For the past couple of years, NHTC has been part of EXACT CHANGE, which brings performing arts (music, poetry, theater) to a broad audience by showcasing artists on a public bus. This year we are taking a break from our bus route, but we hope everyone checks it out.

Photo by Rebecca Lowry
Puppet by Katya Vetrov
Puppeteers - Peter Chenot and Andy Kepka

Read the article to see our picture and learn more about this year's event.

On Sunday, April 13, 2008, New Haven Theater Company partnered with the Arts Council of Greater New Haven to present Exact Change, a project bringing our improv comedy and Latino children's theater to unsuspecting riders on New Haven public transportation.

For our part, we saw it as a continuation of Meter Theater, bringing non-traditional performances to non-traditional venues—here, the streets of our city.

Here's what the press had to say:

• Poetry, music come free when Exact Change gets aboard [New Haven Register]
• Buses Commandeered For Art [New Haven Independent]

Click To Play

New Haven Theater Company presents
Tent
part of Meter Theater
June 20, 2007
Chapel and York Streets, New Haven

Meter Theater, our fist collaboration with the Arts and Ideas festival, went something like this...

• We surreptitiously auditioned performers of all types.
• We announced the project to thundrous applause, adding the lineup of shows when we had figured them all out.
• The official website astonished and puzzled.
• We began.
• We took some photos.
• We were blogged and blogged again. Even the traditional media got in on the action.

Many thanks to the hundreds of audience members from the writers, directors, and actors of New Haven Theater Company!

New Haven Register Entertainment Editor Patrick Ferrucci highlights NHTC's Meter Theater in a writeup of Festival of Arts and Ideas Programming. His prediction turned out to be true:

If you're not looking for a spot desperately, this should be entertaining. Heck, even if the actors aren't good (and they'll be good, you know that), there'll definitely be some morons driving by and yelling at the actors to get out of the spot.

Of course the actors are good...

Here's a few Ideas [New Haven Register]

UPDATE: WTNH Channel 8 Weatherman Geoff Fox has also blogged us.

A very insightful blog post at the Arts and Ideas website not only describes a performance of Meter Theater, but offers a number of insightful observations about the artistic mission of the project.

UPDATE UPDATE: The Meter Theater website is up—be sure to sign up for emails with secret, insider information about the project, including time and place of performances.

UPDATE: The lineup of Meter Theater shows has been announced!

NHTC, in partnership with New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas, presents “METER THEATER”, an innovative take on street theater performed in parking spaces. “METER THEATER” will perform every day of the 2007 festival (June 9–23), playing in various locations around the city, before and after other Festival programming.

New Haven Theater Company announces auditions for

METER THEATER
an innovative form of street performance in parking spaces
presented as part of the Arts and Ideas festival

Wanted for auditions: Performers who can act, who can move, and some who can sing. All special skills (juggling! gymnastics! anything interesting!).