BTE Fan Club Wear

Our Mission & Vision:Backyard Theater Ensemble, Inc. is a collaboration of artists devoting their time, experience and resources to produce theater that inspires, challenges, and entertains both performers and audiences. Guided by our collective artistic vision, volunteer artists each fulfill multiple roles on stage, behind the scenes, and in the community. These roles capitalize on members' talents while also acknowledging weaknesses to empower growth. We create theater that is a powerful instrument asking all ensemble and audience members to confront the realities of our world.
Our Story: During the summer of 2010, the town of Cheshire sponsored its last young adult community theater production. Cheshire, like so many towns today, fell victim to budget constraints that ended support for the theater program. The following summer, a group of young adults felt the loss of this program. It was then that two of the founding members of BTE found inspiration in the playLoose Endsby Michael Weller. Weller’s piece was mature and challenging for its actors and forced audience members to confront complicated and somewhat uncomfortable issues that people in our society deal with every day. The founders of the ensemble called up their friends from the surrounding area with the idea to put this production up on their own. In no time, the show was cast and rehearsals were underway.Loose Endswas a truly collaborative effort as it was performed, directed, produced, and funded by the members of the cast and their friends. Rehearsals took place in members' backyards, giving the group the name "Backyard Theater Ensemble." Loose Endsrehearsals ran from June to September 2011 when the show was finally performed on Labor Day weekend to an audience of over 150 people. The show received an immense amount of positive feedback and a bombardment of questions about when the next production would be. With that, the Backyard Theater Ensemble was born. AfterLoose Endsand1959 Pink Thunderbirdperformed at Post University, we were invited by the Thomaston Opera and Landmark Community Theatre to use their Black Box Arts Center space. Because our current space is a small, fifty-seat black box theater, we offer a completely different experience to audience members. To say our shows are "intimate" is an understatement, as we have to ask audience members in the front row not to put their feet on our stage. This is a treat for audiences as they are immersed in the scenes with us. It is also a both a treat and a challenge for actors because there is not a moment that goes by where the audience is not "right there with you". Today, we are still a growing company.Our organization is made up of all volunteers who donate their time for a love of theater. We have roles within the company that serve the overall needs of the organization and we have roles that are appointed for each production we do. One of the things we emphasize is having our members fulfill multiple roles in the producing of a show. We believe that to truly immerse oneself in theater is to know all the aspects of putting on a production, from on stage to behind the scenes. We have taken people who traditionally only perform as actors and have had them try out roles like costume design, set design, publicity, and directing. All of these efforts are volunteered with minimal financial costs to our members. Our organization is an official 501c3 non-profit corporation that is run solely on the profits from our shows, donations, and fundraising. We are always looking for more talented members who are interested in joining the organization to help us create theater that "inspires, challenges, and entertains." If you are interested in joining, please contact us atinfo@backyardtheater.org or visit us athttp://backyardtheater.org/