5 Talented Theatre Companies In The US & UK

Theatre is one of civilization's oldest and most powerful artistic mediums, having been used for millennia to tell stories, educate the populace, and transform people's perceptions of the world. The theatre companies included here, spanning both the US and UK, showcase the wide array of forms the medium can take, from dramas and comedies to musicals and unique productions of classic and contemporary works. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.

5 Exciting US and UK Theatre Groups

Name Location Mission
Penobscot Theatre Company Bangor, Maine Produce high-quality, professional theatre works that inspire the imagination and cultivate a lifelong passion for the art form
Sphinx Theatre Company London, England Promote, advocate, and inspire women in the arts through productions, conferences, and research
Mendocino Theatre Company Mendocino, California Produce plays of substance and excitement, ranging from the classics to the cutting edge, to nurture local talent, and to provide meaningful theatrical experiences for local and visiting audiences
Big Telly Theatre Company Portstewart, Northern Ireland Tour theatre work, and provide exceptional experiences in site-responsive and participation theatre
The Young Victorian Theatre Company (Young Vic) Baltimore, Maryland Expose Baltimore’s diverse community to distinctive and entertaining musical theatre, foster classically trained and talented artists, and attract new and young audiences who will enjoy the popular and timeless works of Gilbert & Sullivan

How Live Theatre Can Change Your Life

8 Great Film Adaptations of Plays & Musicals

  1. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  2. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
  3. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
  4. The Sound of Music (1965)
  5. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
  6. Cabaret (1972)
  7. Doubt (2008)
  8. Sweeney Todd (2007)

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In Depth

The experience of attending a theatrical performance can be exhilarating. Whether it be musicals, dramatic plays, Broadway shows, or avant-garde productions, there's something to delight every style and mood. Here in no particular order, are five organizations, in both the United States and United Kingdom, that are bringing the magic of the theatre to audiences around the world.

Starting off the list at #1 is Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor, Maine, a year-round theatre producing dramas, musicals, and comedies. Its professional acting company features both local and visiting artists, with shows including Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast, and To Kill A Mockingbird. Educators can take advantage of school residencies to complement curriculum to help achieve Maine Learning Results. Single 90-minute workshops, a full-day intensive, or a weeklong engagement culminating in a performance are available.

The Dramatic Academy serves hundreds of area schoolchildren every year. Programming includes sessions that conclude in performances of full-length plays. During their class time, students are given instruction in stage movement, improvisational techniques, character development, and scene study. Volunteer opportunities are available at Penobscot Theatre Company in administration, costume construction, production support, and ushering.

During their class time, students are given instruction in stage movement, improvisational techniques, character development, and scene study.

In the #2 position is the Sphinx Theatre Company in London, which promotes and advocates for women in the arts through productions, conferences, and research. Past shows include Blame, As You Like It, and The Little Mermaid. The popular series, Vamps Vixens, and Feminists convenes professional forums and performances around women's employment and representation in theatre, film and TV, along with readings, and panel discussions.

Sphinx Theatre Company is renowned for its production of A Berlin Kabaret, which was winner of Best Cabaret at the Brighton Fringe and an Argus Angel for Artistic Excellence. The performance features contemporary arrangements of songs about resistance, love, and exile by Irving Berlin, Friedrich Hollander, Mischa Spoliansky, Bertolt Brecht, and Hanns Eisler.

At #3 is Mendocino Theatre Company in Mendocino, California. Its mission is to produce plays ranging from the classics to the cutting edge, to nurture local talent, and provide meaningful theatrical experiences for local and visiting audiences. Its popular Reading Series features works by women playwrights, with readings done in the style of classic readers' theatre, where actors use only vocal expression to help the audience understand the story, without the use of sets, costumes, or movement.

Its popular Reading Series features works by women playwrights, with readings done in the style of classic readers' theatre, where actors use only vocal expression to help the audience understand the story, without the use of sets, costumes, or movement.

Its Saturday Actors Workshops, led by Dan Kozloff, features acting classes for youth and adults. Available for all skill levels, the classes use a step-by-step method to teach actors how to translate words on a page into convincingly real and entertainingly expressive behavior. The Adult sessions, which culminate in a showcase performance, focus on why, in acting, doing must have priority over being or feeling.

In the #4 spot is Big Telly Theatre Company in Northern Ireland. It specializes in site responsive theatre, which devises performances specific to, and inspired by, a particular space or place. Through strategic partnerships, it uses events to improve tourism of lesser known areas like the Causeway Coastal route through Mid and East Antrim. Previous productions include The Dining Car, Merchant Quest, and Degree of Danger.

Big Telly Theatre Company also creates participation projects across the area. Billed as theatre for everyone, performances take place in streets, empty shops, busy markets, working businesses, and other nontraditional venues. Examples include Bear Hospital, an interactive performance featuring professional actors as doctors and nurses dedicated to bear care, and Tide Will Tell, highlighting the sea through poetry and writing workshops, beach sculpture, and model boat-building.

Examples include Bear Hospital, an interactive performance featuring professional actors as doctors and nurses dedicated to bear care, and Tide Will Tell, highlighting the sea through poetry and writing workshops, beach sculpture, and model boat-building.

Finishing up the list at #5 is the Young Victorian Theatre Company in Baltimore, which produces the works of Gilbert & Sullivan. Located in the Roland Park community, it produces professional caliber musical theatre productions every summer for all ages to enjoy. Its productions include such classics as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado.

The Young Victorian Theatre Company has several volunteer opportunities, including ushering, stage crew, and social media. You can show your support via its varying patronage levels, such as Yeomen of the Guard, which supports a lead singer, or Peers of the Realm, which helps with projector rental in order to show surtitles of lyrics during performances.