Urbanite Theatre is entering its eleventh season in Sarasota and according to Producing Artistic Director Summer Wallace the theater "… is focused on new contemporary plays … that make you feel and make you think.”
Urbanite’s cozy confines especially lend themselves to intimate, immersive shows.
“[We’re] a black box theater space that we have anywhere from 65 to 75 seats, depending on the seating configuration,” Wallace noted. “We change the seating configuration around for each production. Patrons love it when we open the door to get the reveal and the surprise of what the theater looks like this time."
While its performance space may be small, Urbanite’s sets are often opulent.
“We’ve had a coal mine in the theater, believe it or not,” Wallace said. “Two-story houses in the theater, and then shows where we just utilize sound and lights for the storytelling.”
Whether extravagant or minimalist, Urbanite puts the audience front and center when choosing and staging its productions.
“The first thing in kind of an Urbanite production is … can we surround the audience with the set-up of the space so that they feel like they’re part of the play and so forth?”
THE BACKGROUND:
Urbanite Theatre is committed to creating visceral, shared experiences by fearlessly lifting up the boldest new voices in theater. “We believe in inclusive, artist-first storytelling, daring honesty, and the powerful connectivity of an intimate space,” says Urbanite on its website.
Urbanite Theatre is located at 1487 2nd St., Sarasota 34236. The theater is on the west side of the building, just past the large wall mural.
When you go, use the second and third levels of the Whole Foods lot located directly across the street from Urbanite Theatre, where parking is free and open to the public. Other parking in the immediate area does not belong to the theater.
All performances at Urbanite Theatre are open seating and there are no assigned seats. The house will open 30 minutes prior to curtain.
Evening performances begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. with matinees starting promptly at 2 p.m. Due to the intimate size of the theater, Urbanite does not offer late seating to performances under any circumstances as that would disturb audience members and interrupt the performance.
For more information, visit www.urbanitetheatre.com.
To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.