Upstream Theater is a professional production company dedicated to presenting new works and inventive stagings of classical plays, with a special focus on joint ventures involving artists from other countries. We offer a theater that is spiritual and sentient, witty and engaged, multilayered and syncretic. Our goal is to move you, and to move you to think. Our outreach has three prime aims: to offer St. Louis audiences an international perspective in theater, to engage local communities from cultures outside the United States, and to help develop younger audiences.
Our Dream
Upstream Theater would like to add a global perspective to local theatrical offerings. We see that St. Louis has an audience curious about international artistic trends and hungry for truly innovative drama. By staging plays from other countries, by presenting foreign artists, by commissioning and creating new works, and by drawing on the many local cultures that make St. Louis a truly cosmopolitan city we hope to find, sustain, and build this audience.
Our Challenge
Of all the arts, theater is one of the most difficult to create and sustain. The live collaboration of many artists requires ample time, adequate space, and extensive logistical coordination. Public and private grants provide irregular income; box office receipts are unpredictable and at best cover only part of the costs of production. A theater hoping to lead audiences into unfamiliar terrain must be especially patient and persistent. And in St. Louis, the relative lack of available venues can turn this challenge into a struggle.
Our Response
We believe we can best meet this challenge by having a clear mission and the vision to implement it. For our imagination to soar freely we need to be realistic with our finances and responsible in our accounting—and our board members reflect this healthy fusion of sensibilities. While theater is by nature an ephemeral art, we hope that our efforts will have an impact beyond the stage, whether through the plays themselves, our supplementary literature, or our emergent outreach programs.
Our Program
Local, national, and world premieres
Innovative productions of classical plays
Joint ventures with artists from other countries
Post-show discussions with local experts
Outreach to underserved communities
Workshops and readings
New play commissions
Internship opportunities
P.O. Box 300006 • St. Louis, M0 63130 • (314) 863-4999
Copyright 2008
UPSTREAM
THEATER • All rights reserved.
upstreamtheater@sbcglobal.net
