The Empty Space Theatre
Setting Theatre Free!
A blog about Arts & Entertainment.
Address: 706 Oak Street Bakersfield, CA 93311 Member Since: March 05, 2008 Last Signed In: September 16, 2008 Profile Views: 200 Blog Views: 279 ROCK FU is back at The Empty Space! Stand-up Comedy tonight at The Empty Space! Summer Picnic & Basket Auction! Why should Bakersfield care about The Empty Space? Two-Day Music Festival at The Empty Space! AUDITION NOTICE: Reefer Madness the Musical! Did you know? Recycling in Bakersfield March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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Why should Bakersfield care about The Empty Space?
What makes The Empty Space unique?
With seven different community theatres in the Bakersfield area alone - not to mention all of the school and professional productions that come to town - it can be tough to keep up with our local theatre scene. And despite the various marketing tactics employed by Bakersfield theatres, audience attendance and degree of media attention can be highly unpredictable. Upon entering The Empty Space for the first time, many people have remarked, “I didn’t even know this place existed!” Ultimately, we hope to reach as many people as possible, because The Empty Space Board of Directors passionately believes in the theatre’s vision and our offering to the artistic community.
The Empty Space works hard to create a true theatre community, providing a venue for actors to come together and read plays, exchange ideas and challenge and help each other grow as artists. Our yearly seasons are determined by the suggestions made by members of the community at open “Pitch Days,” held twice a year. The theatre supports all other live theatres in Bakersfield, offering free advertising space in every program for all shows in town - professional, community, and educational alike. We also have a fantastic art gallery, with new exhibits monthly. The ultimate vision of the Empty Space is to help rejuvenate theatre as an art form and to help stimulate the artistic appreciation for all art forms and all venues in Bakersfield.
When The Empty Space opened five years ago, it was immediately pegged as “the edgy theatre in town.” TES certainly continues to produce thought-provoking, challenging, and sometimes controversial material, but the theatre does not exist purely for shock value, and we want to be sure that the community is aware of all that we offer! The intention and mission of The Empty Space is simply to provide professional quality live theatre to the community of Bakersfield and to create an opportunity for local actors, directors and technicians to work in a creative environment that allows them to express themselves and their artistic ideas while encouraging them to continue to study and improve their craft. We invite all members of the community to get involved at the theatre; we love to see new faces at auditions, events and fundraisers!
We do pride ourselves on the wide range of options provided to local audiences: past seasons have included Shakespeare classics, professional puppet shows, late-night sketch comedy (both tame and mature), light-hearted comedies, family-friendly classics, dark comedies, wrenching dramas, experimental new plays, traditional musicals, unconventional musicals, music festivals, poetry, film and documentary screenings, gallery exhibits, stand-up comedy, karaoke nights, improvisational theatre, fairs, fundraisers, and more. We offer a venue and a home to artists who want to produce shows they feel passionate about, regardless of how commercial or “safe” they may (or may not) be. The arrangement of the theatre is unlike any other in town, and our patrons often comment that they enjoy the extreme intimacy of the space. While many productions allow for intricate sets and technical effects, others are set against a bare black stage with minimal set pieces and props, emphasizing instead the story and the characters.
The Empty Space has had a noticeable effect on the local artistic community, inspiring other theatres to begin offering more thought-provoking and avant-garde material (note the development of the new “Spotlight Series” at The Spotlight Theatre) and themed galleries (Bakersfield Community Theatre is now on board with a gallery of their own). TES is committed to the community. We have had benefits supporting such causes as the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association, funding mentoring and scholarship programs; The Kern Lifeline Project - an AIDS program; The Bakersfield AIDS Project; and the Bakersfield College Jazz Ensemble. We also worked with the Save-A-Teacher campaign to present The Miracle Worker at The Empty Space, and for the past five years we have taken part in the Worldwide V-Day Campaign to do our part to end violence against women and girls. So far, we have raised more than $15,000.00 for The Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault. We continue to look for opportunities to help the community!
“Setting Theatre Free”
Running a theatre is expensive, and very few theatres are able to survive on ticket prices alone. We hope to survive by the generosity of our patrons. We ask minimum donation of 5$ for students and $10 for adults, which is comparable to most other theatres in town, and a lot less expensive than theatres outside of our area. As far as we know, we are the only live theatre in North America that charges no admission, relying instead on donations, with no government assistance. It is important to us that everyone is able experience live theatre, regardless of his or her financial situation. The concept of “Setting Theatre Free” has everything to do with you. Without an audience, there is no live theatre, and so we invite members of the community to come for free. We ask you to pay at the end of the performance, and we encourage you to give only what you can. We also offer many rewards and benefits to our members and sponsors, because it is due to their help and generosity that we are able to continue Setting Theatre Free all year long. The Empty Space is a 501c3 Non-Profit Community Theatre and donations are tax-deductible (for more information on becoming a member or sponsor, feel free to call 327-PLAY). Additionally, The Empty Space is available to rent to outside groups for a very low flat or hourly rate, whether it’s an outside performance, sales presentation, awards ceremony, or something else… we welcome all mediums of visual and performing arts, as well as non-arts related events! If you have other ways you might be able to aid or become involved with the theatre, either through donations of money, time or energy, partnerships, or ideas on how to generate revenue, please let us know by phone or email at executive@esonline.org - we are always looking for new ideas!
And here's a look at the rest of the 2008 prime time season. We hope to see you there! APRIL: Molière classic The Bourgeois Gentleman
2 comments from 2 users
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posted by
Wayfarer
on May 2, 2008 at 05:07 PM
Doesn't the Empty Nest do a lot of obscene material and if that is the case is this something that Bakersfield needs? posted by
TheEmptySpace
on May 6, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Wayfarer: We provide a venue for local artists to explore all areas of theatre they might be interested in. TES has produced some very controversial material, but we also regularly produce literary classics and family-friendly shows. Please don't limit The Empty Space to any particular category when it comes to the type of material offered! For every "Cleansed" there is an "Of Mice and Men." As mentioned above, we produce so many different types of theatre, comedy, puppetry, concerts, and so on, it's impossible to place the theatre into any one genre.
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