Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit theatre company in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, with a multi-faceted production program. Founded in 1976 by six friends, five of them graduates from Seattle Pacific University, Taproot Theatre has mainstage productions at its location in the

Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth C ...

neighborhood, touring productions throughout the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

, and theatrical training through its acting studio. Taproot Theatre Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Puget Sou

and the Phinney Ridge, Seattle, Phinney Neighborhood Associati

Mainstage

Taproot Theatre produces five plays each year for its Mainstage season, plus an annual holiday production. Play selection includes classics, world premieres, musicals, dramas and comedies. Each Mainstage production offers one pay-what-you-can performance. The theatre company reaches approximately 30,000 audience members each year through more than 150 performances. In addition to its regular performances, Taproot hosts matinees targeted to specific audience, either students or seniors. Each student matinee includes a post-show talk-back with the actors and director. For some students, it is the first time they have seen a professional production.

Acting studio

Taproot’s Acting Studio was founded in 1992 to provide affordable, encouraging and artistically challenging classes for children and adults interested in learning the craft of acting. In the years since then, Taproot has expanded the program to offer year-round classes in dozens of subjects including

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, on-camera acting, and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Touring

Taproot Theatre Company began as a touring company in 1976, performing throughout Washington State at schools, prisons, churches and community centers. Today, Taproot’s Road Company spends the school year using theatre to teach social-issue lessons such as bullying and harassment prevention to schools in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest; this program began in 1985. Each summer, Taproot assembles a Road Company of five professional actors to present a three-play repertoire of social-issue plays to school populations. The cast engage with the students after each performance through interactive talk-back sessions and classrooms discussions. As of early 2008, over 1 million students have seen Taproot’s social-issue plays. Plays in this program are written by Northwest playwrights and incorporate principles from Committee for Children�

Steps to Respect and Second St

curricula. During the 2008/2009 school year, Taproot’s Road Company introduced a new play, ''New Girl'' by Josh Hornbeck, about Cyber-bullying, cyber bullying. TTC also mounts touring productions for the church and corporate communities. The company’s improv comedy troupe tours as well.

Mainstage production history

2023: A Woman of No Importance, As It Is in Heaven (play), Jeeves Takes a Bow, The Hello Girls, Last Drive to Dodge 2022:

See How They Run (play) ''See How They Run'' is an English comedy in three acts by Philip King. Its title is a line from the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". It is considered a farce for its tense comic situations and headlong humour, heavily playing on mistaken iden ...

The Spitfire Grill (musical) ''The Spitfire Grill'' is an American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the 1996 film of the same name by Lee David Zlotoff. The off-Broadway production by Playwrights Horizons began pre ...

The Nerd (play) ''The Nerd'' is a two-act comedy written by American actor/playwright Larry Shue. Actors who have taken on the title role include British comedian Rowan Atkinson. It was the top grossing American play in London's West End in 1986. Plot Set in ...

, Black Coffee (play), A Night with the Russells: The Legacy of Us, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley 2021: Babette’s Feast, Daddy Long Legs (musical) (Digital Streaming Event) 2020:

Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Academy Award winner Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts. The picture is a film adaptation ...

, Christmas at Home (Digital Streaming Event) 2019: Arsenic and Old Lace, We Will Not Be Silent, Kim's Convenience, Bright Star (musical), Necessary Sacrifices, The Bishop's Wife: A Live Radio Play 2018: Camping with Henry and Tom, Crowns, Lady Windermere's Fan, Sweet Land, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley 2017: Room Service, Evidence of Things Unseen, Busman’s Honeymoon, Persuasion, Relativity, A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration 2016: Silent Sky, Cotton Patch Gospel, The Realization of Emily Linder, Big Fish, Joyful Noise 2015: The Explorers Club, Best of Enemies, Jeeves Intervenes, Godspell, Dracula, This Christmas 2014: Mr. Pim Passes By, In the Book Of, Diana of Dobson’s, Jane Eyre, The Fabulous Lipitones, Appalachian Christmas Homecoming 2013: Jeeves in Bloom, The Whipping Man, Bach at Leipzig, Illyria, The Matchmaker, Le Club Noel 2012: Tartuffe, Freud’s Last Session, Leaving Iowa, Chaps!, Gaudy Night, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol 2011:

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

, The Beams are Creaking, Brownie Points,

Something's Afoot ''Something's Afoot'' is a musical that spoofs detective stories, mainly the works of Agatha Christie, and especially her 1939 detective novel ''And Then There Were None''. The book, music, and lyrics were written by James McDonald, David Vos, ...

An Ideal Husband ''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...

, Beasley's Christmas Party 2010:

The Great Divorce ''The Great Divorce'' is a novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, published in 1945, based on a theological dream vision of his in which he reflects on the Christian conceptions of Heaven and Hell. The working title was ''Who Goes Home?'' but t ...

, Brooklyn Boy, Charley's Aunt,

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay ''I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes ...

Wedding Belles ''Wedding Belles'' is a Scottish-based British television drama film first broadcast on Channel 4 on 29 March 2007. Plot ''Wedding Belles'' centres around four young women struggling with personal issues, while preparing to throw one of their g ...

, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol 2009: Gee’s Bend,

Tuesdays with Morrie ''Tuesdays with Morrie'' is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS. The book topped the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction Bes ...

, Around the World in 80 Days, Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, Enchanted April, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play 2008:

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

, Doubt: A Parable,

Over the River and Through the Woods ''Over the River and Through the Woods'' is a play written by Joe DiPietro, published in 1998. It played Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, incl ...

, Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Susan and God, The Christmas Foundling 2007: The God Committee, Mary’s Wedding, Seven Keys to Baldpate,

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

, The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of A Christmas Carol 2006: An Inspector Calls, The Voice of the Prairie, The Foreigner, Smoke on the Mountain,

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...

, It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play 2005:

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, ''Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response inclu ...

, Beau Jest, Arthur: The Hunt,

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neigh ...

, The Last Train to Nibroc, The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. 2004: Arthur: The Begetting, Fools, Shadowlands, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Much Ado About Nothing, A Radioland Christmas 2003:

All My Sons ''All My Sons'' is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1949, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan (t ...

, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, God’s Man in Texas, The Spitfire Grill, Candida, The Carrolls of Queen Anne 2002:

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. It ...

, The Man Who Was Thursday,

Sleuth Sleuth may refer to: *Detective *Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears Computing *The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software *SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107 Entertainment and media *Cloo, formerly Sleuth, ...

, Wonderful Tennessee,

Oil City Symphony ''Oil City Symphony'' is a musical with a book by Mike Craver, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, and Mary Murfitt and songs by various composers. It is a recreation of a recital by four middle-aged amateur musicians who have reunited in the auditorium o ...

, Appalachian Christmas Homecoming 2001: You Can't Take It with You, Heaven on Earth,

Cotton Patch Gospel ''Cotton Patch Gospel'' is a musical by Tom Key and Russell Treyz with music and lyrics written by Harry Chapin and produced by Philip M. Getter just after Chapin's death in 1981. It ran off-Broadway at the Lamb's Theatre for 193 performances b ...

, Balmoral, Joyful Noise, Appalachian Christmas Homecoming 2000: Moreau,

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

, Wait Until Dark, Mass Appeal, Radio Gals, Sanders Family Christmas 1999: Ah, Wilderness!, Terra Nova, The Trip to Bountiful,

Bullshot Crummond ''Bullshot Crummond'' is a parody stage play of the British pulp hero Bulldog Drummond. The play was based on an idea by Ronald E. House and Diz White, was written in 1974 and first performed that year, by House, White, John Neville-Andrews, Al ...

, Quilters, Sanders Family Christmas 1998: Lost in Yonkers, The Clearing, Busman’s Honeymoon, The Boys Next Door, Godspell, Christmas on the Orpheum Circuit 1997: You Never Can Tell, Traveler in the Dark, Boomers,

Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...

, St. Hugo of Central Park, Stages of Christmas 1996 First Season at Taproot’s new permanent facility in Seattle: Pre-Season show: An Evening Around the Radio JB, Black Coffee, The Foreigner, Edith Stein, Smoke on the Mountain 1995: The Rainmaker, Min Ma Mulano, Opal, Beau Jest, Pilgrim 1994: The Nerd, The Voice of the Prairie,

The Curious Savage ''The Curious Savage'', written by John Patrick, is a comedic play about Ethel P. Savage, an elderly woman whose husband recently died and left her approximately ten million dollars. Contrasting the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients w ...

1993: Talley's Folly, See How They Run, Saint Joan, Godspell 1992:

, Both Your Houses, Becoming Memories, Smoke on the Mountain 1991: Fairview location: The Blind Date & The Midnight Caller, Angel's Fall, An Inspector Calls 1990: Fairview location: A Gentleman's Agreement, Marriage Wheel 1989: Red Letter Days, Summer staged readings: Promise, American Lebanon, A Gentleman's Agreement 1988: Catwalk, ''

The Brass Butterfly "Envoy Extraordinary" is a 1956 novella by British writer William Golding, first published by Eyre & Spottiswoode as one third of the collection '', Never'', alongside "Consider Her Ways" by John Wyndham and "Boy in Darkness" by Mervyn Peake. It w ...

'', The Electric Angel Mini Seasons at the newly created 70-seat studio theatre at St. Thomas Center: 1987: Fish Tales 1987- 1995 Dinner Theatre at Fairview: 1987 Second Shepherd's Play, 1988 Angel's Arms, 1989 The Chimes, 1990 Snowman, 1991 It's Christmas and It's Live, 1992 The Day Boy & The Night Girl, 1993 Angel's Arms, 1994 Gifts of the Magi, 1995 It's Christmas and It's Live 1983–1986 Dinner Theatre Years at St Thomas: 1983 Christmas in the Marketplace, 1984 The Clown of God, 1985 Christmas in the Marketplace, 1985 Abraham & Sarah, 1986 Christmas Cards 1982: Pilgrim,

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

, The Fourposter, A Man For All Seasons 1981:

, Easter, You Can't Take it With You, The Beams are Creaking 1980:

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

, The Devil To Pay, Sentenced To Life 1979: Pilgrim

External links

Official website

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in Washington (state) Drama schools in the United States Performing arts education in the United States Culture of Seattle