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 in2003, 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 Stage’s John and Jean Yeager Theater.


The past few years, The Back Porch Players have been actively involved in many projects and have been found performing in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.


This summer, the group has converged upon Houston once again, and are thrilled to be cooperating with Stages Repertory Theatre to bring you the side-splitting comedy that had Off-Broadway and Los Angeles audiences rolling in laughter for over 1,000 performances – JEWTOPIA! This “Outrageously funny, equal opportunity satire” (The Los Angeles Times) written by Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson tells the story of Chris, a gentile who wants to marry a Jewish girl so he’ll never have to make another decision, and Adam, a Jew who needs to marry a Jewish girl to please his family but can’t get a date to save his life. The two friends make a pact – Chris promises that he’ll find Adam a Jewish girl if Adam will bring Chris undercover into the Jewish world to help him shed his gentile ways. Stereotypes collide, cultures clash, and chaos ensues in what The New York Times called, “Unstoppable, Hilarious, [and] one of the biggest hits!