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Opens May 19th!
EMPIRICAL ROGUE is teaming up with chashama to produce a revolutionary, four-actor Romeo and Juliet in an exciting, never-before-performed-in, abandoned space.
to Court Square, one block to 26-15 Jackson Ave., Long Island City.
ROMEO AND JULIET
Starring Jacob Martin, Susannah Hoffman*, Doug Chapman
Designed by Dante Olivia Smith, Shad Ramsey
Directed by Tim Eliot
ROMEO AND JULIET is an Equity Showcase, Approval Pending. *These actors appear courtesy AEA.
Together with our supporters and our audiences, we tell stories that encourage the best in ourselves to confront the worst in ourselves. We explore the extremes of our common humanity and find the joy in heroic action. We bring back the magic that makes the theater unique, and laugh our asses off at the same time.
Join us!
Empirical Rogue is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.
Click here or on the image to the right to support the cause!
Our workshop of Hamlet !
Coming back soon!
Video and photography footage by Gretjen Helene
about us our mission
EMPIRICAL ROGUE creates and performs holistic theater that arises from the aesthetic demands and potentials of new and classical texts. Rigorous research and experimentation free the creative team and audience to explore the extremes of human behavior through stories of lasting relevance. We are committed to the gainful employment of our artists and production team, as this allows energy to remain focused on the demands of our vigorous style. We strive to form innovative partnerships and collaborations with members of the communities where we produce our work. We hope you will join us.
aesthetic
The visual, aural, and spatial dimensions of the theater are the landscape for the audience's imagination. In order to create cohesive theatrical experiences, the central ideas, images, and metaphors of the story must drive the aesthetic choices of the design and production team. Too often in the contemporary theater, such choices are tangential or irrelevant to the primary impulses of the story, and cannot serve its telling. We seek to reintegrate the artistry of great designers into powerful pieces of theater.
research
Modern plays written about contemporary life benefit from a shared cultural context for their actions and ideas. Actors and audience immediately recognize situations, relationships, and characters as belonging to their own world. Plays set in a foreign or antiquated culture, especially those written for yet another different culture, are difficult to produce for a contemporary audience. The interplay of multiple cultural contexts can make actions and ideas hard to connect with or even comprehend. Mining these contexts instantly clarifies actions and ideas, revealing their relevance and communicability to a modern audience.
experimentation
An experiment that is logically directive and empirically rigorous can drive the creation of truly audacious theater, leading audiences to evaluate and engage with the world in surprising new ways. Setting conditions and building upon previous discoveries sets the stage for continual exploration among actors, artists, and audience.
our team Tim Eliot
Tim is an actor, director, dramaturg, producer, and the Founding Artistic Director of Empirical Rogue.
New York: Men Go Down (Hotel Savant), Mad Forest (Columbia Stages), Red Beads (Mabou Mines), Rockberry (Jollyship the Whiz-Bang), Akropolis/Prototype and Seven Woes of a Libra Prophet (Andrew Ondrejcak), Hamlet (Gallery Players), The Gay Ivy (Dixon Place), The Girl Detective (Ateh Theater), In Bocca Alla Lupa (Grotto Theater). Regional: Sexual Perversity in Chicago (American Repertory Theater), The Real Thing (Northern Stage), Cherry Docs (New Rep Theater), The Little Tragedies (Moscow Art Theater), Compleat Works of WS... (Nat'l Tour), Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare). BA from Yale, MFA from ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard. As the President of the Yale Undergraduate Shakespeare Company, Tim was responsible for seven productions over the course of three years.
Adam Kern
TS Eliot Fellow - Old Vic , London. MFA ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard. BFA Musical Theatre - Kent State University. International: Macbeth, Again (Old Vic), Phoenician Women (Moscow Art). Regional: The Full Monty (ReVision), Julius Caesar (A.R.T.), Caligula (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Jesus Christ Superstar (Stark Theatre), CATS (Barn Theatre), Liz Swados' Missionaries (St. John the Divine), Kyle Jarrow's Trigger (A.R.T. Institute) and Anne Washburns Communist Dracula Pageant (A.R.T. Workshop). Film: Mamarosh (Supporting) TV: Onion Sports Network; StartUp (Pilot), Pilot Season Survival Guide. Proud member AEA. www.adam-kern.com
Susannah Hoffman
Susannah received a BA in Psychology from St. Mary's College and an MFA in acting from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. Her regional theater credits include Ophelia in Hamletmachine (ART Institute, dir. Marcus Stern), The Little Tragedies (Moscow Art Theater), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (ART), and The Donkey Show (ART).
Whitney Eggers
Whitney is a freelance dramaturg, most recently serving as production dramaturg for CENTERSTAGE's The Homecoming (dir. Irene Lewis) and Crime and Punishment (dir. Jason Loewith). She's previously worked at the American Repertory Theater on productions of Paradise Lost, Endgame, Largo Desolato, and Hamletmachine, and holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.
Careena Melia
Currently playing Hecate in Sleep No More- Punchdrunk Theater Company. NY- Macbeth (3rd Witch)- Theater for a New Audience, Anne Frank and Me (Mimi)- American Jewish Theater, New Plays Series- Irish Rep, The Playboy of the Western World (Susan Brandy) Alpha Omega Theater Company Regional: Sleep No More (Hecate)- American Repertory Theater/Punchdrunk, Trojan Barbie (Helen) American Repertory Theater, Romeo and Juliet (Juliet) LA Shakespeare Festival, Ah, Wilderness (Muriel) The Huntington, Moby Dick Rehearsed (Cordelia/Pip) Berkshire Theater Festival, All The Rage (Annabelle Lee) Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Tempest (Miranda) Great Lakes Theater Festival. Film/TV- Moonlight Mile, Songs In Ordinary Time (CBS), JAG (CBS), Touched by an Angel (CBS), Under Hellgate Bridge, The Dark Light, Wake, Two Way Crossing. MFA American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater at Harvard University.
education education
EMPIRICAL ROGUE is dedicated to sharing its insights into theater and performance with students of all ages. We offer lectures, participatory workshops, studio classes, panel series, talkbacks and more, and we like to design unique programs based on our educational partners’ interests and budgets.
The methods and expertise that help us produce innovative theater are all on offer in these classes, in an intimate, engaging, and entertaining format. Our Teaching Company Members all received their Master of Fine Arts degrees from the ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University, one of the leading graduate conservatories in the United States.
Topics and techniques include, but are not limited to:
• Acting and performance techniques
• Script analysis and preparation of text
• Shakespeare
• Chekhov, Strindberg, Ibsen
• 20th-century theater
• Contemporary theater
• Monologue and scene work
• Audition prep
• Physical, movement-based techniques
• Mask-making and masked performance
• The business of acting and theater
Education Overview.pdf
Education - Shakespeare.pdf
Education - Romeo and Juliet (High school).pdf
We look forward to speaking with you about the kind of program you and your students are interested in. Please contact us at EMPIRICALROGUE_gmail.com for further information or with any questions.
Students at Rye Country Day School discuss Hamlet in depth with Empirical Rogue founder and Artistic Director, Tim Eliot
support us Empirical Rogue is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas.
Click here or on the FA logo to support the cause!
Thanks to our current donors who make our work possible!
Producers ($25,000+)
Writers ($10,000+)
Directors ($5,000+)
Dramaturgs ($2,500+)
Advocates ($1,000+)
Fellows ($500+)
Holly Eliot, Jay Smith
Patrons ($250+)
Sarah Baxter, Cheryl Hoffman, Lawrence Paulson, Brad Rosen
Partners ($100+)
Alice Baxter, Barney Brannen, Kevin Costin, David Hammond, Douglas Hoffman, Yasmina Jacobs, Jonie LaBombard, Cherie Mason, Andrew Schwab
Friends ($50+)
Susan Boer, Patrick Cardiff, Peter Cook, Angela Paquin Devivo, Hope Eliot-Rice, Gregory Frux and Janet Morgan, Brie Hensold, Bob Lada, Lori Mickenberg, Heather Quick, Victor Shopov, Sara Smith
Other Contributors
John Colagioia, Thomas Dolan, Nathaniel Eliot and Reesa Brown, Anthony Gaskins, Elise Girardin, David Herskovits, Nicholas Hoffman, Adam Kern, Matthew Kugler, Julie Lake, Jacob Martin, Jernee Montoya, Heidi Nelson, Dakota Shepard, Jenny Soo, Frances Uku, Penny Lynn White
Please contribute and join us in our mission !
The Hamlet Project THE HAMLET PROJECT
On Memorial Day weekend, 2011, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback effectively dissolved the Kansas Arts Commission by vetoing its expected $800,000 in state funding. The reaction among artists and communities across the country has ranged from anger and disgust to despair and apathy.
We see it as a call to arms.
Denmarks legendary Prince went crazy trying to save the future of his country. And now we're going to take on a challenge just as crazy for the future of our country.
We're going to find towns all across America that are planning to turn historic, abandoned theaters into centers for the arts. Were going to link them up with experienced organizers that can offer advice on capital campaigns and restoration projects of all different sizes. We're going to help them plan the renovation and execute on capitalization, and then take twelve actors, six crew members, and one genius director to each town to kickstart the process.
Our cast and crew will help the renovation along with their own bare hands, remount a revolutionary production of Hamlet in the theater as they rebuild it, and use the entire project to help each community build enough awareness, capital, and momentum to finish the job. We'll stay connected, too, ensuring that each town can realize its dream of converting a neglected space into a place for dance, theater, art, teaching, music, and community involvement.
Shakespeare's masterpiece is about
facing the impossible in order to rebuild
a disintegrating country, and with this
initiative, we're going to do just that.
It's time for America to embrace
the arts again.
It's time for us to rebuild the spaces
that have made our country vibrant.
It's time for America's Hamlet .
Hamlet reaction Saw Empirical Rogue's Hamlet Thursday night. Fantastic! Bravo to cast, crew and creative team. Loved the space. It was perfect for this production. Please remount! We need more excellent Shakespeare in our lives!
I so enjoyed Empirical Rogue's performance of Hamlet last Thursday - what a fantastic performance! It was also my first time at the cell and the space is absolutely stunning. I'll be very happy to recommend performances to friends in the future - thank you so much for having them!
I saw Empirical Rogue's Hamlet on Wednesday - it was an amazingly human and intense production, and the space magnified that intensity with intimacy and focus. A truly refreshing night of theatre.
The show was fabulous and we so much enjoyed the fabulous space. You have a gem and we very much enjoyed our time with Hamlet at the cell.
What a gripping, heartwrenching, edge-of-the-seat production of Hamlet . Never knew Shakespeare could be so exciting and sad. I still have tears in my eyes. Bring it back!
Thanks to the cell for hosting a wonderful Hamlet! So nice to see up close such great acting. Felt like I was right there now! And it made me cry, too...
I attended the opening night performance of Hamlet directed by David Hammond and produced by Empirical Rogue. What a great night of cutting edge theatre. The production was beautifully and expertly performed, brilliantly directed. Great use of the gorgeous space at this venue, too. I will be back. Thank you!
thanks so much for inviting us to see your production. it was so fantastic. i was really blown away by the acting and staging and all the work you and cast/crew put into it to bring it together in so little time. it brought the words to life like I'd never experienced before and gave me such a greater appreciation for/understanding of the play.
I still think about your production last week. Your staging was fantastic. I don't think I saw the same moment twice; every moment was clear (the editing superior) and very good casting.
The clarity, focus and professionalism of the piece were energizing. I love seeing people actually think onstage and you did that vividly, passionately. One rarely experiences it so satisfyingly. I also thought you should have got more laughs; it was very funny!
Went to see Empirical Rogue's Hamlet on Thursday night at the cell - was really impressed with both the show and the venue. Such a cool experience all around.
I told David Hammond that I thought it was some of the most beautifully performed, clearly spoken Shakespeare I'd seen. I thought all the performers were outstanding, and particularly admired your performance as Hamlet. Beautiful, beautiful work. Good luck to Empirical Rogue - love the whole concept of your company.
Hamlet was complex and surprising!
A treat and a feat.
