Our Mission

We are The Back Porch Players, a Houston-based theatre troupe devoted to the idea that theater is a powerful teaching tool that has the ability to inspire change in the individual as well as the community.

The central subject matter in our work is the theme of identity and social responsibility.

At the root of our mission, we believe theatre should be a place of expression for everyone involved. So, we feel it essential to have a couple talk-backs with the audience to discuss the play’s themes, each actor’s thoughts, the process, and most importantly the reactions and questions from the audience about the production. We want to create an environment, not just for us as artists, but for the public to share and contribute ideas.

OUR HISTORY

In 2002, a group of friends from Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, including founding members Dan Gordon, Matt Hune, and Morgan Rosse. came together to put on the play Brighton Beach Memoirs. They didn’t have a theatre space to perform in, or space that didn’t charge money rather, so they decided to use Dan’s backyard. Since they had no budget, they went dumpster diving for wood and furniture to build the set and improvised a lighting system out of hemp chord and clip lights. This group of friends rehearsed and rehearsed on Dan’s back porch until…Voila! Theatre.

 

The debut production of Brighton Beach Memoirs went off beautifully. Two performances on the back porch were followed by a closing performance at Bien Venue Theater. Soon after, the group set off to get their state and federal 501(c)3 non-profit status.

 

In 2003 Nick Collins and Troy Scheid joined the company, further deepening the players roots within the Houston theatre community.

 

Growing steadily in size and patronage, they mounted productions of Clifford Odets’ Waiting For Lefty in 2003, and Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead in 2004, continuing the tradition of opening the production on the back porch and moving to a professional theater space for the duration of the run. In 2005, the players produced Michael Weller’s Moonchildren in cooperation with Stages Repertory Theatre. The show opened to positive reviews and enjoyed a successful 3-week run in Stages’ John and Jean Yeager Theater.

 

In 2010, the group converged upon Houston once again, and cooperated with Stages Repertory Theatre to bring JEWTOPIA, the side-splitting comedy that broke box office records.

 

2011 marked a monumental year for The Players as they became the first theatre company to perform at the Margaret Alkek Williams Dance Lab at The Houston Ballet Center for Dance.  At this new architecturally stunning state-of-the-art downtown venue, they presented Woody Allen’s comedies God and Death directed by Artistic Associate, Nicholas Collins.  The play received high critical acclaim throughout the media and garnered much public attention.  For The Back Porch Players’ second production of 2011, they produced the powerful In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by the Alley Theatre’s David Rainey.  D.L. Groover, of the Houston Press gave a glowing review calling the production, “frighteningly superb”.