'Outside Providence' Actor Sara Marsh is making a stab at doing something about the paucity of theatergoers younger than 35. Marsh is christening her new company, Dark & Stormy Productions, with three one-acts by Rhode Island playwright Edward Allan Baker. With "Outside Providence," Marsh explores a new model -- an evening of short plays and pop music performed in a venue never intended as a theater.
"I asked my friends -- not my theater friends but my regular friends -- 'How many plays do you see?'" Marsh said. "They said maybe the occasional musical on tour like 'Lion King' but they had no interest in seeing regular, straight plays."
This problem is not unique to the Twin Cities, and Marsh was able to get the attention of Jill Anderson, general manager of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Anderson agreed to chair Dark & Stormy's board and move the initiative forward. She helped Marsh connect with Baker and this first production was assembled with director Matt Sciple and actors Alayne Hopkins, Catherine Johnson Justice and Ryan Lindberg. They open Friday in the Engine for Social Innovation at 91 S. 10th St., in downtown Minneapolis.
"It's a big, open office space and we're using the environment that's already there," Sciple said. "There's a kitchenette that we'll use for one of the plays, and we'll move the audience around."
Baker writes slice-of-life dramas pulled from the low-income fringes of his hometown, stuff that Sciple describes as "Southern Gothic from the East Coast."
After the 90-minute string of three plays, the "Outside Providence" evening continues with live music from Minnesota bands. The Sudden Lovelys are on slate for Friday's opening, with Skunk Hollow on Saturday.
Marsh is producing the shows under an Actors Equity Showcase contract. That reflects her long-range interest in making Dark & Stormy Productions a venue for Equity actors, and her short-range need to launch the company with an understandable degree of uncertainty.
"It's a leap of faith," Marsh said, "but I'm passionate about it."
