The Cutting Ball Theater was founded in 1999 by Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers with a mission to develop productions of experimental new plays and re-visioned classics, with an emphasis on language and images. Cutting Ball’s vision is to produce plays that reveal a poetic truth as opposed to a naturalistic or realistic one. Our artistic goals are to exercise and enrich the imagination of our audience; to honor and move forward the field of avant-garde theater; to provide an artistic home to playwrights, directors, actors and designers interested in challenging themselves and deepening their work through experimentation; and to offer work featuring the highest level of professionalism, excellent production values, innovative writing, and deeply committed performances.
CBT presents a three-play season as resident company at EXIT on Taylor in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. CBT’s New Experimental Plays Initiative includes commissions, development workshops, and RISK IS THIS . . . The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival. CBT also presents a free Hidden Classics Reading Series on Sundays. A 2010 article in American Theater Magazine described CBT as “synonymous with some of the best small theatre the Bay Area has to offer.” CBT won “Best Theater” in the 2010 SF Bay Guardian Reader Poll, “Best Experimental Theater” in SF Weekly 2012, a National Theater Company Award from the American Theater Wing and an inaugural “Acker Award” for excellence in the avant-garde in 2013. In 2013 CBT was awarded one of fourteen national grants from the Andrew Mellon Foundation to host resident playwright Andrew Saito for three years.
Grant Recipient 2012, 2013
Pictured: Melisande (Caitlyn Louchard) reaches for the doves outside of her tower window while Pelleas (Joshua Schell) watches from below. Photo by Rob Melrose