Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit theatre company in Seattle, Washington, with a multi-faceted production program.[1][2] Founded in 1976 by six friends, five of them graduates from Seattle Pacific University,[3] Taproot Theatre has mainstage productions at its location in the Greenwood neighborhood, touring productions throughout the Pacific Northwest, and theatrical training through its acting studio. Taproot Theatre Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group[1], Theatre Puget Sound[2], and the Phinney Neighborhood Association[3].
Mainstage
Taproot Theatre produces five plays each year for its Mainstage season, plus an annual holiday production. Play selection includes classics, world premieres, musicals, dramas and comedies. Each Mainstage production offers one pay-what-you-can performance. The theatre company reaches approximately 30,000 audience members each year through more than 150 performances.[4]
In addition to its regular performances, Taproot hosts matinees targeted to specific audience, either students or seniors.[5] Each student matinee includes a post-show talk-back with the actors and director. For some students, it is the first time they have seen a professional production.
Acting studio
Taproot’s Acting Studio was founded in 1992 to provide affordable, encouraging and artistically challenging classes for children and adults interested in learning the craft of acting. In the years since then, Taproot has expanded the program to offer year-round classes in dozens of subjects including musical theatre, on-camera acting, and Shakespeare.
Touring
Taproot Theatre Company began as a touring company in 1976, performing throughout Washington State at schools, prisons, churches and community centers. Today, Taproot’s Road Company spends the school year using theatre to teach social-issue lessons such as bullying and harassment prevention to schools in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest; this program began in 1985. Each summer, Taproot assembles a Road Company of five professional actors to present a three-play repertoire of social-issue plays to school populations. The cast engage with the students after each performance through interactive talk-back sessions and classrooms discussions. As of early 2008, over 1 million students have seen Taproot’s social-issue plays. Plays in this program are written by Northwest playwrights and incorporate principles from Committee for Children’s[4] Steps to Respect and Second Step[5] curricula. During the 2008/2009 school year, Taproot’s Road Company introduced a new play, New Girl by Josh Hornbeck, about cyber bullying.
TTC also mounts touring productions for the church and corporate communities. The company’s improv comedy troupe tours as well.
1996 First Season at Taproot’s new permanent facility in Seattle:
Pre-Season show: An Evening Around the Radio JB, Black Coffee, The Foreigner, Edith Stein, Smoke on the Mountain
1995: The Rainmaker, Min Ma Mulano, Opal, Beau Jest, Pilgrim
Mini Seasons at the newly created 70-seat studio theatre at St. Thomas Center: 1987: Fish Tales
1987- 1995 Dinner Theatre at Fairview: 1987 Second Shepherd's Play, 1988 Angel's Arms, 1989 The Chimes, 1990 Snowman, 1991 It's Christmas and It's Live, 1992 The Day Boy & The Night Girl, 1993 Angel's Arms, 1994 Gifts of the Magi, 1995 It's Christmas and It's Live
1983–1986 Dinner Theatre Years at St Thomas: 1983 Christmas in the Marketplace, 1984 The Clown of God, 1985 Christmas in the Marketplace, 1985 Abraham & Sarah, 1986 Christmas Cards