| Know Theatre of Cincinnati | |
| Artisticdirector: | Andrew Hungerford |
| Formed: | 1997 |
| Location: | Cincinnati, OH |
| Homepage: | http://www.knowtheatre.com |
| Genre: | Contemporary Theatre |
Know Theatre of Cincinnati is a non-profit theatre company located in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, which produces contemporary and collaborative theatre that tends to be challenging and thought-provoking. MainStage performances occur in a 99-seat versatile black box theatre. Know Theatre produces a MainStage season, a SecondStage Series, an Educational Series rooted in STEM concepts, and the annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival. In 2010, Know Theatre launched the Jackson Street Market, a series of programs created to provide resources, foster collaborations, and to strengthen the local community of individual artists and independent arts organizations. Its goal is to retain artists in the city and create opportunities for them to make a living from their artistic endeavors. Know Theatre is part of an arts district in Over-the-Rhine with a number of diverse organizations including Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Music Hall.[1]
Prior to 2006, Know Theatre of Cincinnati was known as the Know Theatre Tribe and was housed in the basement at Gabriel's Corner Church, 1425 Sycamore Street in Cincinnati, OH. Know Theatre moved into its new home on Jackson Street, merged with the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, and changed its name to Know Theatre of Cincinnati in 2006.[2]
The company was founded in the fall of 1997 when Jay B. Kalagayan formed a ‘tribe’ of artists who traveled to bookstores and venues in Cincinnati to perform original collaborative works. In 1999 the tribe took up its first residence in the basement of the church at Gabriel's Corner and produced a full season of plays.
In its early history, Know Theatre was best known for its 2003 production of Terrence McNally's play Corpus Christi. The production drew praise by winning a 2003 Post-Corbett Award and drew protests from religious groups, including a letter writing campaign in which over 20,000 post cards were mailed to the theatre.
In 2004, Know Theatre hired Artistic Director Jason Bruffy, founder of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and former company manager of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. In 2006, the company moved into its second permanent home at 1120 Jackson Street, and changed its name to Know Theatre of Cincinnati. The intent of this name change was both to acknowledge the city in which the company operates and to signify that its nomadic “tribe” days were over. Between 2006 and 2009, Know Theatre underwent an expansion of operational capacity, staff, and production values of the theatre produced.
The fall of 2009 marked a transition period for Know Theatre, with founder Jay Kalagayan and Artistic Director Jason Bruffy both leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
The 2009–2010 season began with Eric Vosmeier as Managing Artistic Director and featured Cincinnati's first professional production of both parts of Tony Kushner's . The production was recognized by the Acclaim Awards as Best Alternative Production and by the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards as Outstanding Play of the season. The 2009–2010 season also featured one of the highest selling productions in the company's history - Sideways Stories from Wayside School by John Olive and directed by Jason Ballweber of Four Humors Theater in Minneapolis, MN.
At the start of the 2010–2011 season, Eric Vosmeier was named Producing Artistic Director. In 2010, Know Theatre launched the Jackson Street Market, a series of programs created to provide resources, foster collaborations, and to strengthen the local community of individual artists and independent arts organizations. Its goal is to retain artists in the city and create opportunities for them to make a living from their artistic endeavors.
In 2011, construction was completed on a new marquee on the facade of Know Theatre's building funded by capital grants from The City of Cincinnati and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
In 2012, the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards, awarded Know Theatre their National Theatre Company Grant.[3]
In 2014 longtime scenic and lighting designer Andrew Hungerford was named Producing Artistic Director.
The theatre doubled the number of performances it offered in a season, increasing the number of MainStage shows and adding a SecondStage Series.
View a full production history on Know Theatre's Website