THIS Theatre Company: Environmental Analysis

Competitor No. 1: The Public Theatre

Mission: As the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare and new work in
equal measure, The Public Theater is dedicated to achieving artistic excellence while
developing an American theater that is accessible and relevant through productions of
challenging new plays, musicals and innovative stagings of the classics. Conceived
nearly 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has served
as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force in leading and framing
dialogue on important issues of our day. These core democratic values inform all aspects
of The Public’s activities.

Competitor No. 2: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)

Mission: To be a home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas.

Analysis:
The Public Theatre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music are two cultural
institutions in New York City that provide challenging, advantageous, provocative, and
highly entertaining programming that covers a wide range of themes and topics, while
also pushing the boundaries with state of the art technical elements that bring a whole
production together into one evening of awe inspiring performance.
The Public, founded in 1954 as The Shakespeare Workshop, has been providing
NYC with not only works by the Bard, but new plays and musicals as well, establishing a
home in the heart of downtown Manhattan for upcoming talent, writing and acting alike.
The Public’s education and community presence is far reaching, including “homeless
shelters, prisons, centers for at-risk youth, and students all over New York City,” and
works to make theatre and performance more accessible and relevant for the younger
generation and underserved communities.
BAM, a staple of arts cultivation in Brooklyn since 1861, has grown as a leader in
presenting cutting edge performance and always presents a highly diverse season of
programming. BAM stands out as a competitor in that it encompasses multiple
performance genres (dance, theatre, music, film, etc.) and draws large audiences for all of
them. BAM’s programming also draws from global text/music and constantly presents a
kaleidoscope of life from around the world in different mediums. BAM’s educational
initiative is vast and grounded in local public schools, however the Academy does not
seem to reach out to the community at large as much as the Public does, but still strives to
cultivate creativity in young minds.
Both of these organizations provide an eclectic range of exhibition and are
recognizable throughout the five boroughs as hubs of mass cultural exploration. They’re
located in prime areas (The Public being on Lafayette Street just off the Astor Place 6
subway stop, and BAM being just around the corner from the Barclays Center) and
reflect their neighborhoods and those neighborhoods’ artistic history, while not forgetting
the global community at large and the lessons and ideas it has to offer as well. In
comparison to these companies, THIS Theatre Company also strives to reach out to and
reflect the highly diverse community around us which is helped greatly by our location in
THIS Theatre Company: Environmental Analysis

East Harlem, a neighborhood of vast change just in the past 100 years alone. THIS aims
to bring together the education and community initiatives of both institutions in order to
reach out to local schools, including performing arts high schools in the metropolitan
area, as well as making art accessible to an underserved community. The grandeur of
BAM and the Public mark our only true weakness in comparison, but our location on
East 117th Street, a fresh start for the arts in New York City, gives us powerful strength in
building a rich creative community throughout the boroughs and beyond.
THIS Theatre Company: Environmental Analysis

Compliment No. 1: American Globe Theatre (AGT)

Mission: Founded in 1989, American Globe Theatre is the longest running classical
theatre in midtown Manhattan. Now, in its 24th year, American Globe (AGT) is dedicated
to staging innovative productions of classical plays and to the development of new
audiences through educational outreach. American Globe Theatre is committed to
reinvigorating performance in contemporary American Theatre through the use of the
First Folio technique, which originated with Shakespeare's own company of players and
to passing down this legacy to a new generation of artists and students.

Compliment No. 2: Second Stage Theatre (2ST)

Mission: Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new
interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre. Founded in 1979 to produce
"second stagings" of contemporary plays, Second Stage Theatre has expanded its mission
to include the development and production of new plays and the creation of programs that
nurture young theatre artists. This commitment has manifested itself in many ways, from
presenting new productions to providing long-term residencies for playwrights, directors,
composers and lyricists.

Analysis:
While American Globe and Second Stage may look like two very different
companies, they share a common link in comparison to THIS: innovation. Both aim to
produce works with a strong visual concept, always changing the scope of an onstage
environment in relation to Shakespeare and modern/contemporary works respectively.
THIS strives to incorporate elements of technology and the ever shifting paradigm of
design and presentation of performance, bringing works of the 20th Century into the
Now, producing socially, economically, and existentially relevant and poignant works that
bridge time and space.
While AGT has a “Shakespeare for Schools” outreach program, 2ST doesn’t seem
to have a strong educational presence. This gap would be filled by our wide reaching
education initiative which would not include Shakespeare, but instead focus on the forms
and genres that 2ST misses out on expanding upon with younger and underserved
audiences. THIS would also broaden the spectrum of programming from a smaller,
innovative company, that wouldn’t only include one genre or style, but instead provide a
grab bag of inspiration and cultivation for the surrounding community as well as the
performing arts sector as a whole.
Overall, THIS Theatre Company aims to become a fresh haven for creative
expression and development that has a very strong influence in the surrounding
community, as well as the theatrical and performance community in New York City, and
even going so far as to becoming a national name for innovative performance and
creative frameworking. We look to fill the voids of, not only our peers, but also our
challengers, providing friendly competition in the rise of cultural expansion in this city
and nation, while also learning from them and growing together.