what we've done

a brief history
Theatre of Operations was founded in 1997. We've produced the following shows since then:

  • Winter 1997 - Scrubbing the Grey
  • Fall 1998 - HamletMachine
  • Spring 1999 - Dust Garden (2 one-acts)
  • Winter 1999 - The Cure
  • Spring 2002 - Agamemmnon
  • Fall 2002 - Film is Evil, Radio is Good
  • Fall 2003 - Operation Hamlet
  • Spring 2004 - The Burning Ode

the burning ode
See Current Show listing for more information and dates.

operation hamlet
Operation Hamlet fused Shakespeare's Hamlet with stream-of-consciousness text from avant garde director-playwright Richard Foreman. The production folded together thoughts on war, women, creativity, theatre, and - of course - Hamlet.

film is evil, radio is good
Film is Evil, Radio is Good was the second Richard Foreman production from Theatre of Operations. We love Richard Foreman. This comedy was an exploration of the impact of filmic media on modern society and our conceptions of reality (and it really is a comedy!). We also made our first movie as a company as part of this show.

agamemmnon
Agamemmnon, produced in June 2002, was based on Charle's Mee's play, Agamemmnon 2.0. It was a two-actor, six-character drama about the effects of war and violence on individual's lives. It was also the theatre company's first show after a 2-year hiatus for training (and that pesky little personal life stuff). Some pictures of characters from the show:

  • General pics 1 2
  • Agamemmnon 1 2 3
  • Aegisthus 1 2 3
  • Clytemnestra 1 2 3
  • Herodotus 1 2 3
  • Homer 1 2
  • The Messenger 1 2 3

the cure
Produced in November 1999, The Cure used a text by Richard Foreman to explore the idea of personal and group mythology. It also provided the company members with an opportunity to examine the way we interact with the audience and each other (that part was a little self-indulgent, but very useful for the actors).

dust garden
Part comedy, part dark, this June 1999 production comprised two one act plays by Suzan-Lori Parks (now a Pulitzer winner!). The first, "Devotees in the Garden of Love", showed a post-apocalyptic matchmaking scene; "Betting on the Dust Commander" toyed with the notion of death as repetition. Both shows also presented a tender view of family life as only Suzan-Lori Parks could have written.

hamletmachine
Heiner Muller's vision of Hamlet was also an indictment of the industrial age. We took a slightly different approach; our production was still postmodern, but focused on the themes of Hamlet in a more tongue-in-cheek fashion.

scrubbing the grey
Our first production as a company was created for a local one-act play festival. The script was written by the actors and based on themes of growing old in the South.