Ed Baierlein, Director/Manager
CURRENT PRODUCTION:
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HISTORY AND STATUS
Germinal Stage, Inc., a Colorado non-profit corporation (dba Germinal Stage
Denver), was founded by four Denver actors, Ed IBaierlein, Sallie Diamond,
Ginger Valone, and Jack McWiiight, in August of 1973 and is currently playing
its twenty-third full season as one of the longest-lived and most respected
small theatres in the Rocky Mountain region. For the first thirteen years of our
existence, we performed in a converted warehouse at 18th & Market Streets in
Lower Downtown. Since 1987, we have owned a 100-seat converted storefront in
the historic North Denver Sunnyside neighborhood. With the conclusion of the
1995-96 season we have presented more than twenty-four hundred performances
of one-hundred-forty different plays to a total audience of more than one-
hundred- seventy-five thousand. In addition to our normal performance schedule,
we have performed at Seattle's Bumbershoot Civic Arts Festival, twice at
Denver's `7Spree" arts festival, toured as part of the Colorado Council on the
Arts & llumanities' state "Chautauqua" tour, co-produced the Denver premieres of
two operas, presented the World Premiere of a play about the last days of
Tolstoy, and performed as guests of the American Theatre Company in Aspen.
Our repertoire has included more traditional items--O'Neill, Williams, Synge,
Moliere, Shakespeare, Shaw, Coward--as well as more esoteric play-wrights
--Handke, Guerdon, Forssell, Pinter, Roc, Sylvanus, Enquist, Cocteau, Brecht,
Ghelderode, Witkiewicz.
On September 9, 1982, Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm presented Germinal
Stage Denver with the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, recognizing
"the artistic quality of the theatre work produced; for having made a major
contribution to the culture of the area over a sustained period of time." We
have also received the Mayor's,Award for Excellence, an Achievement Award from
the Rocky Mountain Women 5 Institute, a Commendation Award from Downtown
Denver, Inc., the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Award in the Arts and llumanities,
and over fifty nominations for excellence from the Denver Drama Critics' Circle,
including five nominations for "Best Season for a Theatre Company."
Our initial goals were 1) to provide a standard of excellence for other small
theatres in the region and 2) to demonstrate fiscal stability and
responsibility. Our achievement in the first area is attested to by our
consistent audience support and by a reputation for excellence second to none.
We have received high critical acclaim and grafifring regional recoguition. At
the very foundation of our success has been our commitment to non-institutional
attitudes and goals. We operate very much as a non-profit small business,
attempting to reinforce the community of actors and audience which is at the
core of the theatre experience. Our motto has always been "Presenting plays of
substance in an exciting and intimate atmosphere.
"plays of substance" --those works in the world repertoire in comedy, drama,
musical theatre, or tragedy, that evidence on the pant of the playwright a
serious inquiry into philosophy, sociology, psychology, history, language,
style, or the nature of the theatre experience.
"exciting "--the psychic environment that exists when playwright, director,
actors, and audience are using the play as a vehicle for enhancing their own
personal understanding of the universe, rather than as a diversion.
"intimate"--the optimum space for achieving actor/audience community. The
point at which an actor begins to view the audience as an abstract unit
rather than as individuals gathered to share a common experience is the
point at which intimacy has been lost.
The many artistic phases we have experienced over twenty three years clearly
reflect our attempt to embody these principles while avoiding selfAndulgent
closet drama. We have continually sought to redefine our position as an
alternative playhouse within a changing Denver theatre fabric, and even our
productions of more traditional material have been marked by the investigation
of unusual and sometimes controversial post-modem performance techniques.
Financially, we are well-respected in the community for sound management
and for paying our bills on time. In addition, we are the only small theatre in
the area to have paid all artistic and production personnel substantial
honoraria over the past nineteen seasons. We are most proud at having
operated our program at over 80% earned income over the years. Our
unearned support has been both public and private. We have been partially
funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Colorado Council on the
Arts & Humanities, the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, in addition
to numerous foundations, corporations, and individuals. In 1987-88, we
successh'lly mounted a major fund drive, raising $75,000 to purchase and
renovate our current home. For this dnve, we received substantial grants
from Gates Foundation, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, and from Honeywell, Inc.
We are "amateurs" in the best sense of the word--performing for love of the
art, while at the same time making the most stringent demands on our
performers' time and talents. Our demands on our core audience have been
strict, but we have found that it is willing to learn and grow with us. We are
committed to the Denver community and find it provides an exciting and
invigorating atmosphere in which to create.