Mission
Rotate Theatre Company creates and celebrates new and alternative plays, musicals, and other performing arts, thoughtfully bringing people and ideas together through entertaining storytelling and unique experiences.
Vision
By engaging audiences in laughter and discussion, embracing practices that enrich the lives of collaborative artists, incorporating multidirectional learning, and celebrating performing arts featuring various underrepresented perspectives, Rotate Theatre Company contributes to larger webs of strategies that build more just futures for professional artists and the general public.
About
Rotate Theatre Company is a multi-issue, multi-genre theatre company grounded by a passionate ensemble of experienced theatremakers facilitating projects that warmly welcome trained artists, dedicated beginners, and new audiences. The "Rotate" in our name reminds us to seek different perspectives all around us, nimbly adjust as context changes, and refers to our Rotation Practices which help us innovate, increase accessibility, and utilize a variety of skill/knowledge/power-sharing techniques as we produce plays and musicals for the stage, bring new short works to audiences through festivals, develop independent films, and offer educational opportunities, special events, and curated programs.
Co-founders Richard Paro and Cyra K. Polizzi have been collaborating since 2000. Projects produced under other monikers (such as Indie Boots Theatre) took place in southern Wisconsin and in Zhigaagong / Chicago where they worked for 15 years with longtime ensemble members Ashely Bagot, Breahan Eve Pautsch, Crystal Hartford, and Jessica Dexter. The late 2010s brought changes for the ensemble members and the company, including exciting shifts in place, name, and techniques. Now, Rotate Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Teejop / Madison, WI.
Access
Whether you are an artist or an audience member, whether your needs are catered to in mainstream cultures or not, we want you to have a great experience at Rotate events! We are continually working to improve multifaceted access in our projects and have adapted/developed various tools to help us, including
Access Charts. Please contact us with any questions, ideas, or requests regarding access or accommodations: rotatetheatre@gmail.com, 608-515-8912
We use alternative ticketing models to offer a significant number of very low-cost tickets to our mainstage productions, available to all. We also offer artists subsidized (very low-cost and free) workshops. Consider donating to help us continue to provide these opportunities to artists and audience members!
Rotate Theatre Company . Based in Teejop / Madison, WI
RotateTheatre@gmail.com . 608-515-8912 . www.rotatetheatre.org
Rotate Theatre Company
Based in Teejop / Madison, WI
RotateTheatre@gmail.com . 608-515-8912
www.rotatetheatre.org
The Rotate Theatre Ensemble
Ashely Bagot
Ashely Bagot (she/they) works in many areas of theatre and film, including directing, acting, playwriting, and designing. In addition to her work with Rotate Theatre, Ashely has collaborated with many other theatre companies, primarily in the Chicago area. Ashely also works assisting people with mental illness access housing and recovery services.
Breahan Eve Pautsch
Breahan Eve Pautsch (she) is a director, actor, and writer. In addition to her work with Rotate Theatre, Breahan has collaborated with Raven Theatre, International Voices Project, Wildclaw Theatre, Broken Nose Theatre, Speaking Ring Theatre, Halcyon Theatre, Theatre Entropy, North Lakeside Players, Scriptworks, and Akvavit Theatre where she served in many roles including artistic director. Breahan is frequently called upon for her expertise directing contemporary Nordic plays for U.S. audiences. Breahan grew up in Cadott, WI, attended UW-Madison in Theatre and English, and was based in Chicago for many years before returning to Madison and completing a graduate degree at UW.
Crystal Hartford
Crystal Hartford (she) is an actor, director, and musician. Crystal's theatre credits include "Hellena" in
The Rover, "Brooke" in
Noises Off, and "Jameson" in
The Passion of Dracula. Crystal's film credits include
Mass Romantic,
The Fox in the Snow, and
So-Called Living. Crystal can also be found performing with Matt Focht (Head of Femur, Bright Eyes) in the band Hartford/Focht. Crystal hails from Omaha, NE and attended Avila University in Kansas City, MO where she received her BFA in Theatre.
Cyra K. Polizzi
Cyra K. Polizzi (they/she) has an extensive background in theatre acting and a wide range of experiences in other specialties (directing, writing, facilitation, etc) and modalities (dance, music, film, etc). Whether exploring realism or other approaches, from silent movement-based work to campy drag musicals, much of Cyra's work incorporates humor, queer possibilities, and multi-issue activism. Cyra grew up performing in the driftless area of rural WI, attended UW-Madison in Theatre Acting, Gender Studies, and Environmental Studies, and spent 15 years in Chicago working in storefront theatre and independent film before happily returning to Teejop / Madison. Cyra then completed a grad program at UW-Madison, formalizing their transdisciplinary research asking questions about accessibility and sustainability in theatre practices. In addition to their work with Rotate, Cyra serves on Chicago Inclusion Project's Access Advisory Board.
www.cyrakpolizzi.com
Richard Paro
Richard Paro (he) is an award winning theatre and film director based in Madison, WI. Richard uses highly collaborative techniques throughout the artistic process and much of his work emphasizes coalition-building, as seen in theatre productions like
There Might Be... Stumble. In addition to his work with Rotate Theatre, he has worked with many companies in Chicago, including Stage 773, Arc, Theatre-Hikes, Prologue, Tympanic, Dandelion, and Stockyards Theatre Project, and his feature-length and short films screen at festivals in 22 states and 15 countries. Always excited to share his favorite theatre, movies, and music with new audiences, Richard has worked in festival programming and organizing for years in Madison, Chicago, Milwaukee, and surrounding areas. Richard also has a background in natural and vegan foods.
Rini Tarafder
Rini Tarafder (she) is a playwright who works and lives in India and the United States. She teaches theater at the University of Denver in Colorado and holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies from UW-Madison where her research focused on political theatre in India. She also experiments with poetry, musical instruments, photography, sewing, and digital forms of performance art. Rini's ideal day would include walking through the woods, looking at birds.
