In the southwest corner of the West Village District near downtown OKC, Carpenter Square Theatre has found its forever home. “We are in our 41st season and second full season at 1009 W. Reno. This is our fifth, and last, location,” said Artistic Director Rhonda Clark.
Clark has been involved with Carpenter Square Theatre in some capacity for the last 36 years. And after losing 30 years of furniture, props and equipment in a devasting fire a few years ago, the theatre company has been rebuilt better than ever. Clark is understandably proud of the new space that houses the theatre company: “Everything is now under one roof,” she said.
The theatre has approximately 120 seats with ADA accessibility, and Clark joked, “With about five and a half feet between each row, we have the most leg room in town.” Visitors are encouraged to enjoy the art gallery in the lobby which exhibits work from local, central-Oklahoma artists while having a beverage from the concession stand. “We are a small house, so our shows are up close and personal,” Clark noted. “Our audiences can immerse themselves in the performance. If the actors are crying, you are going to see the tears roll down their face.”
For those involved in the productions, there is a rehearsal hall, break room, space for prop, costume and furniture storage and a large scene shop all on site. This convenience is ideal for the eight plays Carpenter Square produces each season, each offering 10 performances over three weekends. As it is a traditional community theatre, everyone, including the actors, directors and stage crew, is from the OKC metro.
“We present a wide variety of productions, with many styles of plays from comedy to drama to farce,” Clark explained. “We have a committee we lovingly call our theatre book club that consists of about a dozen people. We read plays from September to February, then meet every other week to discuss and rate each one. We assess the entertainment value of each piece, whether or not we would be able to produce it within our space and whether or not we have people in the community to play the roles.” Clark noted that they do intentionally choose plays which include minority actors and promote auditions to those performers. Most plays that the committee chooses are contemporary pieces, though they will often include the classics if they are relevant for our times.
This month, Jan. 17-Feb. 1, Carpenter Square will be performing The Children by Lucy Kirkwood, which Clark says is its most serious drama of the season. “It is set in a dystopian time, after a nuclear power plant meltdown. It is kind of an admonition to watch what we are doing with our environment.”
Next month, Feb. 28-March 16, Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson will take the stage. This production is part of Carpenter Square’s educational programming, during which grant funding allows it to bring at-risk high school students to the theatre for a free morning matinee. The grants will provide transportation if needed, and teachers are supplied with a study guide they can incorporate into their curriculum. Silent Sky is the story of real women who were employed by Harvard and responsible for major breakthroughs in astronomy.
The season is rounded out by three other productions which take place through July 27. To learn more about the rest of the 41st season, or about Carpenter Square Theatre, visit carpentersquare.com.
Interested in learning more about arts and culture in Oklahoma? Check out our 2024 Best of the 405 for Arts and Entertainment.
