HartBeat Ensemble is a professional theater company in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. The mission of HartBeat Ensemble is to create original, professional theater based on stories from the people of Greater Hartford and beyond. Through Mainstage plays, Open-Air performances, and Education programs, HartBeat Ensemble seeks to make theater accessible beyond the barries of class, race, and gender. HartBeat Ensemble is a member of the Network of Ensemble Theaters.

Company history

Gregory Tate, Julia Rosenblatt and Steven Ginsburg founded HartBeat Ensemble in September 2001. Having worked with the San Francisco Mime Troupe for a combined total of 22 years, they decided to explore new styles and work in a city that needed change. Julia, a native of Hartford CT, suggested that Hartford was a perfect location because of its economic contradiction: Hartford is at the same time the second-poorest city in the nation and the capitol of the richest per-capita state in the nation.

Mainstage

HartBeat's first mainstage play, Graves, inspired by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...

's The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....

, used realism and hip-hop stylization to tell the story of a Hartford family reeling from the effects of corporate globalization. Graves toured throughout New England and in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. HartBeat's second mainstage play, News To Me, about the No Child Left Behind Act

No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...

, enjoyed a five-week run at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in downtown Hartford. In December 2006, HartBeat debuted its hit Ebeneeza – A Hartford Holiday Carol, which has become an annual holiday event. In June 2007, HartBeat workshopped The Pueblo: a dual language play that explores the changing politics in Latin America. In October 2008, HartBeat opened Rich Clown, Poor Clown, Beggar Clown, Thief at the City Arts on Pearl. Rich Clown is an adult clown cabaret that takes an outrageous looks at The War On Poverty. HartBeat is currently working with the Institute For Municipal and Regional Policy and collaborating with Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

's Sojourn Theatre to create its next play about the drug economy.

Open-Air

HartBeat's Open-Air performances bring free theater to public parks, streets and marches. In the summer of 2006, HartBeat expanded our Open Air Theater Program to include the annual Plays In The Parks (PIP) series, which tours through Hartford city parks, bringing theater into the neighborhoods. PIP is made up of a series of 10-minute plays derived from interviews on a particular theme. In 2006, each play was about a different work sector in Greater Hartford. For PIP 2007, HartBeat partnered with CT Coalition to End Homeless to interview and create plays about people who are homeless in the area. In 2008, HartBeat partnered with Universal Health Care Foundation of CT to create plays about the uninsured and underinsured people in Connecticut. PIP 2009 focused on "the economic crisis hitting home."

Education

HartBeat has lead educational workshops at over 40 institutions including public schools, universities, unions, shelters, and treatment centers. HartBeat's Youth Play Institute works in partnership with four different school districts to bring urban and suburban youth together for an intensive process in which they create and perform an original one-act play. HartBeat received a Best Of Hartford Award in the 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Hartford Advocate Readers Poll.