Theater Companies in Buffalo Niagara

August 9, 2021

Theatre has the ability to help us better understand ourselves & the world we live in & is a Buffalo Niagara (or anywhere) essential service.

by Max Fisher

Tragic, comedic – theater reflects some of life’s biggest truths back to us in a microcosmic snippet

Rocking Your (Assumptions About the) World

THE THEATRE! All that grandiosity can be simply intoxicating (provided you’re not watching someone ham it up to high heaven. In that case, the intoxication turns into a conveniently timed bout of food poisoning). The theatre has always been at the front line of promoting controversial or emotionally charged material to the public. The theatre stage is the mirror in which life is reflected back to us. The actors on stage are heightened interpretations of humans reacting to situations, but they still carry kernels of truth despite the grandeur. Seeing a good production on the stage can be both a cathartic and revealing experience unearthing possible feelings and perspectives that you may have never even thought of before, but that’s the magic of it!

You never know just how going to see a performance is going to affect you. Will you be giddy from watching some great love story that makes you explode out the door supercharged to find love? Will you become pensive after watching a particularly probing production that leads you to rethink just about everything you thought you knew about the world? Or will a god-awful performance leave you sweating buckets inside the theatre as you try with every fiber of your being to hold back laughter, which only leads you to leave early before intermission and fall down on the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as soon as you go outside (which happened to me)?

Yes, the theatre is a grab bag of sorts but a wonderful one at that. With that in mind, let’s dive into it and explore the many theater companies in Buffalo Niagara.

When You’re Strange

I don’t know if anyone’s noticed yet, but I’ll just go ahead and take the plunge… I’m a bit of a strange guy, for many reasons to be honest. But for the sake of this piece (and the scary prospect of diving deep into myself and my possible neuroses), let’s just focus on the following: I like reading plays in my spare time. I consider it fun. I really enjoy the flow of the proceedings as well as the heightened speech and the palpable drama at the center of every play. It doesn’t matter what it is, from murders to someone stealing a chicken wing out the fridge, plays always have a way of making the mundane seem deathly important, and I really gravitate towards that (perhaps I really yearn for life’s dramas? Oh no, the probing begins!) However, despite how much I like reading plays, I much rather see one if it’s a production I’m interested in done by a reputable company. My preferred theatre of choice, when the urge to see a play hits, is none other than The Paul Robeson Theatre.

Irish Classical Theater Company

The Paul Robeson Theatre is the oldest African American theatre in the Buffalo Niagara region, first opening its doors in 1968. That’s the thing I really enjoy about it. It has a strong sense of history that you feel as soon as you enter the door because it has been around for over 50 years. The Robeson is utterly dwarfed in size by a place like Shea’s, but more often than not, I prefer it over Shea’s for that very reason.

The theatre is supposed to be an intimate space with live performances generating live raw emotions that are supposed to grab hold of you (or rock you to sleep depending on how the show goes). And the smaller space only adds to that sense of intimacy. There’s nowhere to go. You can’t look at the balcony seats during a difficult scene (because there are no balcony seats). You can’t hide in the back row (there’s barely a back row to hide in).

All you can do is face the performers on stage, which is how it should be.

Hallmarks

The Robeson specialized in August Wilson plays (this is pre-Covid; I’m sure they changed it up a bit now), and anyone that knows Wilson’s work knows that he focuses heavily on the black experience in America. The result of doing one of his works just by its nature meant that the actors on stage really had to bring their A-game because his work takes full advantage of the theatre as a medium. In-depth monologues about everything from persecution to just wanting to make a way in life, despite hitting obstacles. Three-dimensional characters that seem to leap off the stage and breath life to every word that comes out of their mouths (of course, this really comes down to how good the actor or actress is doing on stage, but the Robeson has always had consistent quality in the performance department, from what I’ve seen). And a strong central theme that gets thoroughly explored throughout the play.

These are not only the hallmarks of an August Wilson play, but are the hallmarks of a good play in general. And the Robeson exhibited excellent execution on all of these fronts whenever I saw one of their productions. That’s why I hold them in high esteem. They don’t need a vast space with crystal chandeliers and elaborate costumes. All they need is the space they have and the strong material to create something powerful!

Shakespeare in Delaware Park

Non-Negotiable Catharsis

The theater world is in a tough spot. Covid has completely ravaged the entire theater business in just about every way you could imagine, to the point that the majority of working actors are living paycheck to paycheck (even more than usual). So, if anything in this piece sparked even the faintest bit of interest in you, I implore you to please go see a play. Be it big or small it doesn’t matter, whenever you can. The theatre is a vital part of society. It has the ability to help us better understand ourselves as well as the world we live in. It’s important that we support as many local theater companies in Buffalo Niagara as much as possible because they provide an essential service to us all. No matter where you come from or where you are, theater has a way of reaching and affecting us all.

Theater Companies in Buffalo Niagara

choose any theater company to see location information, seeing upcoming schedule, get directions, & more.

Academy of Theater Arts

Buffalo

Actors Anonymous Theater Co.

Buffalo

Adam Mickiewicz Library & Dramatic Circle

Buffalo

Alleyway Theatre

Buffalo

American Repertory Theater of Western New York

Buffalo

Aurora Players

East Aurora

Broadway Theater

Buffalo

Buffalo Chrysalis Theatre

Hamburg

Canisius College Little Theatre

Buffalo

Desiderio’s Dinner Theatre

Buffalo

Ghost Light Theater Co.

North Tonawanda

Green Buffalo Productions

Buffalo

Irish Classical Theatre Company

Buffalo

Kavinoky Theatre

Buffalo

Lancaster Players

Lancaster

MusicalFare Theatre

Amherst

New Phoenix Theatre

Buffalo

Niagara Regional Theatre Guild

Tonawanda

O’Connell and Company

Tonawanda

Raices Theatre Company

Buffalo

Rocking Horse Productions

Buffalo

Second Generation Theatre Company

Kenmore

Shakespeare in the Park

Buffalo

Shea’s 710 Theatre

Buffalo

Shea’s Buffalo

Buffalo

Shea’s Smith Theater

Buffalo

Starry Night Theatre, Inc.

North Tonawanda

Subversive Theatre Collective

Buffalo

The Jewish Repertory Theater

Getzville

The Paul Robeson theater

Buffalo

Theatre in the Mist

Lewiston

Theatre of Youth

Buffalo

Torn Space Theater

Buffalo

Towne Players of Ken-Ton

Tonawanda

Ujima Company Theatre

Buffalo

Unique Theatre Company

Buffalo

What do you think of our guide to theater companies in Buffalo Niagara? Know a great one that we missed? Have a favorite? Let us know.

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