Shouldn’t it be enough to just do good Shakespeare? Or, more generally, shouldn’t it be enough to just put on good plays?
It is a question that could be asked of any theater company, but Gamut Theatre Group has a firm stance on the matter—no.
“You need to be committed to some form of outreach and some form of community engagement in order to make what you do accessible,” said Thomas Weaver, associate artistic director of the company and part of the team that focuses on community outreach.
Harrisburg is a city with a complicated and divisive racial and class history, and one way to try to achieve greater unity is through art, Weaver believes. Art, he said, helps create a city’s identity, and the goal of any arts organization should be to connect with the people it serves to help build up that identity.
In its origin, Gamut Theatre Group was known solely as the Popcorn Hat Players, a children’s theater company that still is a focus in the organization.
“Gamut was founded in a lot of ways on a basis of outreach,” Weaver said. “We don’t expect the audiences to always come to us; we go to them.”
The Popcorn Hat Players are, primarily, a touring company, reaching schools, daycares and community centers across the state and beyond. Later this month, during the city’s annual Artsfest celebration over Memorial Day weekend, the Popcorn Hat Players will present Kidsfest, offering free performances, face painting and craft making.
“Kidsfest is a way for us to reach people who may not have the means or ability to join us at our theater downtown,” Weaver explained.
It is in Gamut’s mission to tell stories in a new and exciting way to help engage, educate and elevate the community, he said. However, that mission is not exclusive to the Popcorn Hat Players.
One of the greatest outreach programs that Gamut offers every year is actually with its other company in the group, Harrisburg Shakespeare Company— Free Shakespeare in the Park.
Shakespeare in the Park has taken place annually on Allison Hill for more than two decades.
“It’s one of our biggest productions every year in terms of budget, cast, crew and the amount of resources that go into producing it, and it’s offered absolutely free,” Weaver said.
The event is unique not only in its free-ness, but in its opportunity to engage with the community.
“There are families that expect us to be there that wouldn’t be able to see us otherwise,” Weaver said. “During rehearsals, we have families and neighborhood kids come out, right after school, and watch us, oftentimes learning the actors’ lines and fight choreography.”
They may be doing free Shakespeare, but those kinds of connections with the families of the neighborhood are just as, if not more, important than putting on a good play.
Weaver said that Gamut’s principals and actors firmly believe they must try to reach and include everybody in what they do, as one of the primary purposes of art is to enrich lives. Theater provides this to a community because art is a communal experience.
“It’s the same reason why people like to go see live music— it’s not just to hear the music, but to be in a room and experience that thing with others,” Weaver said. “It gives a sense of commonality. It’s a unique experience for people to come together and experience and feel something.”
Ultimately, the goal of an arts organization is to make meaningful connections with the people in the community, Weaver said. If you aren’t putting in the effort, you aren’t making those connections.
Gamut, he added, makes connections all over the place: from Popcorn Hat Players to Free Shakespeare in the Park to a mentorship program at Ben Franklin Elementary School to Kidsfest. There are many ways in which the company does more than just good plays.
The Popcorn Hat Players will offer Kidsfest during Harrisburg’s Artsfest celebration, May 28 to 30, at Riverfront Park, Harrisburg.
Harrisburg Shakespeare Company will present “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as its 23rd Annual Free Shakespeare in the Park in Reservoir Park on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings beginning June 3 through June 18. More information can be found at www.gamuttheatre.org or by calling 717-238-4111.
MAY THEATER EVENTS
AT HARRISBURG’S
PROFESSIONAL DOWNTOWN THEATERS
AT GAMUT THEATRE
www.gamuttheatre.org
POPCORN HAT PLAYERS PRESENT “ROBIN HOOD”
May 14-21
Saturdays at 1 p.m.
Wednesday and Thursday performances available for groups of 20+ in advance
Tickets $8
TMI IMPROV TROUPE MAINSTAGE SHOW
May 20
Bar opens at 6:30 p.m.
Show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Pay what you will
POPCORN PLAYERS PRESENT ANNUAL KidsFest at ArtsFest!
May 28-30
Look for our tent in Riverfront Park
Craft making, face painting and free performances offered throughout the weekend
AT OPEN STAGE OF HARRISBURG
www.openstagehbg.com
2016 STUDENT SHOWCASE
May 1
An evening of scenes, monologues and songs
7 p.m.
Free admission
OSHKids Performance Company presents
“NARNIA: THE MUSICAL”
May 12-15
Tickets $10
