# Offstage Theatre

Offstage Theatre produces site-specific one-acts and short plays and stages them in the locations—bars, museums, shops—for which they were written. Founded in Charlottesville, VA in 1988-89 by Doug Grissom, associate professor and Head of Playwriting at University of Virginia, playwrights Mark Serrill and Tom Coash, with John Quinn as its first Resident Director, the company remains committed primarily to producing new work in non-theatrical spaces, with a few exceptions.
In 1993, then-Artistic Director John Quinn began producing Offstage's plays in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Joel Jones took Offstage to NYC in 2005. Offstage is most well known for its Barhoppers series performed in Charlottesville area restaurants, its Pub Crawl in Boston/Cambridge area pubs, and an educational touring program ("But I Said No") addressing acquaintance rape that has received national acclaim.

## Playwrights, directors and performers

Offstage has performed several world premieres, and draws heavily, though not exclusively from local Virginia and University of Virginia playwrighting talents, including works from Edward Albee, Margaret Baldwin, Samuel Beckett, Eric Bogosian, Tom Coash, Lila Fenton Heasley, Matthew Farrell, Tina Fey, Scott Fishel, Doug Grissom, Elizabeth Harris, David Ives, Joel Jones, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Sandy McAdams, Aidan Parkinson, John Quinn, Laura Quinn, William Rough, Mark Serrill, Aaron Sorkin, Barney Strauss, Jr., Lucinda McDermott, among others.
Directors have included Tom Coash, Elizabeth Harris, Joel Jones, Cristan Keighley, Chris Patrick, Carol Pedersen, John Quinn, Mark Serrill, Tricia Sexton, Jacquie Patteson, Mendy St. Ours, Denise Stewart, and Betsy Rudelich Tucker among others.
Notable performers in Offstage Theatre works have included Cate Andrews, Phillip Beard, Bambi Chapin, John Wentworth Chapin, Richard Gilman, Lila Fenton Heasley, Scott Fishel, Ben Jones, Cristan Keighley, Jenifer Marshall, Dave Matthews, Thadd McQuade, Beatrice Ost, Chris Patrick, Brooke Plotnick, Sian Richards, Stuart Ross, William Rough, Pamela Rogers Schnatterly, John Schnatterly, Steve Tharp, Mark Valahovic, Jacquie Patteson, Richard Warner, David Wellbeloved and many others.

## Performance history

| Year | Production | Cast and crew | Performance venue |
| 1989 | Chug, written by Ken Jenkins | directed by Tom Coash John Quinn(Chug) | Coash's Cabin, Albemarle County |
| 1989 | The Zoo Story, written by Edward Albee | directed by Mark Serrill John Quinn ( Jerry), John Wentworth Chapin (Peter) | Lee Park, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1990 | Barhoppers I | | Millers Restaurant, Fat City Diner, and Eastern Standard Restaurant, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| | Ringing the Bell, written by Tom Coash | directed by John Quinn John Wentworth Chapin (Chug), Pat Daly (Julie), Connie Sanders (Sarah) | |
| | An End the World Pass, written by Mark Serrill | directed by Mark Serrill Margaret Baldwin (Megan), Dave Matthews (Harry), John Schnatterly (Jim) | |
| | Welcome to the Moon, written by John Patrick Shanley | directed by John Quinn John Wentworth Chapin (Vinnie), Dave Matthews (Ronnie), John Schnatterly (Stephen), John Quinn (Artie), Yael Ksander (Shirley) | |
| 1990 | Krapp's Last Tape, written by Samuel Beckett | directed by John Quinn Mark Serrill (Krapp), Joel Jones (sound) | Purcell Rug Company, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1990 | Chocolate Cake, written by Mary Gallagher | directed by Tom Coash Bambi Dean (Joellen Fitzer), Pam Loftin (Delia Baron), Lew Stokes (Voice of Ted), Victoria Moore (Voice of Polly), Robert Harllee (Voice of Spuds) | Miller's Restaurant, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1990 | The Actor's Nightmare, written by Christopher Durang | Karen Schnatterly (Meg, The Stage Manager), John Quinn (George Spelvin), Joel Jones (Executioner and Announcer), Vanessa (Ellen), Kyly Sicher (Sarah), Richard (Ned) Needham (Henry) | Eastern Standard Restaurant, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1990 | Save the Paramount Series | | Under the marquee of the Paramount Theater, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| | ?, written by Tom Coash | directed by Mark McLaughlin Burt Creasy (Lazarus Lee), Margaret Baldwin (Ginny) | |
| | In the Heat, written by Doug Grissom | directed by Doug Grissom Tracey Howell (Zelda), Margaret Baldwin (Ellie), Pam Loftin (Hanna), Dave Matthews (Quinton), John Quinn (Pablo) | |
| 1990 | Famous for 15 Minutes Series | | Tandem School, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| | A Pre-Matrimonial Conversation, written by Mark Jensen | directed by Colleen Kelly Bambi Chapin (She), John Wentworth Chapin (He) | |
| | Four-Thirty, written by Katie Griesar | directed by Tom Coash Dean Cameron (Walt), Dan Mueller (Levon) | |
| | Intensity, written by Tom Coash | directed by William Rough Sean Bather (Ishmael), Bert Creasy (Coach) | |
| | Man Under, written by Collette Burson | directed by Margaret Baldwin Joyce Sparagdis (Harriet), Betsy Stalkner (Myrtle) | |
| | Contact, written by Doug Grissom | directed by Doug Grissom | Richard Warner (Man), Tricia Sexton (Voice) |
| | The Kindness of Strangers, written by Jack Turner | directed by Victoria Moore Cate Andrews (Ann), Ben Boyar (Bill), Christian Breedan (Punk), Kathy Compton (Punkette) | |
| | Just Say No, written by Barney Strauss, Jr. | directed by John Quinn Tony Donelson (Bart), Thomas Doran (Matthew), Pam Lofton (Micki), Dave Matthews (Joel), Kyly Sicher (Skippy) | |
| 1990 | ‘But I Said No’ Tour, written by Margaret Baldwin and Doug Grissom | directed by Richard Warner Margaret Baldwin, Bambi Chapin, John Wentworth Chapin, Jean Collins, Pam Loftin | university campuses |
| 1991 | The Library Series | | the Pink Building, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1991 | The Art Gallery Series | | the Pink Building, Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 1997 | Foolery's Cyrano | Thadd McQuade, John Harrell, Kara McLane and Martha Mendenhall | Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Venue 40, The Quaker House |
| 2013 | Barhoppers 2013 (co-production with Live Arts) | produced by Tracie Skipper | Rapture, Milli Joe, and The Local, Charlottesville, Virginia |

## Production venues

| Charlottesville, Virginia | Boston / Cambridge, Massachusetts | New York / Brooklyn, New York |
| Millers Restaurant, Eastern Standard Restaurant, Escafe, the Downtown Mall, Tandem School, Estouteville Farm, the Pink Building, Live Arts Theatre, Rapture, Frank Ix Building, University of Virginia | An Tua Nua, the Black Rose, the Burren, Charlestown Working Theatre, Clery's/The Claddagh, Mr. Dooley's, Doyle's Pub, the Druid, Emerson College, the Field, Finnegan's Wake, the Harp, James's Gate, the Kells, Kinvara Pub, Ned Kelly's Phoenix Landing, the Plough and Stars, Tir Na Nóg | Brooklyn |

## Artistic directors

Tom Coash Doug Grissom Mark Serrill
John Quinn
Joel Jones Larry Emmons Jeff Kitchen Tim Van Dyck & Denise Stewart (co-artistic directors) Chris Patrick Bree Luck