The Satori Group is a

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 ...

-based

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

ensemble that unites innovative multi-media, dynamic physical styles, and contemporary content in live performance.

History

The Satori Group was founded in 2006 in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

by eleven graduating students of two colleges, the

University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a performing and media arts college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Initially established as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1867, CCM is one of the ...

and

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

. Their initial production was the original piece ''iLove:'', which premiered at the 2007

Cincinnati Fringe Festival The Cincinnati Fringe Festival (Cincy Fringe), produced by Know Theatre of Cincinnati Know Theatre of Cincinnati is a non-profit theatre company located in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, which produces contemporary ...

. ''iLove:'' earned the Cincinnati Producer’s Pick of the Fringe and was nominated for the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Alternative Production. Since then, the group has created three original works and presented a wide array of productions. They presented '' Hello Again'' at The Hustler Soundstage, and the Regional Premiere productions of ''The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador'' and ''Never Swim Alone'' at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center. Their original work ''(rsvp)'' premiered at the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, earning

Cincinnati CityBeat ''Cincinnati CityBeat'' is an independent local arts and issues publication covering the Cincinnati, Ohio area. It has the second largest readership in the Cincinnati area behind ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' daily newspaper. History ''CityBeat'' ...

’s Critic’s Pick. In Spring 2008, The Satori Group relocated to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. In August 2008 Satori hosted the creators of the Frank Suzuki Aesthetic, John Nobbs and Jacqui Carroll. In March 2009 Satori made its Seattle debut with

Will Eno Will Eno (born 1965) is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, '' Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play ''The Realistic Joneses'' appeared on Broadway in 2014, wher ...

's ''TRAGEDY: a tragedy.'' On August 12, 2009, the group announced their 2009-2010 season, ''Choose, Witness, Live,'' which included ''Artifacts of Consequence'', ''Winky'' and ''The Making of a Monster'' at the Northwest New Works Festival at On The Boards. On January 29th and 30th, 2010, Satori hosted a special presentation of ''UNDINE'' by

Hand2Mouth Theatre Hand2Mouth Theatre is theatre ensemble based in Portland, Oregon. The group collaboratively create their performances, and evolve all language, movement, and design elements themselves—instead of working from a pre-written script. Since 2006, ...

followed by a panel discussion on "New Work in the Pacific Northwest" hosted by Brendan Kiley (The Stranger). ''Winky'' received the Seattle Times Footlight Award for Avant-garde Afterglow. In 2011 Satori presented ''Fabulous Prizes'' by Neil Ferron, who was nominated for the Gregory Award for Outstanding Playwright.

The Company

*Artistic Director - Caitlin Sullivan *Managing Director - Doreen Sayegh *Programs Manager - Adam Standley *Company Manager - Lauren Hester *Members - Adam Standley, Lauren Hester, Caitlin Sullivan, Quinn Franzen, Spike Friedman, Clare Strasser, Kate Sumpter, Greta Wilson, Alex Matthews, Greta Wilson, LoraBeth Barr, Liza Curtiss *Associate Members - Lindsey Valitchka, Carol Thompson, Antoniette Bianco, John Leith, Montana Tippet, Nathan Sorseth, Martyna Majok, Kristyne A. Hughes, Monty Taylor, Neil Ferron *Founding Members - Adrienne Clark, Anthony Darnell, Andrew Lazarow

Performance history

2007: *''The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador'' by Charles L. Mee. Directed by Anthony Darnell and Caitlin Sullivan. (Regional Premiere) *''Never Swim Alone'' by Daniel McIver. Directed by Andrew Lazarow. (Regional Premiere) *'' Hello Again'' by Michael John LaChiusa. Directed by Andrew Lazarow. *''iLove:'' created by The Satori Group. Premiered at the 2007 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. ''iLove:'' earned the Cincinnati Fringe Festival's Producer’s Pick of the Fringe and was nominated for the Cincinnati Entertainment Award (CEA) for Best Alternative Production. (World Premiere) 2008: *''(rsvp)'' written by Anthony Darnell. Directed by Andrew Lazarow. Premiered at the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival and received

's Critic's Pick. (World Premiere) 2009: *''TRAGEDY: a tragedy'' by

. Directed by Adam Standley and Caitlin Sullivan. (Regional Premiere) 2009-2010: ''Choose, Witness, Live'' *''Artifacts of Consequence'' by Ashlin Halfnight. Directed by Andrew Lazarow. (Regional Premiere) *''Winky'' by

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

. Adapted with The Satori Group by Spike Friedman. Directed by Caitlin Sullivan. (World Premiere) *''The Making of a Monster'' at the Northwest New Works Festival at On The Boards. Directed by Adam Standley. (World Premiere) Seattle Times Footlight Award for Avant-garde Afterglow. *Special Presentation of ''UNDINE'' by Hand2Mouth Theatre and New Work in the Pacific Northwest panel discussion hosted by Brendan Kiley (The Stranger). 2011: *''Fabulous Prizes'' by Neil Ferron. Directed by Caitlin Sullivan. (World Premiere). Nominated for The Gregory Award for Outstanding Playwright. 2014: *''Returning to Albert Joseph'' by Spike Friedman. Directed by Alex Matthews and Caitlin Sullivan. (World Premiere).

Awards and honors

*2005 – nominee: CEA for Best Supporting Actor - Anthony Darnell *2006 – nominee: CEA for Actor in a Leading Role - Adam Standley *2006 – nominee: CEA for Alternative Production (Critical Achievement) - Andrew Lazarow *2006 – Acclaim Award for Excellence in Media Design - Andrew Lazarow *2007 – nominee: CEA for Best Alternative Production - ''iLove:'' *2007 – Producer’s Pick of the Cincinnati Fringe - ''iLove:'' *2007 –

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alt ...

Acclaim Award (Rising Star) - Anthony Darnell *2008 – Theatre Artist Project (TAP) Grant - Anthony Darnell *2008 –

Critic’s Pick - ''(rsvp)'' *2009 – ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'' Footlight Award for Best of Fringe - ''TRAGEDY: a tragedy'' *2009 – runner-up: ''

'' Footlight Award for Friskiest Fringe in Seattle *2009 – Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs smART Ventures Award *2010 – ''

'' Footlight Award for Avant-garde Afterglow - ''Winky'' *2011 – nominee: Gregory Award for Outstanding Playwright - Neil Ferron, ''Fabulous Prizes'' *2014 – nominee: ''The Stranger'' Genius Award Nomination for Performance."Meet the 2014 Stranger Genius Award Nominees"
'' The Stranger'' (newspaper, June 11, 2014)

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Satori Group Culture of Seattle Theatre companies in Cincinnati