Vali Forrister

When the history of live theater performance in Nashville, post-pandemic, is written sometime in the future, it’s highly likely there will be a chapter dedicated to and inspired by the significance of the artistry of Alicia Haymer, the actor/director/playwright who grew up in Nashville and whose impact on local theater goes all the way back to her childhood.

In much the same way that a piece of evocative music can suddenly whisk you away to another time and place, there are moments in Cynthia Harris’ beautifully written The Calling Is In The Body that can take one just as swiftly to the Nashville of the early 1990s. Almost imperceptibly, Harris’ heartfelt reminiscence – a tribute styled as a “choreopoem” – of a young woman who inspired her to believe in herself and to aspire to more than she might have believed possible at the time, becomes a universal treatise on how every life has meaning far beyond any expectation.

After two years in real time – which seems like more than two decades in these weird pandemic times in which we’ve been living most recently – Nashville’s critically and audience-acclaimed theater company Actors Bridge Ensemble is back in the business of producing live theater. And may we say, on behalf of the company’s legions of fans: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You have been missed.

Nashville theater has always been progressive. There have always been people and companies focused on the cutting edge, delivering productions that challenge and compel their audiences to think and to consider where they are now and where they will go in the future, and there is no question that such forward-thinking creative types will continue to wield influence in the theater community for as long as theater is to be created here, there and everywhere.

Four members of Jon Royal's ensemble of actors - Breanna Booker, Alicia Haymer, DeYonte Jenkins and Shawn Whitsell - made time this week, amid the hustle and bustle and general bedlam of technical rehearsals to give us some insight into the factors and events that led them to the theater and to share with readers the reasons why they think you should see Citizen: An American Lyric.

Actors Bridge Ensemble presents the Nashville premiere of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine, adapted for the stage by Stephen Sachs and directed by Jon Royal, March 22-31, at the Actors Bridge Studio at Darkhorse Chapel.

Actors Bridge Ensemble's acclaimed production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Cumberland County Playhouse's rendition of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street were named as the top shows of the year during Midwinter's First Night, the annual tribute to theater in Tennessee, held at Nashville's The Larry Keeton Theatre last Sunday night, January 13. Photographer Rae Lynn Whetzel-Stickney captured many of the night's biggest moments with her camera, which are shared on BroadwayWorld Nashville today.

Actors Bridge Ensemble's critically acclaimed production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Cumberland County Playhouse's stunning mounting of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street were named as the top shows of the year during Midwinter's First Night, the annual tribute to theater in Tennessee, held at Nashville's The Larry Keeton Theatre Sunday night, January 13.

In anticipation of the gala 30th anniversary celebration of The First Night Awards, Tennessee's best and brightest in live theater were revealed tonight as First Night's Top Ten of 2018 - reviewer and critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual recognition for theater in the Volunteer State - were announced during a Facebook Live presentation from Nashville.

In a production that almost didn't happen - it was upended by college administrators' fear of the power of the words found in DeLappe's stunning script - The Wolves is a play about the evolution of a group of nine young women who find themselves together every Saturday morning for a soccer match at an indoor facility in some unspecified locale that could be in New York, California or even Tennessee (or any place in between), during which they reveal themselves and their lives in a no-holds-barred conversation that allows audiences an unfettered view of whatever happens to be on their minds at any given moment.

Performance dates and a change in venue are in order for the Actors Bridge Ensemble's production of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe. Originally scheduled to open this Friday night at Belmont's Black Box Theatre, the Nashville premiere of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-nominated play about a girls' indoor soccer team will now run November 30-December 2 and December 6-8 at the Darkhorse Theater, 4610 Charlotte Avenue, according to ABE artistic director Vali Forrister.

Leah Lowe directs Jaclyn Backhaus' Men on Boats as Actors Bridge Ensemble and Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance celebrate their 11th annual collaborative production with the Nashville premiere, running April 13-15 and April 19-22 at the Belmont Black Box Theater.

Hedda Gabler, both Henrik Ibsen's legendary anti-heroine and his eponymous play from whence she comes, challenges even the most experienced directors and actors to create a version of the piece that is engaging and authentic - and, perhaps more importantly, appealing to the people sitting in the audience witnessing the willful Hedda succumb to her baser instincts, even while attempting to become a dutiful wife in a society for which she seems emotinally ill-equipped.

Design categories, road shows, theatrical events and the 12 people whose achievements in 2017 are particularly noteworthy were revealed tonight as part two of First Night's Top Ten of 2018 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater was presented during a live Facebook broadcast with two of the hosts of Midwinter's First Night (Ashley Wolfe and J. Robert Lindsay) announcing the work recognized among the best of 2017.

Haunted the new collaboration between cutting edge Nashville arts organizations Actors Bridge Ensemble, abrasiveMedia, and FALL: contemporary - aerial dance may heralds fresh way of creating performances in Music City.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's Thursday, June 1, 2017 - or, as we like to call it #TheaterThursday, 'June is busting out all over…' as a song from Carousel reminds us, and there's no better way to kick off a new month than by planning our theater outings for the weekend! Tomorrow night at Cumberland County Playhouse, the company, cast and crew unveil the 2017 model of Smoke on the Mountain, which marks the 24th year of the musical playing in Crossville. Weslie Webster directs and her cast includes Daniel W. Black and Lauren Marshall as Sanders family father and mother Burl and Vera.

Playwright Tori Keenan-Zelt takes over BWW­_Nashville's Twitter account today as she goes on a Playwright's Adventure in Music City, including the first rehearsal for Actors' Bridge's upcoming workshop production of her new play Seph, she mingles with the playwrights taking part in the Ingram New Works Project at Nashville Repertory Theatre and she sees the Actors Bridge/Belmont University Theatre collaboration on Jessica Dickey's The Amish Project.

Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing? Well, Mr. Lorenz Hart, personally, we are too damn busy with creating the magic of live theater: We're directing a show (Daddy's Dyin'…Who's Got the Will? opens next week - April 20 - at The Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson, thank you very much) and trying to make it out to see as much theater in Nashville as possible before old age takes its toll - it's tough out there for a theater critic!

Actors Bridge Ensemble - Nashville's most forward-thinking and cutting-edge professional theater company - teams up once again with Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance to celebrate their tenth anniversary as artistic collaborators with Jessica Dickey's The Amish Project, a moving and provocative presentation that allows the two companies' strengths to be fully on display, giving audiences much to consider in the post-show haze of introspection and remembrance.

Nashville Repertory Theatre Playwright-in-Residence Nate Eppler has been named a finalist for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) New Play Award, recognizing playwrights for the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City during 2016.