nothin Erector Square’s “Underdog” Theater Has BIte | New Haven Independent

Erector Square’s Underdog” Theater Has BIte

Cara McDonough Photo

Terreace Riggins and Tenisi Davis Rehearsal for Topdog/Underdog.

The room in Erector Square on Peck Street that houses Collective Consciousness Theater seats 60 at the most, and that’s pushing the limit. Its small size means that during a show audience members — sitting on folding chairs, with the front row just a few feet from the stage — are incredibly close to the actors. And each other.

That’s part of what makes the theater unique, said Dexter Singleton, CCT’s executive artistic director and co-founder, during a break in rehearsals for CCT’s production of Topdog/Underdog, which finishes its run on Nov. 19.

People often feel like they’re in the play because it’s so close,” Singleton said. Plus, the shows tend to draw a diverse crowd, making just being there a meaningful experience.

Brian Slattery Photo

Singleton.

Any night you could come in here and see a teen sitting next to an elderly person. Rarely do you see that,” said Singleton. People tend to think going to the theater is an elite activity,” he said. CCT challenges that assumption, beginning with its mission statement: the organization, founded in 2001, is a nonprofit using theater to ignite social change.” The theater does that in part by selecting insightful, thought-provoking shows to perform each year during their fall and spring seasons, as well as by organizing touring productions, workshops and residencies that speak to their philosophy. CCT also keeps it affordable. Tickets are $20, with half-price $10 tickets for students — and on Thursdays, patrons can pay whatever they want. 

The artistic teams that lead the productions often feature women and people of color, often in lead roles. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, by Suzan-Lori Parks, is the story of two brothers coping with challenges that date back to their childhoods. The intense, though at times comedic, production touches on modern struggles that many people will recognize in the current cultural climate, said Singleton, but also dives into the difficulties of poverty and lacking the right skills to succeed.

The current production features two actors who have performed at CCT before, Terrance Riggins and Tenisi Davis. But Singleton welcomes the chance to give new actors their first gigs and just as often a show will feature total newcomers.

We hope that when you come here, you won’t know the professional from the non-professional,” Singleton said. 

Singleton and Associate Director Jenny Nelson founded CCT in 2001. They head it now with a board of directors and advisory board made up of local writers, musicians, designers and other artists, with the aims of keeping things surprising and reaching as many individuals as possible through a wide range of programming. We pride ourselves on bringing in new audience members to the theater,” Singleton said.

For those who can’t come to the theater, CCT takes the theater to them, producing traveling productions and residencies available year round to tour at schools, prisons and other spaces all over the country, along with study guides to enrich the experience. Since CCT began touring in 2003, it has visited other parts of Connecticut as well as New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Michigan, Texas, California and Iowa, reaching more than 10,000 people every year.

Currently they’re touring with Stories of a New America, a play developed with Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), composed of interviews with more than 100 refugees who have settled in New Haven. The play aims to illustrate the refugee experience, starring six multilingual artists playing more than two-dozen roles. In 2009 its Hip Hop Theater and Conflict Resolution workshop helped students work through issues of identity and conflict resolution through hip-hop poems, monologues and scenes at both the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven and The Old Globe Theater in San Diego with students from a local high school.
 
Implementing CCT’s programming requires a solid business plan. The theater makes income from in-house performances and some of its school and community workshops. The rest of its income comes from grants and other fundraising efforts.

Singleton said that CCT — at least for now — is small, operating at a less than $100,000 budget. Keeping overhead low is important, as scoring large grants can be tough, due to a lack of major corporate funding for the arts in the state and competition from bigger organizations.

Luckily,” Singleton wrote in an email, we have many foundations and other funders who believe in our work and have supported us for many years,” including the New Alliance Foundation, City of New Haven’s Neighborhood Vitality Grants, State of CT Office of the Arts, and the Carolyn Foundation.

CCT also gets $10,000 or less in state funding per year. Cuts to arts funding are a perpetual concern, but wouldn’t hurt CCT too much since it doesn’t get too much to begin with. Other local funders, said Singleton in an email, are what’s crucial to CCT sticking around. 

Without the support of them and a few generous individuals, it would be tough for us to still exist. The arts funding climate is difficult everywhere but even more so in CT. In other states, county funding is a huge part of the arts ecosystem, but we don’t have that here. But with all of that we have managed to increase our budget slightly each season,” he said.

A number of generous volunteers who help with productions year-round are incredibly important, too, and CCT is always looking for more, he said.
All of these factors — the funders and volunteers, the actors who choose CCT as an artistic haven, the audience members who choose to try a new venue, and Singleton and his adventurous creative team — give CCT the ability to produce its socially conscious programming. CCT isn’t jumping on any bandwagon in that regard; Singleton and his team have been leading the charge on these issues since the theater’s founding.

Singleton likes to call CCT a diverse room.” It’s a good way to describe the vibe overall, from the dynamic plays CCT stages in its space in Erector Square to the message it spreads far beyond; from the audiences they draw to the artistic teams that make it all possible.

We’ve been doing that work since day one,” Singleton said. That’s part of our daily mantra.”

Topdog/Underdog runs at Collective Consciousness Theater through Nov. 19. For tickets, more information, or to donate, click here.

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