Company One is a non-profit theater company located in the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, US.[1] The company is known for socially conscious theater programming.[2] Company One has produced more than 50 plays since 1998.[3]
Company One Theater's mission is to "build community at the intersection of art and social change".[4]
Company One was started by six individuals who founded a theater company called "Island Project" in Great Diamond Island, off the coast of Portland, Maine. They went on to found Company One in the fall of 1998.
In 2005, the company created ARTiculation, a touring poetry-slam turned performance piece. It premiered at the Boston Center of the Arts and has been touring throughout colleges and high schools across the east coast.
In 2010, Company One was awarded the American Theater Wing's National Theatre Company Grant.[5]
In 2016 the company received grants which allowed it to take on a playwright in residence; the first playwright brought in was Kirsten Greenidge.[6][7] Later that year the company presented "The T Party", a play about gender transformation.[8]
In 1999, Stage One began its summer camp at an independent site in the Boston area. Two years later the summer program was invited to be a resident at the Coolidge Corner Theater, where the curriculum began to evolve in the more intensive training that it is today. In 2010, Stage One added an educational touring production to its roster of programs. The newest addition to the program is the Page to Stage Program, which brings middle and high school students into the Company One theater for special matinee performances. By 2012, the program had reached over 10,000 students.
The company presents a professional development for Actors, a class designed for adult actors perfecting their craft. It consists of eight weeks of study with Company One's instructors. The class culminates in a showcase.
Company One's summer production apprenticeship program is designed to create a pre-professional{What is a "pre-professional"? Are we talking about an apprentice, an amateur? What?} company of artists. Participants train with Company One Educators and create and perform their own performance pieces, as well as mentorship by the company's professional production staff.
Company One also operates a nine-week theater intensive designed to give the insight and hands-on experience one might need to work in the professional theater. Apprentices participate in the creation and production of the professional play, performed by Company One's Junior Apprentice program for teens.