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We're coming back!!! After several years dark, we're looking for a new permanent location and are building a following and staff. First it was Eatmore Theater in Huntsville, Texas. Then the Co-Founder of Eatmore opened "The Theater or Necessity" in 1981, in Houston, Texas with the help of Norman Stewart. After some shows at schools, universities, professional, for-profit, outdoor theater was the presentment of TON (The Theater of Necessity) but when Hurricane Alicia, in 1983, took down the acoustic shell that was the stage and tech area of the outdoor theater (and a bunch of theatrical lights from the two rows of Pecan trees that outlined the audience space of the theater) the outdoor shows became smaller and TON was forced jto establish indoor spaces for the performance of larger or more conventional plays. Philbert Plumb came on board as a Director. At this point, the patchwork Theater Group was conceived and begun to set up local stages around the city and the country for touring plays or local plays that needed space. Running from the fire marshall and occupying a variety of spaces (like the Chocolate Bayou Theater space after it was closed) TON continued producing plays under the direction of Philbert Plumb and others at various |
locations and the smaller outdoor location, still at the Webber Rose Ranch until opening The Hughes Art and Theatrical Conversion in 1989 or 1990. There, such classic TON fare as "Christmas and Kerosene", "The Fat Phantom" (which Robert Wilson invited himself to see), "Job Interview With A Mad Man" and many other plays were presented. Philbert Plumb documents his shows at "The Webber Rose Ranch" and other venues in his book, "Experiments in the Spine", working copies of which were destroyed in the same arson fire as that which took down the office of "The Strain" magazine and burned most of the records of the Theater of Necessity. We proudly announce work to compile a "History and Plays of The Theater of Necessity" which will be blogged here as the original playwrights rewrite and recreate the final versions of their final show scripts and as some of the history is re-found from other sources than the Chicken House where all the records were kept. We will be presenting those plays in chronological order (as much as possible) to benefit the re-opening and re-establishment of a permanent location for The Theater of Necessity along with a Theatrical and Arts school to be attached to the new stages of The Theater of Necessity. |
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