No Shame Theatre
Encyclopedia
No Shame Theatre is a forum for original stage performance work. It is often presented as a weekly talent show.
in Iowa City, Iowa
. It began on October 3, 1986 in the back of a green 1976 Dodge
pick-up truck belonging to Todd Ristau, and parked in the E. C. Mabie Theater parking lot.
A sign up sheet was posted in fall of 1986 to generate interest in No Shame. The sheet read:
"The No Shame Theatre is looking for a few good three to 5 minute scripts that would be suitable for performing in the bed of a pick-up truck in some parking lot someplace. If you have such material and are proud enough of it to want to see it done someplace we've got the perfect vehicle for your expression--a big green '76 Dodge with a slant six engine. To submit scripts for consideration, contact us or leave them along with your name and phone number in the cardboard box on top of the locker just outside and to the left (as you stand looking at) the door to the playwright's office downstairs. Please waste no time, we want to get this truck started. No Shame is at least as serious as you are."
Iowa City, Iowa
; Cedar Falls, Iowa
; Eugene, Oregon
; Austin, Texas
; Fort Myers, Florida
; Los Angeles, California
; Las Vegas, Nevada
; Saint Louis, Missouri; La Crosse, Wisconsin
; Roanoke, Virginia
(started by Ristau in 2003 and where he still takes order and performs); Staunton, Virginia
; Asheville, North Carolina
; and Richmond, Virginia
. The Roanoke Chapter, which has been a core component of Mill Mountain Theatre's second stage programming, has twice been invited to the Piccolo Spoleto Theatre Festival in Charleston, South Carolina
.
Each location has different rules according to the decisions of their respective boards of directors. The rules usually consist of 1)Pieces must be original, 2) be under 5 minutes, and 3) they cannot damage the space or its occupants physically.
Over the last 19 years there have been other No Shame Theatres to come and go including those in New York, New York; Miami, Florida
; Chicago, Illinois; Fairbanks, Alaska
; Orlando, Florida
; Charlottesville, Virginia
(started by Ristau); Charleston, South Carolina
; Ireland
; Cutler Ridge, Florida; Verona; Portland, Oregon
; Harrisonburg, Virginia
; Newport News, Virginia
; Columbus, Georgia
; and Treasure Coast.
got his start at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City, where he started his character Artie, the Strongest Man in the World. Toby performed an Artie piece at the No Shame hosted by HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art in New York City, and was seen by people who were developing the Adventures of Pete & Pete television show. They hired Toby to incorporate the character into the series.
Actor John Leguizamo
performed at No Shame Theatre in New York City while No Shame was hosted at HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art in TriBeCa. (44 Walker Street) It was during this period that he developed portions of the play that would become Mambo Mouth. He has appeared in many films including Moulin Rouge
, Ice Age
, and Romeo and Juliet
.
Playwright Ruth Margraff performed at No Shames in Iowa City and the one at HOME. Ruth has gone on to become a very successful writer and performance artist, and currently teaches playwriting at the School of the Institute of Art in Chicago.
Playwright Naomi Wallace
frequently attended No Shame while doing her graduate work in the Playwright's Workshop in Iowa City, and first wrote for No Shame while in residence at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke for the developmental production of her play Fever Chart.
Historian and Jeopardy champion James L. Erwin performed at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City.
Actor Paul Rust
performed at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City. He is featured in the film I Love You, Beth Cooper
and has a role in the Quentin Tarantino
film, Inglorious Basterds.
Format
A board of approximately five members generally manages No Shame Theatre. These members are responsible for the operation of No Shame Theatre- they reserve space, advertise, accept pieces from performers, decide the order of the pieces, and serve as emcees for the program. Usually, the program contains approximately fifteen pieces. It is stated at the beginning of the program that the pieces must be original, must be under five minutes, and must not damage the space or its occupants. However, these rules are occasionally bent and in some cases, broken. The pieces are not censored in any way, which leads to a strange mix of silly comedy, "unique" performance art, and emotional drama that is rarely seen in more conventional theatre.History
No Shame Theatre was founded by Todd Ristau and Stan Ruth at the University of IowaUniversity of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. It began on October 3, 1986 in the back of a green 1976 Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
pick-up truck belonging to Todd Ristau, and parked in the E. C. Mabie Theater parking lot.
A sign up sheet was posted in fall of 1986 to generate interest in No Shame. The sheet read:
"The No Shame Theatre is looking for a few good three to 5 minute scripts that would be suitable for performing in the bed of a pick-up truck in some parking lot someplace. If you have such material and are proud enough of it to want to see it done someplace we've got the perfect vehicle for your expression--a big green '76 Dodge with a slant six engine. To submit scripts for consideration, contact us or leave them along with your name and phone number in the cardboard box on top of the locker just outside and to the left (as you stand looking at) the door to the playwright's office downstairs. Please waste no time, we want to get this truck started. No Shame is at least as serious as you are."
The present
Since its creation, No Shame Theatres have been started throughout the United States. Branches of No Shame exist in the following locations:Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
; Cedar Falls, Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States, and it is home to one of Iowa's three public universities, the University of Northern Iowa. The population was 39,260 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 36,145 population in the 2000 census...
; Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
; Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
; Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
; Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
; Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
; Saint Louis, Missouri; La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...
; Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
(started by Ristau in 2003 and where he still takes order and performs); Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
; Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
; and Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. The Roanoke Chapter, which has been a core component of Mill Mountain Theatre's second stage programming, has twice been invited to the Piccolo Spoleto Theatre Festival in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
.
Each location has different rules according to the decisions of their respective boards of directors. The rules usually consist of 1)Pieces must be original, 2) be under 5 minutes, and 3) they cannot damage the space or its occupants physically.
Over the last 19 years there have been other No Shame Theatres to come and go including those in New York, New York; Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
; Chicago, Illinois; Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
; Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
; Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
(started by Ristau); Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
; Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
; Cutler Ridge, Florida; Verona; 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...
; Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...
; Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
; Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
; and Treasure Coast.
Famous alumni
Actor Toby HussToby Huss
Toby Edward Huss is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Artie, the Strongest Man in the World on the cult hit Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, for his voice-over work on the long running animated series King of the Hill, and for his role as Felix 'Stumpy'...
got his start at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City, where he started his character Artie, the Strongest Man in the World. Toby performed an Artie piece at the No Shame hosted by HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art in New York City, and was seen by people who were developing the Adventures of Pete & Pete television show. They hired Toby to incorporate the character into the series.
Actor John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
performed at No Shame Theatre in New York City while No Shame was hosted at HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art in TriBeCa. (44 Walker Street) It was during this period that he developed portions of the play that would become Mambo Mouth. He has appeared in many films including Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
, Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, and Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
.
Playwright Ruth Margraff performed at No Shames in Iowa City and the one at HOME. Ruth has gone on to become a very successful writer and performance artist, and currently teaches playwriting at the School of the Institute of Art in Chicago.
Playwright Naomi Wallace
Naomi Wallace
Naomi Wallace is a playwright, screenwriter and poet from Prospect, Kentucky, United States.-Life:Wallace obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College and did graduate studies at the University of Iowa....
frequently attended No Shame while doing her graduate work in the Playwright's Workshop in Iowa City, and first wrote for No Shame while in residence at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke for the developmental production of her play Fever Chart.
Historian and Jeopardy champion James L. Erwin performed at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City.
Actor Paul Rust
Paul Rust
Paul Robert Rust is an American actor, comedian and writer.-Life and career:Rust was born in Le Mars, Iowa to Jeanne and Bob Rust...
performed at No Shame Theatre in Iowa City. He is featured in the film I Love You, Beth Cooper
I Love You, Beth Cooper
I Love You, Beth Cooper is a comedy novel written by former The Simpsons writer Larry Doyle.- Plot summary :At his high school graduation, valedictorian Denis Cooverman states to the entire gymnasium that he's had a crush on cheerleader Beth Cooper for six years...
and has a role in the Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
film, Inglorious Basterds.
See also
- http://noshame.org/
- http://noshame.org/iowacity/history.htm
- http://www.ristentltd.com/index.html
- http://www.noshamela.com