Statements
Mission
Actors Bridge Ensemble is a non-profit acting school and professional theater company established in Nashville in 1995. Our mission is to tell the stories Nashville needs to hear as we produce socially conscious plays responsive to the current cultural moment, create new work, train theater artists, and become a safe home for our artists and audiences to find their authentic voices on stage and in life.
The company is led by co-founder and Producing Artistic Director Vali Forrister.
Actors Bridge Ensemble has 4 program areas:
1. Acting School (Meisner Technique training)
2. Professional Season of Plays
3. Act Like a GRRRL
4. Directors Inclusion Initiative
In the last 26 years, our Acting School trained over 5,000 actors in the Meisner Technique, the acting method taught in most professional conservatories and graduate schools. We have produced 24 Seasons that have included over 100 plays, 90% of which were either Nashville Premieres or World Premieres of new plays. We have collaborated on 5 devised theater pieces.
For the last 17 years, Act Like a GRRRL has inspired hundreds of teenage girls to find their voice and speak their truths and has created 19 original scripts and performances.
Now in its third year, the Directors Inclusion Initiative trains emerging theater directors of color through workshops with regional faculty, panels with local professionals, and ongoing mentoring culminating in a biannual showcase festival of their work.
Background
WE ARE:
- Nashville's longest-running acting school and the only one specializing in the Meisner Technique.
- Nashville's leading theater for contemporary works and new plays that engage curiosity and conversation about justice, equity and inclusion.
- The only women-run, locally-born-and-bred theater company dedicated to telling the stories Nashville needs to hear.
- A safe space for artists to take big risks on stage.
- A trusted home for teenage girls to find their voice, speak their truths, and develop leadership skills through autobiographical writing and performance.
- The place for emerging talent to get their first professional experiences.
BACKGROUND
Actors Bridge Ensemble was founded in 1995 by Bill Feehely and Vali Forrister. Bill saw the need to create ongoing professional actor training in Nashville and Vali dreamed of bringing her hometown the new socially-relevant plays she was seeing in New York, Chicago and London. Actors Bridge continues to be led by Producing Artistic Director Vali Forrister.
Actors Bridge began in the Belmont Little Theatre in 1995. In 1996, we became the theatre-in-residence at St. Augustine's Chapel on Vanderbilt University's campus thanks to the generosity of Rev. Becca Stevens. We spent 7 years performing cutting-edge theatre in the little A-frame chapel, while the gracious congregation received the Eucharist on our funky sets. In 2003, we became pioneers in Germantown at the Neuhoff Site and our play season moved to Darkhorse Theater. In 2013, we joined the revitalization of Charlotte Avenue by moving our studio space to the LeQuire Gallery building. Outgrowing that space in 2015, we moved to the Darkhorse Chapel (behind Darkhorse Theater) at 4610 Charlotte Avenue. From 2007-2019, we were the professional theater in residence at Belmont University and our season took place in the Belmont Black Box Theater.
In 2004, Vali Forrister created Act Like a GRRRL, an autobiographical writing and performance program for teenage girls to find their voice and speak their truths on stage and in life. We have produced ALAG programs in Costa Rica, Bolivia, Northern Virginia. and at the Tennessee Prison for Women.
In 2018, we created the Directors Inclusion Initiative to train emerging directors of color (with the support of a Metro Arts Catalyst Grant). Our current cohort includes 5 directors who we are mentoring over a 2 year period and will culminate in a Festival Showcase of their work.
Impact
2022 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- We were able to produce a 4-play season in 2022 for the first time since the pandemic! All plays were critical successes and drew sold out crowds. The season included: THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler, TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Nia Vardalos based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, ACT LIKE A GRRRL 2023, and the world premiere of THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY by Cynthia C. Harris.
- ACT LIKE A GRRRL returned to in-person programming with a recorded performance due to a few of the participants contracting COVID. The grrrls unanimously agreed that the cohort staying intact was more important to them than a live performance that would have eliminated the COVID positive participants. This speaks to the heart of the program where teenage girls value the good of the whole more than their individual desires.
- In-person classes have grown in popularity. We are noticing an increase in the number of students choosing the Meisner Technique as a way to emotionally re-engage with in-person life in the wake of 2 years of isolation from the pandemic. We added courses in the Suzuki Method of Acting and On-Camera Acting to our Acting School in partnership with the Rene Millan Acting Studio.
- We were awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant to write a new play based on personal narratives of female-identifying Nashvillians about their experiences with their bodies and gender-based violence. We are currently leading a series of workshops at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center (formerly TN Prison for Women) which will culminate in a performance inside the prison in April 2023.
- We launched a new cohort of emerging directors in our Directors Inclusion Initiative. They are in year one of a 2-year program that will culminate in a Festival Showcase.
- We are continuing implementation of our new strategic plan created during the pandemic with the help of consultant Kelly Tipler and finalized in 2021.
2023 GOALS:
- Complete oral history collection and personal narrative workshops for NEA grant project.
- Write script and conduct play development workshops for NEA grant project.
- Send Producing Artistic Director to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse (home of the Meisner Technique) in order to deepen and diversify the offerings in our training program to more closely model a conservatory program.
- Produce 4-play season including Eve Ensler's THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, the World premiere of HEAVY by Alicia Haymer, Act Like a GRRRL, and THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE by Andrew Bovell.
- Redesign our website to more fully integrate with our new ticketing platform (OvationTix).
- Continue to build on successful fundraising initiatives created through our strategic plan.
Needs
Actors Bridge offers a tremendous array of important and highly regarded programs with a full-time staff of only one person. Our top 5 needs include:
- Volunteer support from professionals with deep experience in social media marketing, development, grant-writing, event management, and office management.
- Scholarship funds for teenage girls in financial need to attend Act Like a GRRRL, our critically-acclaimed autobiographical writing and performance program. A scholarship for one grrrl is $1250.
- Scholarship funds for local actors in financial need to study in our professional Acting School. The cost of one class is $325. The cost to complete the core Meisner program is $1950.
- Funds to match our recently received NEA grant to create a new play based on personal narratives of female-identifying Nashvillians about their experiences with their bodies and gender-based violence.
CEO Statement
During the pandemic, our board of directors took the time to do deep reflection and strategic planning for the future of our small but mighty theater company. We have increased and energized our board committees and have doubled our contributed income.
As we returned to in-person programming, we experienced the jolting fits and starts of re-opening and closing again. This happened multiple times as COVID numbers rose and fell in Nashville. This, after the intense pivoting of 2020 and 2021, required yeoman's effort on the part of every performing arts non-profit in town. I'm so grateful that Actors Bridge remained afloat.
In the last two years, we have doubled our individual contributions. We have diversified and increased grant funding by 30 percent. Interest in our classes continues to rise. We currently have a waiting list to enter the training program. We produced our first full post-pandemic season in 2022. COVID delayed the opening of one production but did not halt any of them. Shows played to sold out houses and great acclaim from local critics.
As we open our 2023 season, our focus is on family - the one we are born into and the ones we make along the way. THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES has a communal following that has turned out for this fundraising performance for Act Like a GRRRL for over 20 years. They feel like family. The World premiere of HEAVY by Alicia Haymer tells the story of a Black Southern family and the riffs and joys they encounter. THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE by Andrew Bovell examines a year in the life of the Price family and the ways they have to expand and change to stay together as each of the 4 children experience heart wrenching change. And, of course, the GRRRLS of Act Like a GRRRL refer to themselves as a "sisterhood." That's about as family as it gets.
I think the notion of family took on new significance for all of us during the pandemic. The folks in our "pod" were our lifeline, an umbilical cord that helped us survive that awful isolation and fear. It feels good and right to celebrate the importance of family with our 2023 Season. It is my hope that these plays instill a deeper sense of awe and respect for the countless ways family hold us and keep us resilient in both the good and difficult times.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Arts, Culture & Humanities - Theater |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Educational Services |
Areas Served
Actors Bridge classes take place at our studio in the Darkhorse Chapel in West Nashville (across the street from Richland Park). Performances take place at our studio and at Darkhorse Theater and other venues around Nashville. Audiences and students come from as far away as Huntsville, AL and Bowling Green, KY to participate in Actors Bridge programs.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Montgomery |
