Perishable Theatre

Perishable Theatre
Name	Perishable Theatre
Established	1979
Type	Experimental theatre company
Location	Providence, Rhode Island
Notable people	Jeff Kaufman, Henry Akona, Linda Baylin, Christopher Durang, Suzan-Lori Parks

Perishable Theatre is an experimental theatre company founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1979. The company developed a reputation for interdisciplinary collaborations that intersected with contemporary music, visual art, and avant-garde performance practices. Through partnerships with regional and national institutions, the company influenced theatrical development in New England and contributed to trends affecting Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, Walker Art Center, New York Theatre Workshop, and Tate Modern programming.

History

Perishable Theatre emerged during a period when ensembles such as Bread and Puppet Theater, Mabou Mines, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Tricycle Theatre, and Royal Court Theatre were redefining stage forms. Founders drew influence from practitioners like Jerzy Grotowski, Antonin Artaud, Richard Schechner, Robert Wilson, and Peter Brook, while contemporaries included Richard Foreman, Anne Bogart, Wesleyan University-affiliated artists, and ensembles connected to Massachusetts Institute of Technology media labs. Early seasons featured work resonant with companies such as Into the Light Theatre Company, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Arena Stage, and festivals like Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Spoleto Festival USA. Collaborations and tours placed the company alongside presenters like New York Public Theater, Carnegie Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hayward Gallery, and Walker Art Center. The company navigated funding relationships with organizations including National Endowment for the Arts, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and local arts councils tied to Providence Performing Arts Center and Brown University.

Artistic Philosophy and Practices

The company's aesthetic fused approaches from Fluxus, Dada, Surrealism, and postmodern performance champions such as John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and Steve Reich. Perishable Theatre pursued cross-disciplinary projects engaging collaborators from Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, Yale School of Drama, Juilliard School, and electronic music studios affiliated with MIT Media Lab and CCRMA. Their rehearsal methodology referenced texts and methods associated with Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov, Suzuki Method, and the physical theater lineage of Jacques Lecoq, while technical design worked with scenographers influenced by Es Devlin, Betsy Ringwald, and lighting designers in the lineage of Jennifer Tipton and Ken Billington. The company commissioned scores and sound designs from composers in the orbit of Nonesuch Records, ECM Records, and contemporary ensembles tied to Brooklyn Academy of Music and Bang on a Can.

Notable Productions and Projects

Notable stagings were frequently compared to landmark works by playwrights and companies such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Sarah Kane, and contemporary dramatists like Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Edward Albee, and David Mamet. Projects included multimedia adaptations informed by collaborations with visual artists associated with Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, ICA Boston, and curators from Frieze Art Fair-level exhibitions. Touring presentations brought the company into programming alongside Brooklyn Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Contemporary Arts Center (Cincinnati), and the CalArts community. The group premiered original works that attracted attention from critics writing for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal, and arts coverage in Artforum and The New Yorker.

Key Personnel and Leadership

Leadership included artistic directors, managing directors, dramaturgs, and resident designers whose careers intersected with institutions like American Repertory Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and academic appointments at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design. Guest directors and collaborators were drawn from networks including Peter Sellars, Lucy Thurber, Christopher Durang, Marianne Elliott, Robert Falls, and movement directors in the lineage of Pina Bausch and Ann Bogart. Music and sound leadership connected to ensembles and educators at New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Juilliard School, and composers working with Bang on a Can All-Stars.

Community Engagement and Education

Perishable Theatre developed outreach programs that partnered with regional organizations such as Providence Public Library, Providence Children's Museum, Trinity Repertory Company, AS220, RISD Museum, and local school districts. Educational residencies leveraged exchanges with university programs at Brown University, RISD, Johnson & Wales University, and conservatories like Northwestern University School of Communication and Yale School of Drama. Workshops and youth ensembles brought guest artists connected to National Art Education Association, Americans for the Arts, Young Playwrights Inc., and community initiatives tied to Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Awards and Recognition

The company's work received grants and recognition from funding bodies and awards programs including National Endowment for the Arts, Mellon Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Guggenheim Fellowship recipients, and acknowledgments in listings by The New York Times and regional awards connected to Providence Arts and Entertainment honors. Individual collaborators garnered fellowships and prizes from institutions such as Tony Awards, Obie Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Drama–associated artists, MacArthur Fellows Program, and residencies at venues like Yaddo, Millay Colony for the Arts, and MacDowell Colony.

Category:Theatre companies in Rhode Island