Round House Theatre
When “The Soul of the American Actor” sat down to talk with Artistic Director Ryan Rilette about the future of The Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland, the theater had just undergone a massive multi-million-dollar renovation.
Mr. Rilette began by saying, “The full interior renovation reflects Round House Theatre’s commitment to community engagement by creating an adaptable performance space and transforming the lobby into a warm and welcoming community gathering place, so that the audience will come early and stay late after the show. From the flexible stage and seating arrangements, to the full bar and café, to the grand staircase and additional seating in the lobby, he says “every part of this renovation will help us expand our impact and join the top tier of regional theatres in America.”
He went on to say, “The theater renovations are part of ‘Full Circle,’ a fourteen million dollar capital campaign which was launched last year, and also funds the Resident Artist program that commissions new works by women playwrights and playwrights of color, as well as the expansion of Round House’s free-ticket program for students and other artistic and access initiatives.
“The main mission of the Round House Theatre,” according to Rilette, “is to make audiences empathize and to see other worlds they haven’t seen before. I want to captivate audiences with stories that inspire compassion, evoke emotions and demand conversation. At the same time, to create a collaborative environment where artists can do their best work, foster a commitment to excellence and highlight voices that have been historically misrepresented and under-resourced by the theater field.”
“Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)” by Suzan-Lori Parks, at Round House Theatre, 2015
“We had opened our 2019-2020 season with the regional premiere of Jocelyn Bioh’s hit off-Broadway comedy. “ School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play,” Mr. Rilette continued. “Roundhouse is thrilled that the first show of the season was entirely with female and female-identifying actors along with a predominantly female creative team. Six years ago, Round House committed to the idea that fifty per cent of their productions would be written by women. That commitment has now grown to include all disciplines, encompassing the creative teams, cast and crew.”
“Another major aspect of Round House Theatre is education,” Rilette shared with us. “We’re also producing shows during the season that will also appeal to teenagers. I want to bring teens into the theater to create a new generation of theatergoers because we need to capture kids around the age of 18.”
Round House Theatre’s 2019-2020 season also included two Tony Award-winning hits. Ryan Rilette and Jared Mezzocchi co-directed Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s best-selling book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”
Alan Paul made his Round House directorial debut with “Spring Awakening,” Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play about a group of repressed and restless adolescents grappling with the onset of adulthood. “Spring Awakening” won the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book, Original Score, and Orchestrations in 2007.
“Spring Awakening” at Round House Theatre
Round House Theatre also offers an array of educational programming in Bethesda, their education center in Silver Spring and in schools, including acting classes for kids of all ages, a teen performance company, a young artist performance company, and a scene study class for older active adults and an internship program.
Cristina Sastre stars in “Spring Awakening” at Round House Theatre (photo: (C. Stanley Photography/Round House Theatre)
Round House Theatre has scheduled during 2020, “Homebound,” an original webseries of ten-minute episodes that will air over ten weeks between April 27th and June 29th exploring life under the Stay-at-Home orders in the nation’s capital. “Homebound” will feature Round House Theatre resident artist Greg Wallace with Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, plus seven local artists who lost work as a result of the cancellation of the theater’s spring shows. Round House Theatre has paired the artists with ten of Washington D.C.’s leading playwrights, each creating stories that the actors can film themselves at home. These episodes will be supported by four of the Round House Theater’s designers and directed by Round House Artistic Director Ryan Rilette and Associate Artistic Director, Nicole A. Watson.
Looking ahead, Round House Theatre’s 2020-2021 season will include a music-filled regional premiere of “Quixote Nuevo” by Octavio Solis, Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Cost of Living,” followed by “Paradise Blue” by Dominique Morisseau, a pair of World Premieres: “it’s not a trip, it’s a journey” and “We declare you a terrorist…” performed in repertory, and the final production will be “The Tempest,” adapted and directed by renowned magician, Teller (of Penn and Teller) and director, Aaron Posner. For info: Round House Theatre 4545 East-West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814-0688, (240) 644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org
“The Tempest” at Round House Theatre
