About Voices Found REPERTORY
Hello,
To begin, Voices Found Repertory is the product of many creative minds. We weren't seeing the work we wanted to see, so we decided we were going to make it ourselves. Through experimentation, flexibility, and integrity, we hope to produce passionate, empathetic, and imaginative stagings of Shakespeare's work, alongside original, never-before-seen work.
Here's what we're about.
To begin, Voices Found Repertory is the product of many creative minds. We weren't seeing the work we wanted to see, so we decided we were going to make it ourselves. Through experimentation, flexibility, and integrity, we hope to produce passionate, empathetic, and imaginative stagings of Shakespeare's work, alongside original, never-before-seen work.
Here's what we're about.
Our Mission:
To create theatre that unifies its audience; to develop a common artistic vocabulary and allow artists to work, learn, and play together; to establish and uphold an inclusive safe space for exploration, communication, and empathy.
We're a team.
Theatre is, by definition, collaborative. We want to take it a step further. Everything we do, we do as a team. A team collaborates, of course, but it also shares a common purpose and attacks problems as a co-dependent unit. A team is a family, and for better or worse our family’s mission is theatre.
Henry V, December 2019. Photo courtesy of Lily Shea Photography.
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A passionate, resourceful team.VFR is about a finding ways to tell stories by any means necessary. We believe that our team can do our best work with creative problem solving, clever budgeting, and a healthy appreciation for spontaneity – combined with passion and, of course, a little luck. It sure helps to have the resources of, say, The National Theatre of London, but at the end of the day, we don't need them to tell stories. We’re a social species, it's one of our most important traditions. From caves to black boxes to opera houses to artsy abandoned warehouses, we find ways to create and tell stories under any circumstances.
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So ditch the pretension...
While at least two essays have been written about William Shakespeare, his plays were written for people, first and foremost, not dissertations. He even wrote inside jokes for the lower class “groundlings,” who could pay pennies to watch the same plays the bougie aristocrats paid top dollar (pound?) for. And for a few hours, everyone was on the same level, united by theatre. That’s pretty awesome. But when the word “Shakespeare” becomes interchangeable with “the words that Shakespeare wrote,” we enter problematic, over-intellectualized territory. Putting his work on a pedestal, treating it like holy text only to be understood by those with a “true appreciation” for theatre – it completely defeats the purpose. Voices Found Repertory upholds the relevance of the words that William Shakespeare wrote, and our goal is to present them in a way we think would make him proud. Not as lectures or sermons, but as means to get everyone on the same page.
...and tell us the truth.
Shakespeare accomplished what he did because he knew the dangers overdoing it. Sure, he wrote in a heightened, occasionally “flowery” language, but the thing is: it was flowery when it was written, too. No one walked around Elizabethan England talking like King Lear or (thankfully) Hamlet. And yet it spoke to his audience the way it still can, and does, to ours. Shakespeare wrote about everything. Flirting, shame, lust, revenge, internal conflict, rage, friendship, betrayal, loyalty, religion, death, loss, reunion. And probably a few other things. So the challenge we presents to our Voices Found artists is to take off fancy tricks, stop “acting,” and get to the truth of the text.
Don't worry - we'll help.We want to establish a common artistic vocabulary, tradition, and style – no matter what your experience level or interests. Our goal is to give you a place to do what you love, what you’re interested in, what you’re curious about. Our interest is in how this work resonates with you, and how you can communicate yourself through it.
We maintain a steadfast belief in the importance of a safe space, and we will never leave you behind.
We're a team. We've got your back.
That's us.
Sincerely,
Voices Found Repertory 
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Macbeth, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Mahdi Gransberry.
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