Profile by television journalist Michael Valdes with comments by Kyle Gillette of the Overtime Theatre, broadcast August 7:
For about five years, The Overtime Theater has promoted itself as "Theater for the People." And while they have received plenty of praise, they could always use, well... more people. A recent move out of the Blue Star Arts Complex to an old medical supply building on Camden is at least bringing the room for that.
"We have more rehearsal space. We have more room to do larger shows," says Kyle Gillette, Artistic Director for The Overtime. There is also more lighting, better sound and, as a result, some new excitement about what can be done with local original theater that makes it accessible to a bigger audience. "At Overtime, we try to create work that anyone whether they have seen anything or read anything, they will come in and say, wow... that was awesome," says Gillette.
He feels many local theater companies are doing the kind of work that pushes the group as a whole to another level. Gillette says, "It seems like now there are enough folks who have come here, who are creative types. Who want to see what it could be to go out on a Friday night and instead of going and drinking at a bar... or in addition to going and drinking at a bar...to see some work that moves them and helps them to connect to other people."
Gillette believes there is enough of an audience to go around... As long as everyone keeps doing things from the heart. " The enemy to theater is bad theater," according to Gillette. "You go and see a bad play and you are like, theater sucks. But if you see something interesting, then you want to go see other stuff."
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