Theatrical troupe (
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''troupe''), sometimes referred to as an acting company, is a group of theatrical performers working together. They may work in
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
other types of
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 perfor ...
s, and may take performances on tour. They are not the same as a
theatre company
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 perfor ...
, which is an organisation that produces theatrical performances, although there is sometimes an overlap in terminology.
The troupe is termed a resident acting company (or resident company) if they are supported by a particular theatre, where they have a home base, such as the
Everyman Theatre in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, Connecticut, United States
The
State Theatre Company of South Australia
The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. I ...
, whose home base is at the
Adelaide Festival Centre
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...
, is referred to as the resident artistic company.
Troupes are frequently organised by
theatre practitioners
A theatre practitioner is someone who creates theatrical performances and/or produces a theoretical discourse that informs his or her practical work. A theatre practitioner may be a director, dramatist, actor, designer or a combination of these t ...
(e.g.
Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...
or
Tadeusz Kantor's Cricot 2
Cricot 2 was a Polish experimental theatre company based in Kraków. It was founded in 1955 by the renowned theatre director, professional painter and assemblage artist, avantgarde set designer and art theorist Tadeusz Kantor, with artwork in the ...
). The membership can be divided into
permanent or
temporary as, for example, in the
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
(French: ''
sociétaires'' and ''pensionnaires'').
See also
*
Playing companies, historical term for a company of actors in
Renaissance England
The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th cen ...
References
Stage terminology
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