Founders (clockwise from upper left): Dave Pausch, Karen Saari, Whitney Derendinger, Deborah Hearst, Nina Kenefick (petting Pirate), Autumn Shiley and Gina Gómez.
One year ago a group of like-minded theater friends gathered in a living room to talk about creating a new theater company in Madison. Now the seven actors, directors, designers and playwrights — known collectively as Guest House Theatre — are preparing for their sold-out season announcement party on March 7 at the Goodman Community Center. At the event, complete with homemade snacks that each contain a story, the members will announce their first full season, which includes three productions and a new play reading.
Dave Pausch, the company’s production director, says they are modeling their organization on Music Theatre of Madison, the small company helmed by Meghan Randolph. “They are a small, professional company that’s been really successful focusing on musicals. We want to be a small, professional theater that focuses on doing challenging, inclusive work that provides opportunities for artists in Dane County to grow, while performing in non-Equity spaces.”
In addition to Pausch, the company includes theater artists Karen Saari, Deb Hearst, Whitney Derendinger, Nina Kenefick, Gina Gomez and Autumn Shiley. These performers have worked with virtually every troupe in town: Bricks Theatre, Theatre LILA, Forward Theater, University Theatre, Wisconsin Wrights, Are We Delicious?, Children’s Theater of Madison, and the companies that call the Bartell home. So where is their niche? “We’re not founding Guest House to compete against any of the organizations that we’ve worked with in the past,” says Pausch. “We want to add to the artistic landscape. Madison is growing. The number of patrons is growing, and support for the arts is growing. We want to fill a space that’s opened up.”
“If we were in Chicago, there would be a lot of small storefront theaters where we could be part of interesting, thought-provoking plays at a professional level,” says Derendinger, the company’s general manager. “We know Madison audiences are willing to travel to Milwaukee or Chicago for that kind of experience. We want to provide it here, developing the talent that’s here, and keeping those arts dollars here.”
Hearst, the company’s artistic director, says the company hopes to diversify the voices on Madison stages. “As artists, we all want to reach outside ourselves and reach into the community, creating a platform for more diverse stories to be told,” says Hearst. “We talk about representation, about telling the stories that matter. I want to be part of that. I want to bring underrepresented voices to the forefront and explore real connections.” The group’s name also echoes that intention. It is derived from a centuries-old poem by Jalaluddin Rumi, “The Guest House,” which talks about shared experiences that leave the participants changed. Hearst says each season will have a theme, and their inaugural year will focus on “connection and identity.”
In the future, the company is planning to become a nonprofit that will produce regular seasons in venues throughout the community, provide non-Equity work to local actors and eventually hire administrative staff. “We’d love to see this go from an avocation to a vocation,” says Pausch. “We all have a drive to do the work we know we’re capable of.”
