WARP Theatre's 20th Anniversary
Donation protected
Celebrate Twenty Years of WARP Theatre!
This year marks 20 years of Writers and Actors Reading and Performing Theatre. From our humble beginnings as Dramatists and Actors Meeting Now (DAMN), we have seen two decades of original short works being developed through experiential educational programming. With your support, we can continue to offer this programming free to our community for another decade or more!!
Who We Are & What We Do
Writers and Actors Reading and Performing (WARP) Theatre is an educational organization serving Seattle-area playwrights, actors, and people who are generally interested in theatre production. All meetings are open to anyone and everyone from seasoned professionals to those with little or no previous experience. There are no membership dues, although voluntary contributions to help pay rent are welcome. In addition to the weekly meetings, WARP produces several shows a year using selected material written, directed, and performed by participants.
Our membership meets on Tuesday nights at the Center Theater Black Box in the Armory Building of the Seattle Center to read and discuss newly written short works for theater. Twice a year, we produce a showcase of our members’ written works through a two-week performance run. Moving into our 20th year of existence, we decided to challenge the community with specific themes for the first time.
Check out more on our website: WARPTheatre.org
OUR MISSION
We provide a safe, free, and accessible space for anyone to explore, experience, and learn the craft of theater.
OUR VISION
We are actively working to facilitate the creative process and production of new theatrical works; in an effort to help achieve racial and social equity. We are raising public awareness of underrepresented communities through the craft of theater to foster the expression of those voices.
Our 20th Season Closer: 4twenty; Stores that Examine, Celebrate, Demystify, and Normalize Cannabis Culture
In the last few years, we’ve focused our collective lens on the socio-political aspects of life (e.g., transformation, history, and social justice). In our Spring 2017 Showcase, 4twenty, we tell stories to examine, celebrate, normalize, and demystify cannabis culture. While much of the available media related to cannabis consists of misinformation, jokes, and stereotypes, the reality presents a darker situation. The natural plant has been used as a tool to arrest a disproportionate amount of men of color, destroying their lives and the lives of their family and loved ones; it is the common tool for continued slavery.
While legalization is new to us, cannabis has been utilized and cultivated by humans since the earliest civilization of Sumeria. In the 5th Century BC, Greek historian Herodotus wrote of an ancient burial practice involving cannabis as a spiritual cleansing tool. Cannabis was once a major export from the Americas, used to make rope and clothing. It’s only been since the 20th Century that marijuana has become illegal, starting with the District of Colombia in 1906, when they declared a need to regulate pharmaceuticals and sales of poisons (i.e., cannabis). By the 1930’s, all states agreed to execute the criminalization of federally illegal drugs equally. Finally, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty, was adopted by most of the world in 1961. Cannabis is now only legal in a small handful of places on this planet, though it has been decriminalized in several countries. We are living in fascinating times for this plant.
WARP is grateful to have the support of The Cannabis Alliance, a non-profit whose mission is to modernize and legitimize the cannabis industry through education, advocacy, and progressive legislation. For more information about what they do, visit their site, http://www.thecannabisalliance.us/.
New Leadership Team
WARP Theatre changed leadership in the summer of 2015. Jason Dooley (Managing Director) and John Paul Sharp (Creative Director) are the newest founding owners of one of the longest-running not-for-profit theater organizations. Both Dooley and Sharp have extensive experience acting on stage, writing and directing for stage and film, and organizing others for the benefit of the community.
John Paul Sharp is the Creative Director of WARP Theatre. He has a B.S. in Contemporary Vocal Performance (2009) and a M.A. in eLearning Implementation and Design (2013), both from the University of Colorado Denver, where he was awarded Outstanding Graduate of the College of Arts & Media and the School of Education and Human Development. Since 2003, he has written, produced, and self-published over 30 works of music for stage, film, and the recording arts. In recent years, he worked closely with local Seattle theater company Copious Love Productions as their Development Liaison, helping them grow from their first year to their fifth. When not working for WARP Theatre, Sharp teaches Creative Designs for Instructional Materials online for the University of Colorado Denver and works full-time as a Deli Clerk for The Central Co-op, a local cooperative grocery store.
Jason Dooley is the Managing Director of WARP Theatre. He has been singing and acting professionally for nearly a decade. His eclectic background in hospitality and finance bring an invaluable set of skills to keep our organization's activities organized and documented. He was recently noted as a natural leader by Home Street Bank, where he works to help process home loans. He has worked as an actor and director for WARP Theatre in the past.
Previous Funding and Press
In November 2015, we were able to raise enough funds to pay for our weekly rent from January – August as well as our rent for our performance venue and rehearsal space for this showcase. These funds were raised both through ticket sales and a project based Indiegogo Campaign. This season, our goal is to raise enough money with this showcase to pay for the remainder of 2016’s rent and operating costs.
We were able to gain additional resources and support from Theatre Puget Sound by volunteering our time to clean rehearsal rooms on a monthly basis (i.e., in return, we receive $20 worth of rent per month and free advertising space in one of their rehearsal rooms). We volunteered our time to help reconstruct the Center Theatre, which earned us an additional 30 hours of free rehearsal time (i.e., $300 worth of rent), all of which we will dedicate to this showcase.
As mentioned previously, our last showcase in November of 2015 was not only a financial success, but we received an acknowledgment from the community:
"The members and performers of WARP are active lovers of theater—folks with an interest or curiosity to see what they can do with a script or on stage. WARP has been a fixture in the Seattle theater community for nearly 20 years. Newly installed Artistic Director John Paul Sharp and Managing Director Jason Dooley have many ideas that will keep WARP going." - Mark Douglass, Drama in the Hood, Nov. 1, 2015.
Moving Forward
We are bringing new life into the organization by implementing a higher standard for performances. We increased a number of rehearsal hours and now supervise and coordinate the directors. We are developing our online presence through Facebook posts, YouTube videos, blogging on our website, and reaching out to our growing mailing list.
We create an overall experience from the moment a guest arrives at the show. We make it fun. We decorate the space to create a mood. We have themed drinks and snacks for concessions. And we work as a collective team, with an evolving vision, to do this.
We see our organization as an excellent jumping board for many professional and beginning actors, writers, and directors. We want to see everyone we meet and work with become the most successful artists they can be.
We measure our success through a variety of methods: ticket sales, fund-raising efforts, industry feedback through reviews, and community engagement through social networks online. By publishing the resources detailed in the previous section, we will be able to analyze the level of exposure and participation of our members and audiences.
Using video, images, and text, we will document as much of the process as possible (e.g., rehearsals, meetings, and workshops) and make that process freely available to public online for the purposes of learning and enrichment. We will record interviews from actors, writers, directors, and audience members about their experience with the showcase and we will ask them about what they feel they have learned and how they think they have grown. We believe this qualitative reporting is a unique and interesting way to promote the showcase. One of our directors' largest goals will be to brainstorm and come up with realistic, inexpensive ways to create online content to pull audiences into what we're creating for the showcase.
Our passion for theater is only as strong as our passion for people. And it's our passion for people which will keep us working hard to contribute real value to the theater and performance arts communities in Seattle and all over the world, online. Dooley and Sharp want to continue the tradition of WARP and keep growing it toward the future.
This year marks 20 years of Writers and Actors Reading and Performing Theatre. From our humble beginnings as Dramatists and Actors Meeting Now (DAMN), we have seen two decades of original short works being developed through experiential educational programming. With your support, we can continue to offer this programming free to our community for another decade or more!!
Who We Are & What We Do
Writers and Actors Reading and Performing (WARP) Theatre is an educational organization serving Seattle-area playwrights, actors, and people who are generally interested in theatre production. All meetings are open to anyone and everyone from seasoned professionals to those with little or no previous experience. There are no membership dues, although voluntary contributions to help pay rent are welcome. In addition to the weekly meetings, WARP produces several shows a year using selected material written, directed, and performed by participants.
Our membership meets on Tuesday nights at the Center Theater Black Box in the Armory Building of the Seattle Center to read and discuss newly written short works for theater. Twice a year, we produce a showcase of our members’ written works through a two-week performance run. Moving into our 20th year of existence, we decided to challenge the community with specific themes for the first time.
Check out more on our website: WARPTheatre.org
OUR MISSION
We provide a safe, free, and accessible space for anyone to explore, experience, and learn the craft of theater.
OUR VISION
We are actively working to facilitate the creative process and production of new theatrical works; in an effort to help achieve racial and social equity. We are raising public awareness of underrepresented communities through the craft of theater to foster the expression of those voices.
Our 20th Season Closer: 4twenty; Stores that Examine, Celebrate, Demystify, and Normalize Cannabis Culture
In the last few years, we’ve focused our collective lens on the socio-political aspects of life (e.g., transformation, history, and social justice). In our Spring 2017 Showcase, 4twenty, we tell stories to examine, celebrate, normalize, and demystify cannabis culture. While much of the available media related to cannabis consists of misinformation, jokes, and stereotypes, the reality presents a darker situation. The natural plant has been used as a tool to arrest a disproportionate amount of men of color, destroying their lives and the lives of their family and loved ones; it is the common tool for continued slavery.
While legalization is new to us, cannabis has been utilized and cultivated by humans since the earliest civilization of Sumeria. In the 5th Century BC, Greek historian Herodotus wrote of an ancient burial practice involving cannabis as a spiritual cleansing tool. Cannabis was once a major export from the Americas, used to make rope and clothing. It’s only been since the 20th Century that marijuana has become illegal, starting with the District of Colombia in 1906, when they declared a need to regulate pharmaceuticals and sales of poisons (i.e., cannabis). By the 1930’s, all states agreed to execute the criminalization of federally illegal drugs equally. Finally, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty, was adopted by most of the world in 1961. Cannabis is now only legal in a small handful of places on this planet, though it has been decriminalized in several countries. We are living in fascinating times for this plant.
WARP is grateful to have the support of The Cannabis Alliance, a non-profit whose mission is to modernize and legitimize the cannabis industry through education, advocacy, and progressive legislation. For more information about what they do, visit their site, http://www.thecannabisalliance.us/.
New Leadership Team
WARP Theatre changed leadership in the summer of 2015. Jason Dooley (Managing Director) and John Paul Sharp (Creative Director) are the newest founding owners of one of the longest-running not-for-profit theater organizations. Both Dooley and Sharp have extensive experience acting on stage, writing and directing for stage and film, and organizing others for the benefit of the community.
John Paul Sharp is the Creative Director of WARP Theatre. He has a B.S. in Contemporary Vocal Performance (2009) and a M.A. in eLearning Implementation and Design (2013), both from the University of Colorado Denver, where he was awarded Outstanding Graduate of the College of Arts & Media and the School of Education and Human Development. Since 2003, he has written, produced, and self-published over 30 works of music for stage, film, and the recording arts. In recent years, he worked closely with local Seattle theater company Copious Love Productions as their Development Liaison, helping them grow from their first year to their fifth. When not working for WARP Theatre, Sharp teaches Creative Designs for Instructional Materials online for the University of Colorado Denver and works full-time as a Deli Clerk for The Central Co-op, a local cooperative grocery store.
Jason Dooley is the Managing Director of WARP Theatre. He has been singing and acting professionally for nearly a decade. His eclectic background in hospitality and finance bring an invaluable set of skills to keep our organization's activities organized and documented. He was recently noted as a natural leader by Home Street Bank, where he works to help process home loans. He has worked as an actor and director for WARP Theatre in the past.
Previous Funding and Press
In November 2015, we were able to raise enough funds to pay for our weekly rent from January – August as well as our rent for our performance venue and rehearsal space for this showcase. These funds were raised both through ticket sales and a project based Indiegogo Campaign. This season, our goal is to raise enough money with this showcase to pay for the remainder of 2016’s rent and operating costs.
We were able to gain additional resources and support from Theatre Puget Sound by volunteering our time to clean rehearsal rooms on a monthly basis (i.e., in return, we receive $20 worth of rent per month and free advertising space in one of their rehearsal rooms). We volunteered our time to help reconstruct the Center Theatre, which earned us an additional 30 hours of free rehearsal time (i.e., $300 worth of rent), all of which we will dedicate to this showcase.
As mentioned previously, our last showcase in November of 2015 was not only a financial success, but we received an acknowledgment from the community:
"The members and performers of WARP are active lovers of theater—folks with an interest or curiosity to see what they can do with a script or on stage. WARP has been a fixture in the Seattle theater community for nearly 20 years. Newly installed Artistic Director John Paul Sharp and Managing Director Jason Dooley have many ideas that will keep WARP going." - Mark Douglass, Drama in the Hood, Nov. 1, 2015.
Moving Forward
We are bringing new life into the organization by implementing a higher standard for performances. We increased a number of rehearsal hours and now supervise and coordinate the directors. We are developing our online presence through Facebook posts, YouTube videos, blogging on our website, and reaching out to our growing mailing list.
We create an overall experience from the moment a guest arrives at the show. We make it fun. We decorate the space to create a mood. We have themed drinks and snacks for concessions. And we work as a collective team, with an evolving vision, to do this.
We see our organization as an excellent jumping board for many professional and beginning actors, writers, and directors. We want to see everyone we meet and work with become the most successful artists they can be.
We measure our success through a variety of methods: ticket sales, fund-raising efforts, industry feedback through reviews, and community engagement through social networks online. By publishing the resources detailed in the previous section, we will be able to analyze the level of exposure and participation of our members and audiences.
Using video, images, and text, we will document as much of the process as possible (e.g., rehearsals, meetings, and workshops) and make that process freely available to public online for the purposes of learning and enrichment. We will record interviews from actors, writers, directors, and audience members about their experience with the showcase and we will ask them about what they feel they have learned and how they think they have grown. We believe this qualitative reporting is a unique and interesting way to promote the showcase. One of our directors' largest goals will be to brainstorm and come up with realistic, inexpensive ways to create online content to pull audiences into what we're creating for the showcase.
Our passion for theater is only as strong as our passion for people. And it's our passion for people which will keep us working hard to contribute real value to the theater and performance arts communities in Seattle and all over the world, online. Dooley and Sharp want to continue the tradition of WARP and keep growing it toward the future.
Organizer
Jason Dooley
Organizer
Seattle, WA
