a summer festival with funny operas and musicals.
Centre Stage: A Look at Its History
Centre Stage was started in 1983 by Douglas P. McCoy. He wanted it to become a professional theater. The very first place Centre Stage performed was inside the Greenville County Museum of Art. Their first full play was in a church gym.
For the next four years, Centre Stage performed at the Greenville School District's Fine Arts Center. After that, for ten years, Centre Stage rented a building on Washington and Academy Streets. All their plays were put on there during that time.
In April 1996, Centre Stage became an Associate Member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). They are still a part of this group today. Being a TCG member means Centre Stage has all the rights and benefits of a professional theater. In April 1998, they became a Constituent Member of TCG, which is an even higher level of membership.
In December 1996, construction began for the theater's current home at 501 River Street. Centre Stage uses 10,000 square feet of the 30,000 square foot Citi-Smith Barney Building. They moved into this new place on October 1, 1997. Their first show there was on October 2, 1997.
Discovering New Plays: The New Play Festival
The Centre Stage New Play Festival (NPF) is a super exciting event! Playwrights (people who write plays) from all over the country and even other countries send in hundreds of scripts each year. Four of these scripts are chosen as finalists. These four plays are then read aloud by actors during the festival.
After each reading, there's a "talkback session." This is where the audience can share their thoughts and ideas about the play. It's a cool way for playgoers to be part of the creative process! One play is chosen as the festival winner. That winning play then gets a full production the next year.
Some past winners include The Edith Whartons (2005 winner, produced 2006) and Guided Tour (2006 winner, produced 2007). The Uncurled Hand won in 2007 and was produced in 2008. "The Legacy" won in 2008 and was produced in 2009. "Coal Creek" won in 2009 and was produced in 2010. Each year, a famous playwright, like Lee Blessing or Arlene Hutton, is invited to be a special guest.
