The Wicked Stage

Some time ago I started to pay attention to the names of theater groups and casually wondered how they came into being. Not the groups themselves but the names thereof. I suppose when individuals or groups decide to form some theatrical entity he/she/they need to identify him/her/them(selves) to attract attention for the sake of, well, attracting attention. I picture people sitting around with beverages and crudités in some kind of think-tank bull-session bandying about alternatives. I’m sure some name might have appeared full-blown in the mind of some soapy soul while singing in the shower but I would think that more probably naming is a group effort.

Anyway, without questioning motives or creative circumstances I’m listing names that have caught my eye for various reasons. I am purposely leaving out groups/theaters named after people or the streets on which they are located or the cities/communities in which they exist. Feel free to add to the list keeping that criterion in mind.

Adhesive Theater Project
Bang on a Can Collective
Beautiful Soup Theater Collective
Blue Coyote Theater Group
Concrete Temple Theater
Elevator Repair Service
Epic Theater Ensemble
Exit Theatre
Flea Theater
FoolsFury Theater Co.
Half Straddle Co.
Kitchen Theatre Co.
Labyrinth Theater Co.
Manbites Dog Theater
Paducah Mining Co.
Page 3 Productions
Pig Iron Theater Co.
PigPen Theater Co.
Radiohole
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Squeaky Bicycle Productions
Shotgun Players
Signature Theatre
Steppenwolf Theatre Co.
Target Margin Theater
Theatre Rhinoceros
Third Rail Projects
Under the Radar Festival
Upright Citizens Brigade
Wooly Mammoth Theatre Co.