A Short History of TheDrillingCompanNY

During the past six years TheDrilliingCompaNY has served as a bridge for unique emerging artists from obscurity to recognition.  The consistent programming has had a tremendous on the Off- Broadway and Off-Off Broadway community.  The network of writer, actors and directors and their accomplishments to date since being associated with TheDrillingCompaNY is  a continuously growing marvel.

TheDrillingCompaNY is based on jazz – endeavoring to extend the same freedom in creation and production to theatre artists that the jazz form extends to musicians. We bring many writers together under the tent of a common theme or melody. What distinguishes TheDrillingCompaNY is the variety and quality of artists engaged in each project. The company builds integrated theatre communities around each project with diversity not only in race but also in age, geography, professional experience, sexual orientation and theatrical background.

TheDrillingCompaNY. began with a belief that more production (versus reading) opportunities were needed for writers and that the performing community was becoming more segregated rather than integrated. TDC began in 1999 with the mission to create production opportunities and to design projects transcending barriers.

The company fostered 21 productions in its first six years.  It has become a farm for quality writers who are then engaged by the regional and Off-Broadway communities. While staying rooted on the Upper West Side, the company has stretched its legs with programming in all five boroughs, Florida and California. It embodies the spirit of Off-Off Broadway by creating opportunities for a multitude of new artists, supporting artists whose artistic value is clear but not yet commercial, initiating work in deliberate response to socio-political events and lastly, generating ongoing artistic community.

Over the past six years TheDrillingCompaNY production has been prolific: 12 short play projects, six full length productions, three productions of outdoor Summer Shakespeare and over 30 new play readings.  More numerous than the projects themselves are the productions they initiate – over 25 and counting at other theatres.    More numerous than those productions are the artistic associations – (each play project engages almost 60 artists: @ 25 writers , 20 actors, 3 designers, 2 visual artists  and eight directors) - leading to further collaborations which are too numerous to count.

Three notable examples of a completely different voice that have enjoyed production in DrillingCompaNY are Thom Pain(based on nothing) by Will Eno, Hiding Behind Comets by Brian Dykstra, both enjoying extended runs Off-Broadway, and Day of Reckoning by Melody Cooper which has had two New York productions and is opening a new Florida theatre this Spring.  Mr. Eno’s work was recently recognized by the Pulitzer Prize committee.  We have produced two of Mr. Eno’s works, including  a short excerpt of Thom Pain (based on nothing) in the fall of 2002. Mr. Dykstra is an example projects, notably developing some of his socio-political comedy hit Cornered and Alone, Dykstra : The Boxed Set and Clean Alternatives, currently under consideration for production by several theatres.  Finally, Ms Cooper has been recognized for her short plays Down Here and Reading Zimbabwe, both commissioned by TheDrillingCompaNY  and giving her the opportunity to hone her voice as a playwright with historical roots and a call to social responsibility.

Secondly, the company has consistently encouraged a diverse range of language based work, frequently producing experimental voices.  The upcoming  project, Revenge, features a Bunraku puppet re-telling of Medea, an audience participation mystery, a multi-media satire and seven other new works.  The goal is to initiate a quality response and then to offer an eclectic examination of the theme.  The company has offered New York production to writers whose excellence has been recognized (by the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation The Bush Foundation and Project Greenlight among others), but whose work has yet to take hold in the commercial marketplace.

TDC has served as a home and a starting point for many writers with strong socio-political voices.  Since each theme is chosen in response to current world events, TDC projects have provided the opportunity for theatre artists to respond immediately. Past themes include Service just after September 11, 2001, Theft  in the shadow of the ENRON scandal, Honor last year as the country faced the controversial American military offensive in Iraq, and this year’s Revenge.

The company is a member theatre of Theatres Against War and has continued to develop.

Peace is Our Choice, a collection of original plays , songs, and monologues written by TheDrillingCompaNY writers and tied together with quotes from notable peace activists and thinkers. Originally presented free to the public before the Iraq invasion, it has been offered to the public twice more since the recent election. The mission of the work is to contribute to the emerging dialogue around the nature of peace. What must we do to cultivate a greater awareness of its nature and potential?

Lastly , TheDrillingCompaNY has generated an ongoing artistic community here in Manhattan and stretching to all corners of North America. In order to serve the actors of our community we have initiated The Workout, a monthly session designed to specifically target skill development for actors, offered to actors in the New York community at no charge. We have been a theatre in residence at 78th Street Theatre Lab for five years, maintaining a consistent base of operations for artists and audience.    On Off-Off Broadway stages, diversity can flourish in many ways.  TheDrillingCompaNY has supported writers from Texas to New Hampshire to Seattle to California to Atlanta to Edmonton and Halifax.  Last year we established the Sarasota Actors Workshop so the work of our writers is going out to communities outside of New York, exporting one of  Manhattan’s most valuable commodities – Off-Off Broadway theatre where new forms can be tried, traditional voices can be developed and dramatists can reflect immediately on the world around them. TheDrillingCompaNY is a melting pot for an American community that emerges on the stages of Off-Off Broadway.