A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is now in its fourth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings this Friday, having offered to date over 200 conversations and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts their Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward as theater reopens.

8/30 – After Grotowski: The Polish (and Trans-European) Theater Scene and Today’s Varied Cultural Esthetics. In the room: Norbert Rakowski, writer and director, CEO and artistic director of the JK Opole Theatre, and vice-president of the European Theater Convention, which brings together artists from all over Europe. We will focus on the theater scene in Poland and how opportunities compare to what we have in NY and other US communities, as well as Rakowski’s current term in Opole, once the home of legendary Jerzy Grotowski. ETC is the largest network of publicly-funded theatres in Europe, with 63 members in 31 countries, from Scandinavia to Kosovo, and Portugal to Tbilisi, Georgia. Learn about the wide range of activities ETC supports to create new theatre, support and develop people working in theatre, and fight for the European theater sector in a political context. We’ll consider the concept of publicly funded theater in Europe and how that model contrasts with what we have here in the US. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

UPCOMING:

9/6 – Way Way Off-Broadway: The Thriving Philadelphia Theater Scene. In the room: Charles Gilbert, composer, writer, educator and executive director of MusiCoLab; and Barbara Bellman, playright-librettist and the president and co-founder of MusiCoLab, which has been supporting the development of musicals in Philadelphia since 2018. We’ll focus on the work and programs of MusiCoLab as well as a broader view of the surprising number of professional theaters and opportunities for theater artists and indigenous homegrown works, plus LORT theater and national tours, university programs and the formidable Philly Fringe, founded in 1997, and now featuring more than 1,000 performances by national, international and Philadelphia-based artists of all disciplines. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

9/13 – Surprise! How Theater Can Pop Up Anywhere in the World and Make an Impact. In the room: Leese Walker, producing artistic director of the Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble, a permanent collective of jazz musicians, modern dancers, and actors formed in 1997. Elements of their art include improvisational, site specific and immersive theater experiences with consciously political intent, always featuring live music, physical theater and modern dance. They are also the pre-eminent company in the US that uses Soundpainting, a universal sign-language developed for live composition with improvisers. Click here to register and receive the zoom link.

Check back at TRU’s web page for future 2024 gatherings: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering. To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with “Zoom Me” in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization during these challenging times.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/. And a podcast series, TRU Talks About Theater featuring 2023 Community Gathering conversations is now available wherever you get your podcasts; or tune in at ElectraCast: https://electracast.com/?s=Theater+Resources

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-one year old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices evening of short plays about social issues, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.

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