HISTORY OF GREEN CANDLE THEATRE COMPANY
The Green Candle Theatre Company was originally founded as Garage Theatre Inc. in December 1989 by four University of Vermont alumni. The company rented a rehearsal space in downtown Burlington where public play readings were held. The press quickly became intrigued by the new troupe describing it as “...a promising eruption of theatre.” The troupe incorporated as a 501(c)3, non-profit organization, in January 1990 and by May had begun to produce original work.
In our second generation as Green Candle Theatre Company we earned international recognition with performances of Feeding the Moonfish by Barbara
Wiechmann at the 1994 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Scotsman hailed Green Candle as “Theatre at its best.” In 1995 we returned to the Fringe festival and premiered In the Blood by Vermont playwright Keefe Healey. The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) praised “the taut nightmare drama” for offering “strikingly good performances” and The Burlington Free Press headlined us as “Bloody Good Theatre.”
During October of 1996, we produced the American premiere of the hit British musical Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens which ran for 17 sold-out performances at 135 Pearl and won the Burlington Bessie Award for Outstanding Original Musical. Seven Days said that Saucy Jack was “...Hot! Hot! Hot!”
In 1997, the company premiered three new works by Vermont playwrights at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in NYC. The New York Times said our comedic production of “The Prince and the Pauper” by playwright Marc Lachapelle was “hilarious” and Dr. Ruth Westheimer called the show “Delightful!”
In its tenth season the company created The Chartreuse Salon, a forum for dramatic readings of literature. We also offered such diverse productions as the dark and haunting Man in the Glass Booth by Robert Shaw and the off-beat holiday comedy Desire under the Elves by Robert Coles.
By the year 2000, the company had produced over 60 plays and held acting workshops for adults and children. In the fall of 2000 we produced Duet for One by Tom Kepinski; a drama loosely based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pre. We also created Cabaret 2000 - Where Do We Go From Here?, which we performed at Club 135.
In spring 2001, Green Candle presented our debut collaboration with Parima Restaurant, All in the Timing, an evening of five comedic one acts written by David Ives served to perfection amidst a five-course meal. The show was a sold-out success.
In March 2002 the company presented The Probable Pirandello’s Wife, a dark new work by Vermont playwright Herb Propper. The show ran for six well-attended performances at FlynnSpace.
In the summer of 2005, the troupe was pleased to perform Neil Simon’s Fools as part of the inaugural season of the Waterfront Theatre at Main Street Landing in Burlington.
In spring 2006, the company premiered Silent Invasion, a multi-media original work written by Vermont playwright Josh Bridgman. In November, the company returned to FlynnSpace with the premiere of The Next State, written and directed by Seth Jarvis in collaboration with Sweet Racket Productions.
We returned to FlynnSpace in March 2007 with Jane Martin’s controversial drama, Keely and Du.
Our 2008-2009 season brought three incredibly successful productions. The first was an adaptation by Vermonter Aaron Masi of Nicholai Gogol’s short story, The Nose, in June at Burlington’s FlynnSpace. Tarin Chaplin of the Barre Times Argus wrote, “Comedy is the toughest kind of theater to pull off. But this production, which feels like a hybrid of King of Hearts and Cabaret, did it. I laughed myself silly. It did my heart good; it put a smile on my face from the moment it began until long after it ended; it changed my mood from good to great; it reminded me of what amazing talents reside here.”
This was followed by an original work by Vermonter Michael Jordan Evans, Art the Father. This piece was written for Michael’s father and performed at a budding theatre venue in Burlington’s south end, The Outer Space Café. Brent Hallenbeck of The Burlington Free Press notes that this was “…a production that somehow packs broad comedy and sharp psychological drama into a taut 90 minutes.”
Our first show of 2009 was David Mamet’s American Buffalo, also performed at the Outer Space Café. Elisabeth Crean of Seven Days says, “The actors generate an intense chemistry that sweeps the audience into the story. This is what live theater, at its best, is supposed to do."
Green Candle continued its critically acclaimed theatre in the fall of 2009 with Maura Campbell’s original work Rosalee was Here at The Outer Space Café and again in 2010 as part of Lost Nation Theatre’s Winterfest in Montpelier.
2010 was also our 20th anniversary season, and the year we committed to producing ony original works. We presented Josh Bridgman’s Concrete Kingdom, as well as two more Maura Campbell plays, Flower Duet and Wild Geese.
2011 Green Candle was part of the inaugural Fringe Festival at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts as well as their annual Very Off X-Mas.
We again participated in both those events in 2012 and we produced our first ever six week run with the original play The Napoleon 2012.
In 2015, Green Candle became one of the founding members of the OC@OC (Original Content at Off Center) is an unprecedented collaboration of Vermont theater companies and artists joining together to present a year-long season of completely new work. We presented John Milton Oliver's The Question, directed by Jordan Gullikson.
In our second generation as Green Candle Theatre Company we earned international recognition with performances of Feeding the Moonfish by Barbara
Wiechmann at the 1994 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Scotsman hailed Green Candle as “Theatre at its best.” In 1995 we returned to the Fringe festival and premiered In the Blood by Vermont playwright Keefe Healey. The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) praised “the taut nightmare drama” for offering “strikingly good performances” and The Burlington Free Press headlined us as “Bloody Good Theatre.”
During October of 1996, we produced the American premiere of the hit British musical Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens which ran for 17 sold-out performances at 135 Pearl and won the Burlington Bessie Award for Outstanding Original Musical. Seven Days said that Saucy Jack was “...Hot! Hot! Hot!”
In 1997, the company premiered three new works by Vermont playwrights at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in NYC. The New York Times said our comedic production of “The Prince and the Pauper” by playwright Marc Lachapelle was “hilarious” and Dr. Ruth Westheimer called the show “Delightful!”
In its tenth season the company created The Chartreuse Salon, a forum for dramatic readings of literature. We also offered such diverse productions as the dark and haunting Man in the Glass Booth by Robert Shaw and the off-beat holiday comedy Desire under the Elves by Robert Coles.
By the year 2000, the company had produced over 60 plays and held acting workshops for adults and children. In the fall of 2000 we produced Duet for One by Tom Kepinski; a drama loosely based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pre. We also created Cabaret 2000 - Where Do We Go From Here?, which we performed at Club 135.
In spring 2001, Green Candle presented our debut collaboration with Parima Restaurant, All in the Timing, an evening of five comedic one acts written by David Ives served to perfection amidst a five-course meal. The show was a sold-out success.
In March 2002 the company presented The Probable Pirandello’s Wife, a dark new work by Vermont playwright Herb Propper. The show ran for six well-attended performances at FlynnSpace.
In the summer of 2005, the troupe was pleased to perform Neil Simon’s Fools as part of the inaugural season of the Waterfront Theatre at Main Street Landing in Burlington.
In spring 2006, the company premiered Silent Invasion, a multi-media original work written by Vermont playwright Josh Bridgman. In November, the company returned to FlynnSpace with the premiere of The Next State, written and directed by Seth Jarvis in collaboration with Sweet Racket Productions.
We returned to FlynnSpace in March 2007 with Jane Martin’s controversial drama, Keely and Du.
Our 2008-2009 season brought three incredibly successful productions. The first was an adaptation by Vermonter Aaron Masi of Nicholai Gogol’s short story, The Nose, in June at Burlington’s FlynnSpace. Tarin Chaplin of the Barre Times Argus wrote, “Comedy is the toughest kind of theater to pull off. But this production, which feels like a hybrid of King of Hearts and Cabaret, did it. I laughed myself silly. It did my heart good; it put a smile on my face from the moment it began until long after it ended; it changed my mood from good to great; it reminded me of what amazing talents reside here.”
This was followed by an original work by Vermonter Michael Jordan Evans, Art the Father. This piece was written for Michael’s father and performed at a budding theatre venue in Burlington’s south end, The Outer Space Café. Brent Hallenbeck of The Burlington Free Press notes that this was “…a production that somehow packs broad comedy and sharp psychological drama into a taut 90 minutes.”
Our first show of 2009 was David Mamet’s American Buffalo, also performed at the Outer Space Café. Elisabeth Crean of Seven Days says, “The actors generate an intense chemistry that sweeps the audience into the story. This is what live theater, at its best, is supposed to do."
Green Candle continued its critically acclaimed theatre in the fall of 2009 with Maura Campbell’s original work Rosalee was Here at The Outer Space Café and again in 2010 as part of Lost Nation Theatre’s Winterfest in Montpelier.
2010 was also our 20th anniversary season, and the year we committed to producing ony original works. We presented Josh Bridgman’s Concrete Kingdom, as well as two more Maura Campbell plays, Flower Duet and Wild Geese.
2011 Green Candle was part of the inaugural Fringe Festival at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts as well as their annual Very Off X-Mas.
We again participated in both those events in 2012 and we produced our first ever six week run with the original play The Napoleon 2012.
In 2015, Green Candle became one of the founding members of the OC@OC (Original Content at Off Center) is an unprecedented collaboration of Vermont theater companies and artists joining together to present a year-long season of completely new work. We presented John Milton Oliver's The Question, directed by Jordan Gullikson.
