W.A.S.H.I.N.G.T.O.N. Theatre Baby!
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Those of you who have been in Washington for a long time will know, Source Festival follows in the formidable footsteps of The Washington Theatre Festival. Produced by Source Theater Company from the early 80s onward, Washington Theater Festival was a place for new voices to be heard, and new actors, directors and playwrights to mix, mingle and shake, rattle and roll. And, of course, to network. Artists could collaborate and take risks together, while getting important exposure. Many of the notable theatre artists working in Washington today got their start at Washington Theater Festival.
Daniel Corey, Source Festival 2011
(© C. Stanley Photography)
In 2005, when Source Theatre Company went out of business, the space they’d occupied on 14th Street for decades was on the verge of being turned into a pool hall. CulturalDC (then Cultural Development Corporation) rallied community support and purchased the building at 1835 14th Street NW and renamed it Source. Realizing the importance of producing new work and of providing opportunities for early and mid-career artists, CulturalDC decided to revive the idea of a summer festival on 14th Street.
Inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the previous festival, in 2008, CulturalDC launched Source Festival. This entirely new festival pays homage to it’s predecessor, while keeping a sharp eye on the future of American Theatre.
Thus, it was with great pleasure, that on Monday the 15th of October, the 2013 Source Festival producing team participated in the presentation of The Source Theater Company archives to Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Former Source Theatre Company Artistic Director, Pat Murphy Sheehy provided the archives—programs, photos, accepted and rejected scripts , costumes, props, letters to and from and general chazzerai (as my mother would say) that a theater company naturally accumulates over the years.
In addition to the Source Festival team, many old friends of Source Theatre Company and of Ms. Sheehy were in attendance, including stars of Washington stages, Rich Foucheaux, Larry Redmond, Kim Schraf along with Howard Shalwitz, Tony Cisek and Clayton LeBeouf.
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The evening started off in CulturalDC's Flashpoint Gallery, where guests mingled among cloth pine trees of Mariah Anne Johnson’s In The Pines. After not too long, we all made our way to the Martin Luther King Jrs Memorial Library across the street and looked over some of the archives that had been put on display. There photo albums from various seasons, and specific productions including Golden Boy by Clifford Odets (non-traditionally cast) and Equus (including costumes). Members of the former Source Theatre Company spoke about what Source meant to them, including current Source Festival Producer Jenny McConnell Frederick, who spoke lovingly of how Source Theatre Company had been her start in Washington theatre and how she now gave others a start in Washington through Source Festival.
For me, one of the most striking aspects of the former Source Theater Company was how political it was. This was evidenced through the non-traditional casting, and the choice of plays--The Meeting by Jeff Stetson, about a hypothetical meeting between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, or plays about AIDS at a time when it was still thought of as a "gay" disease. This was fitting, because Source Theatre Company was located on 14th St, still ravaged by the 1968 riots, precipitated by Martin Luther King's assassination. And of course, Source Theatre Company alumni Clayton LeBeouf went on to appear on The Wire, possibly one of the most (if not the most) political shows of
our time.
Sadly The Wire is no longer on television. But you can still see new, exciting works of art at the 2013 Source Festival! The Festival will include eighteen 10-Minute Plays, a talent show, three Artistic Blind Dates and three Full-Length Plays. All will be awesome.
