ABOUT US

Mission                                                                                                                                                              Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Rising Sun Performance Company's (RSP) mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships, and contributing new works and revitalized pre-existing work to the national canon.  Rising Sun Performance Company realizes this goal by providing a safe artistic home which stimulates risk-taking without limits of genre or agenda.

Philosophy                                                                                                                                                                 
Rising Sun’s core values are that of ensemble theatre, one in which the director and actors stand together, the director stands beside them to guide them, to assist them in creating vivid characters so that together they can tell a story. Rising Sun holds each member of any production from the lighting board operator to the actor with one line as a full member of the production; no one person carries the weight or the glory of a production alone. Not only artistically but on all levels of production, every member of the cast & crew should feel ownership of each production and performance, and take both the artistic and financial success importantly. Rising Sun believes whole heartedly in nurturing an actor’s growth at any level, we believe fully & passionately in the power and striking beauty of a story well told, we believe in preserving a history of performance and the integrity of theater that can not be found in any other medium today.
   
An Overview
Founded in September of 2001, RSP is a downtown Off-Off Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing ensemble work. It is run by artists for artists to allow them to create their own opportunities instead of their opportunities creating them. RSP is the full time artistic home for a wide range of theatre artists, including actors, writers, directors, designers and dancers. Each ensemble member brings their own unique training, talents and aesthetic to the group. In addition to our permanent ensemble, we have a rotating roster of local, national and international guest artists, including performers, designers, playwrights, musicians, directors and technicians who work with the company on a show-to-show basis.

2009 marks the beginning of RSP’s Eighth producing season and its fourth year of residency at Horse TRADE Theater Group (the Kraine Theatre, UNDER St Marks, and the Red Room), culminating in 35-plus productions and events. This includes the development of eleven world debut plays (including "Good Enough", "Without", "Music to Travel By", "Southern Werewolf"), numerous originals and one-act plays, the launch of an on-going musical cabaret series, free outdoor performances, children's theatre and its trademark revivals, including New York Innovative Theatre Award Nominated Neil Labute's 'The Shape of Things".

For the past eight years, RSP has been dedicated to producing top quality Off-Off Broadway productions.
Whether it is a re-imagining of a published work or a premiere production of an original piece, RSP continues to provide opportunities for artists both established and emerging to work and/or get their work seen.  From their inception in 2001 with their first double billing performance of "Hellcab" and "Marcus is Walking" at Actors Playground Theatre (a renovated Burger King turned into a theatre!), to their held-over hit revival, "Hellcab" at UNDER St. Mark’s Theatre, RSP’s dedication to bringing quality, cutting-edge entertainment to the Off-Off Broadway community has been steadfast.

In early 2007, RSP shifted its focus to develop, workshop and produce a season of entirely new works from within its ensemble. This resulted in a combined ten months of workshop rehearsals and nine weeks of performances in New York City.  The Company and staff of RSP are dedicated to maintaining the quality of independent theatre that began at Caffe Cino and the Living Theatre back in the 1950’s.  Because of their commitment to theatre, RSP regularly receives accolades from many other Off-Off Broadway companies, theatres and institutions.

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