Theater group to host second season of entertainment

May 22—A relatively new theater company in Norman is excited about its spring and summer season.

Already into its season, Co.llective Arts Productions (Co.Arts) will host two full productions over the next two months, as well as several staged readings.

Five University of Oklahoma School of Drama students and alumni — Morgan J. Simon, Alleese Eldridge, Tony Wilkinson, Diego De La Espriella and Audrey Armacost — founded the professional theater company in February 2021.

Simon, artistic manager and board president, said the current production team includes himself, Eldridge, Wilkinson and Lauren Linsey. Armacost, who moved to another city, still serves on the board, and Espriella contributed to one of Co.Arts' productions this season, "Palo Verde."

The company's season began May 9 with staged readings of "American Realism" by Devin Ricklef, a guided tour through the mythology of the abusive male archetype in American media, and "Sapphicana" by Taylor Yancey, a series of vignettes and musical interludes on the queer femme experience and identity in the South.

The full production "Bro?" by Tad Broadbent will be performed at 8 p.m. June 9-11 and 11 p.m. June 10 in the E. Frank Gilson Lab Theatre, a black box theater with 61 seats in OU's old science hall.

The play, featuring five actors and lasting just over an hour with intermission, is a psychedelic comedy starring best friends and 20-somethings Charles and Kile as they go on a journey of self discovery.

The full production "The Process" by Michael Darmon will be performed at 8 p.m. July 21-23 in the Gilson Lab Theatre.

The play, featuring six actors and lasting two hours with intermission, is about 28-year-old Noah, who receives a diagnosis for terminal brain cancer and makes a Facebook post inviting others to come visit him.

Both plays are most appropriate for adult audiences and cost $10 general admission and $5 student admission.

The theater company also will host a free "Ten-Minute Play Reading Festival" during Second Friday Art Walk on July 8, which will include readings of 10-minute plays from local and national playwrights.

The season will conclude with free staged readings at 8 p.m. Aug. 12-13 at the Studio of the Sooner Theatre of "Palo Verde," a new musical created by Anne Heintz, Raul Rivera Pun, Espriella and Marissa Garcia about seasoned teacher Aurora who encourages others to learn. The show is rated PG, but the content is geared toward adults.

Simon said selections and actors are determined by the producers each year during calls for submission and casting in Oklahoma, and five plays this season were produced by OU School of Theatre alumni.

He said the group was founded after a group of OU drama students and alumni decided to have another professional theater in the Oklahoma City metro area to encourage local talent to stay local.

"We aimed to build a company that could create new work and create places for these artists to find artistic homes without having to move away," said Simon, who graduated from the OU School of Drama last week.

He described the small company's work as very rewarding.

"It's a lot of work for young artists, all with other full-time day jobs to keep up with. We challenge ourselves a lot," he said. "We are very ambitious in how much we do, because it's important to us that we are creating as many opportunities as possible for new plays to be produced and for more artists to work with us in the area."

Currently, the company is 100% funded by audience donations and ticket sales to help cover artists' stipends, materials, equipment and associated expenses.

Simon said Co.Arts has applied for 501©(3) nonprofit status, which is pending approval, and hopes to be able to apply for local and state loans in 2023. The company's first year was largely crowdfunded, including some producers' personal donations. The operating budget was $4,000.

He said fundraising efforts for each season begins at the first of each year. In 2021, the company raised just over $4,000.

This year so far, they have raised $6,000 of their $10,000 goal. Simon said Co.Arts is planning a couple more fundraising efforts this summer to help achieve that goal, including a reception after "Palo Verde" performances.

This season, Simon said Co.Arts has been able to increase the amount of artists' stipends and metro-area schools from which artists come from, to show artists that "not only can they create fulfilling and great work in Oklahoma, but they can also get paid a living wage to do it."

Additionally, Simon expressed his thanks to OU and Sooner Theatre for allowing the ambulatory company to practice inside their facilities.

In the future, he said the company plans on continuing its growth, working with more emerging and early career artists, creating as much new theater as possible in Norman and possibly opening their own theater space so they can be even more rooted in the Norman community.

"Supporting local art and artists directly puts money in the pockets of these artists to continue working in Oklahoma and contributing to the artistic ecosystem here," Simon said. "Our mission at Co.Arts is to contribute to an ecosystem where Oklahoma artists export more work to the world than we import to Oklahoma. Every ticket and donation we receive allows these artists to build an artistic home in Oklahoma."

For tickets or information about donating, visit coartsproductions.com, @CoArtsPro on social media or email co.artsproductions@gmail.com.

Jamie Berry covers general, police and court news for The Transcript. Reach her at jberry@normantranscript.com, 366-3532 or @JamieStitches13.