Dobama's Night Kitchen
Encyclopedia
Dobama Theatre
had been presenting short plays following 8 pm “mainstage” productions for several season before artistic director Joyce Casey asked David Hansen
to act as the producer of a series of late-night events geared specifically to audiences in their late-teens and twenties.
Called Dobama’s Night Kitchen, the title inspired by the 1970 Maurice Sendak
children’s book
, began in Fall, 1995.
David Hansen’s three year tenure as artistic director of the Night Kitchen was dedicated to three models of production; the long-form improv, the collaboratively written script based around a single theme, and the new play written by a local (Cleveland-based) playwright.
Dobama's Night Kitchen was the first Cleveland area theater to present long-form improv. These included the MTV inspired The Realistic World and the X-Files inspired One Step Beyond.
In 1997 Hansen produced his own play, The Vampyres. Dobama's Night Kitchen also produced the first solo performance by Sarah Morton
, The Eighth Wonder of the World.
In 1998 Dan Kilbane took over as artistic director and continued the previous trend of collaboratively written scripts, singly authored scripts by local playwrights and long-form improv. Highlights included Toni K. Thayer's Angst:84 (which was taken to the New York Fringe Festival
), LUV(SIC), and the Soap Scum
improvised soap opera series.
Kilbane also began to introduce works not created by Cleveland-based playwrights, starting with Stupid Kids
in 1999 and Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking
in Spring, 2002, shortly before he concluded his four years as artistic director.
The project continued through 2006 under the artistic directorship of Adrienne Moon. During these four years, when the project was called simply "The Night Kitchen", emphasis shifted away from experimental, new works by local theater artists, to works new to Cleveland by up and coming young playwrights like Stephen Belber
(Tape, The Death of Frank.)
In its present incarnation, Dobama's Night Kitchen exists in name-only, to annually present the award-winning plays written by high school students for the Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival.
Dobama Theater
Dobama Theatre is a Cleveland Heights, Ohio theater founded in 1959 by Donald and Marilyn Bianchi, Barry Silverman, and Mark Silverberg. The name Dobama was created from the first two letters of each of the men's name...
had been presenting short plays following 8 pm “mainstage” productions for several season before artistic director Joyce Casey asked David Hansen
David Hansen (actor)
David Hansen is an actor, director, and a member of the Cleveland Play House Playwrights Unit. He is the founder of Dobama's Night Kitchen and co-founder of Guerrilla Theater Company and Bad Epitaph Theater Company and a recipient of a 2010 Creative Workforce Fellowship from the Community...
to act as the producer of a series of late-night events geared specifically to audiences in their late-teens and twenties.
Called Dobama’s Night Kitchen, the title inspired by the 1970 Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
children’s book
In the Night Kitchen
In the Night Kitchen is a popular and controversial children's picture book, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, and first published in 1970. The book depicts a young boy's dream journey through a surreal baker's kitchen where he assists in the creation of a cake to be ready by the morning...
, began in Fall, 1995.
David Hansen’s three year tenure as artistic director of the Night Kitchen was dedicated to three models of production; the long-form improv, the collaboratively written script based around a single theme, and the new play written by a local (Cleveland-based) playwright.
Dobama's Night Kitchen was the first Cleveland area theater to present long-form improv. These included the MTV inspired The Realistic World and the X-Files inspired One Step Beyond.
In 1997 Hansen produced his own play, The Vampyres. Dobama's Night Kitchen also produced the first solo performance by Sarah Morton
Sarah Morton
Sarah Morton is a playwright, actor, educator and activist and a native of Cleveland, Ohio.-Selected works:* "Dream/Home" premiered at the Cleveland Play House, produced by Dobama Theater...
, The Eighth Wonder of the World.
In 1998 Dan Kilbane took over as artistic director and continued the previous trend of collaboratively written scripts, singly authored scripts by local playwrights and long-form improv. Highlights included Toni K. Thayer's Angst:84 (which was taken to the New York Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...
), LUV(SIC), and the Soap Scum
Soap scum
Soap scum is an informal term for the white solid that results from the addition of soap to hard water. Hard water contains calcium or magnesium ions, which react with the fatty acid component of soap to give what are technically called lime soaps:In this reaction, the sodium ion in soap is...
improvised soap opera series.
Kilbane also began to introduce works not created by Cleveland-based playwrights, starting with Stupid Kids
Stupid Kids
Stupid Kids is a play by John C. Russell, first published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc. of New York, and first performed in 1991. Very similar in tone, plot, and characters to the film Rebel Without a Cause, the play follows four students at Joe McCarthy High.Subsequent to its New York run, it...
in 1999 and Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking
Shopping and Fucking
Shopping and Fucking is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995...
in Spring, 2002, shortly before he concluded his four years as artistic director.
The project continued through 2006 under the artistic directorship of Adrienne Moon. During these four years, when the project was called simply "The Night Kitchen", emphasis shifted away from experimental, new works by local theater artists, to works new to Cleveland by up and coming young playwrights like Stephen Belber
Stephen Belber
Stephen Belber is an American playwright , screenwriter and film director.-Early life:Belber was born in Washington, D.C.. He studied philosophy as an undergraduate at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and moved to New York at the age of 25. There he unwittingly moved in with a roommate with AIDS,...
(Tape, The Death of Frank.)
In its present incarnation, Dobama's Night Kitchen exists in name-only, to annually present the award-winning plays written by high school students for the Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival.