About Us: Mission / History

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ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

Since 1995, Rude Mechs has used performance to explore collectivity, collaboration, and community. The result is a mercurial slate of 22 original theatrical productions ranging from Low-Fi, Agit-Prop, Lec-Dems to Multi-Media, Romantic-Era, Closet Dramas. What they hold in common is bold physicality, intellectual savvy, a preference for the actor above the character, and an irreverent sense of humor. We tour these performances nationally and abroad; maintain The Off Center, a performance venue for local arts groups of every discipline; and manage an Arts Access program to ensure that everyone in Austin who wants to participate in the arts, can.

Rude Mechs has received over 170 local and national awards and nominations for our work. We’ve enjoyed two Off-Broadway premieres and toured to top national venues such as The Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis, MN), The Wexner Center (Columbus, OH), and Woolly Mammoth (Washington D.C.). We participate in the international community of artists by contributing to festivals such Austria’s SommerSzene, the Galway Arts Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Kiasma Festival, the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, and the Under the Radar Festival in NYC. Our emergence into this community was marked by a feature in the New York Times that identified Rude Mechs as one of three companies in the country “making theatre that matters.” We are deeply proud to represent Texas as a home for cutting-edge theatrical practice.

In 1999, Rude Mechs assumed the management of The Off Center, a performance warehouse in East Austin. The Off Center houses a flexible 100-seat theatre, the administrative offices of Rude Mechsand studios for visual artists. The company also presents the work of nationally recognized theatre artists and produces Grrl Action, a year-round program in autobiographical writing and performance for teenage girls. Few theatre companies in the history of Austin’s arts community have seen such an explosion of audience enthusiasm and artistic growth in such a few short years. Most importantly, the quality and innovation of the company’s theatrical productions have firmly established Rude Mechs as one of Austin’s most highly valued cultural assets.

A WORD FROM THE CO-PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

The artistic directors of Rude Mechs often compare ourselves to a cycling team because of the fluid manner with which we switch roles—when one of us is having a hard time another swoops in to take the lead. We often compare the full company to a band because of the various harmonies you get when you combine the talents of the individual members and their particular training, histories, and experiences. But perhaps the most astonishing description is the one that lacks all metaphorical drapery—Rude Mechanicals is made up of six artistic directors who have chosen, day after day, to commit to each other for 12 years. As a company of almost 30 actors, designers, and crew we apprentice ourselves to the idea that the best work is made by combining the depth of multiple points of view with the discipline to speak as a single voice.

OUR MISSION

RUDE MECHANICALS is an ensemble-based company located in Austin, Texas committed to the collaborative creation of brave new works for the stage, the development of new voices in the theatre and young theatre artists, and to forming alliances with other artists locally, nationally, and internationally by:

* engaging in a truly collaborative approach
* producing socially and politically conscious work
* confounding the boundaries separating artistic genres
* creating a community space for artists of all disciplines
* facilitating inquiry and training
* promoting diversity in our company and audience
* keeping our productions affordable

For tickets or information please call 512-476-RUDE or visit our tickets page.
For questions email info@rudemechs.com.