Abby Theatre Fest starts tonight!

Greetings from the Artistic Director

Welcome to our 30(+2) Birthday Season, and to the return of the in-person version of Abby Theatre Fest. I thank you for taking a little risk today by joining us on what promises to be a rather eclectic artistic journey.

Like the plays and films you are about to experience, the mission of Abby Theatre Fest (ATF) is layered and nuanced.

First and foremost, ATF is an opportunity for us to foster the development of new works by artists from around our region. In the case where an existing play has been performed before, ATF provides an opportunity for emerging and established artists to develop, expand and showcase their artistic talents by tackling their own production of an existing work.

Finally, ATF provides us as a theatre the opportunity to take artistic and thematic risks by sharing stories that wouldn’t necessarily be on our mainstage but are equally necessary and important to be heard and explored.

With ATF, we put aside the tried and true ‘formulas’ and the pressure to ‘make ends meet’, and embrace a spirit of healthy experimentation by playing with form and content so we might ‘see’ our human experience in a new light or from a different perspective. The success of each film or play in part depends on us the audience being willing to engage each work with an open and discerning mind, and to not take things at face value.

The intent here is not to be self-indulgent or to be risqué for the sake of being risqué. Rather, we’re attempting to explore life ‘as is’, in all its visceral rawness and edginess to encourage honest and real conversation about the themes and stories we’re telling.

This kind of theatre and film is not easy – nor should it be. You may agree with and like what you see, or you may not.And that’s ok. That’s the point of going on an artistic journey in the first place, and the experience can be intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually very rewarding.

Thank you once again for taking this risk with us.

Curtain Up!

Ken Hildebrandt
Executive/Artistic Director