Synchronicity Theatre ‘Strips Bare’ For New Plays

Myke Johns • Aug 9, 2018

Art needs a place to grow. And so often in Atlanta, that seems to happen on the margins. But Stripped Bare is helping theatre artists develop new work … and at a Peachtree Street address. The arts incubator program at Synchronicity Theatre recently began its third season.

The 20-year-old theatre company is gifting their space to local playwrights to develop and perform new works.

“There are so many wonderful emerging artists who are trying out new projects, but there’s very little opportunity to have a space to show that to the world,” said Rachel May, Synchronicity’s producing artistic director.

“Stripped Bare” refers to the minimal nature of the productions the theatre artists are being asked to adhere to: no sets, basic lighting, not a lot of technical elements.

“We wanted to be intentional about keeping the focus on the artist’s voice and what they were trying to convey,” May said. “Sometimes when you have a short period of time to do a project, and you start focusing on lighting and sound and all of these technical elements, while those are an important part of theatre, it sometimes distracts you from making sure the structure of the piece is right.”

“So we wanted to just remove that from these artists and say ‘you can’t even worry about because we’re not letting you.’ We want you to focus on the performers and the words and the structure and what you’re communicating to the audience, and making sure that that’s rooted very cleanly in the work.”

The first production of the Stripped Bare program is “Walk, Girl.” That is being performed at Synchronicity Theatre Sept. 10-12. There is more on the Stripped Bare series on their website.

Editor’s note: The incubator program is now in its third season, this post has been updated to reflect that.