As audiences stay cozy indoors this month, two Northeast Ohio theaters are hoping to bring them outside of their comfort zones. Soft Launch at Cleveland Public Theatre in Gordon Square presents a variety of non-traditional theatrical performances around its campus Thursday through Saturday. In Mansfield, Theatre 166 hosts its annual Emerging Artists Festival showcasing new works through Feb. 1.
Raymond Bobgan, CPT’s executive artistic director, called his festival a “party for theatrical experimentation.”
“We really wanted to see what happens if we can bend this form of theater,” he said. “Part of that is coming from our desire to connect with audiences in new ways as we increasingly can get amazing artistic content in our homes. We began to think … ‘What is that live, in-person experience?’”
At CPT, much of that experience will be immersive this weekend.
“You might be free to just come in, experience things and leave at will,” he said. “You might come in and have one performer performing for just you and maybe your friend. It's a very, very intimate setting and sort of a make-your-own-adventure.”
Audience members will choose their trajectory in works such as “Pieces of Porcelain,” which Bobgan created with Russian artist Anastasía Urozhaeva. Elsewhere, one of the theater’s fellows will present the autobiographical “THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T.”
“Ray Caspio has been working on a solo project … thinking about his own identity as a gay man in the United States as an artist,” he said. “The various threats and ongoing real prejudice and fears that he has. It's a beautiful, deep piece.”
Bobgan concedes that some of the material deals with “pretty heavy content,” a description which might also apply to the Emerging Artists Festival in Mansfield.
Theatre 166 Emeritus Artistic Director Michael Thomas created the event in 2020. He described it as a way to “work organically with the playwright and with the performers to create a new piece” in the black box space, which is part of the historic Renaissance Theatre complex. From 300 submissions received this year, four works were chosen for further exploration. Veronique Autphenne's "Switzerland" kicked off the festival and is followed on Wednesday by "What Remains Unseen, Still Is," a screenplay by Matthew Piper.
“It's actually about creation and art and dance and sort of a film noir mystery,” said Ryan Shealey, associate artistic director at Renaissance. “This is the first screenplay we've done.”
"MLES2GO," by Michael P. Adams, runs on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“It deals with a case of youth starting out and sexual confusions and confusions about life and what journey they're taking,” Thomas said. “That’s a wonderful way for a … younger playwright to put so much of themselves into their story.”
This year’s festival closes with “You Are Not Gay” by Timothy Leech and Alexander Ronneburg, running Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
“It is a musical about the first court case battling sexual conversion therapy,” he said. “You certainly have to be biased when you're telling a story like that, but it's not cartoon characters as the villains.”
After each performance, the author and performers participate in a talk back session with the audience.
“The playwright can ask them questions,” said Renaissance CEO Chelsie Thompson. “‘How did this come off? Was there anything that you felt was missing?’ That's been my favorite part … that synergy between the playwright being able to get that direct feedback and the audience being able to contribute to the creative work is really incredible.”
Cleveland Public Theatre is planning its own play development series, Test Flight, in two parts: Feb. 6-22 and then May 22-June 7.
