ABOUT THE OBERON THEATRE ENSEMBLE
Founded in 1997, Oberon is an off-off Broadway ensemble theatre company. Now beginning our 12th season, we have produced 48 full-length productions and more than 50 staged readings of original plays. Oberon now has about 20 active members and many more regular collaborators, including award-winning actors, playwrights, directors and designers.
The Oberon Theatre Ensemble is an active player in New York’s independent theatre community. Each season we combine classic, contemporary, and new works in a format that allows each to highlight and enhance the other. We juxtapose new against old in a single evening or in a repertory schedule, with our ensemble of actors and directors nimbly jumping from one world to another to draw our audiences fully into the experience.
We believe in the joy of a well told story, the connection offered by a supportive community, and the magic of the theatre.
Oberon actively works to share this magic with others by reaching out to the community. We offer discounted student and senior tickets to our performances, and create shows that we can bring to schools, senior centers, and hospitals. We have also presented shows free in Central Park and strive to keep all our offerings affordable.
In a time when Off-Broadway theatres are closing, ensemble theatre groups are all but unheard of, arts funding largely nonexistent, and theatres both large and small focused on finding the next big commercial hit, Oberon may be a bit old-fashioned in its approach. Nonetheless, our commitment to cultivating and invigorating a diverse theatre community remains steadfast. And it will remain so even admidst the rapid change that charcterizes this unforgiving haven we call our home, New York City.
NEW YORK TIMES INTERVIEW, February 29, 2008
Complete text of The New York Times piece 2/29/08:
"WINTER REP 2008 While a season of plays presented in rotating repertory is common practice in summer stock, it is not the norm in the Off Off Broadway world. But the Oberon Theater Ensemble, now in its 11th season, has been presenting shows this way for a few years, and its current offerings include “Macbeth,” with James Holloway, above left, and William Laney, and Michael Weller’s “Ghost on Fire.”
“The two plays, if you have to boil it down to one word, are about ambition,” said Brad Fryman, Oberon’s artistic director. “Macbeth’s ambition comes from an unnatural place, and ‘Ghost on Fire’ is about these young people who entered the professional world and thought they could change it through film.” The three central characters in Mr. Weller’s 1985 play had grand plans when they were documentary filmmakers in college, but haven’t reached their goals 15 years later. In comparison, it is not much of a stretch to guess that Shakespeare’s Scottish Thane was once an idealistic young man too, before his motives darkened.
For Oberon, juxtaposing thematically linked plays is important, but not the only reason for producing two shows at once. Mr. Fryman said there was “extreme financial benefit” to this model, since theater rental is a daunting budget item for a company without a permanent home. Offering multiple shows can increase ticket sales by enticing theatergoers to see more than one. (The Emerging Artists Theater company regularly tries the same approach: its “Triple Threat” premiere, running through Sunday at Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan, includes three productions under one roof.)
Oberon has an added challenge right now — there is another Macbeth in town, and his name is Patrick Stewart. Mr. Stewart’s appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music could be intimidating, but Mr. Fryman is not cowed: “For me it makes it very exciting,” he said. (Through March 9, Lion Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-279-4200, ticketcentral.com; $20.) STEVEN McELROY" copyright 2008 The New York Times Company