Plays will be staged in the museum’s NCR Renaissance Auditorium beginning in late September.
DAI executive director Michael Roediger said the agreement is the first in a series of community collaborations designed to make the museum a place where audiences can enjoy a variety of enriching visual experiences. Possible future partnerships include Film Dayton and the Dayton Visual Arts Center.
“We’re very excited about this partnership, and so is our education team,” said Roediger, adding that part of the agreement is that Zoot will also provide educational programming. Other possibilities include collaboration on exhibits tied to performances, performances tied to exhibits and festivals.
“This is a huge move for us,” said Zoot’s co-founder and executive director Michael Sticka. “This gives us a dedicated home, allows us to reach a whole different audience and gives us the opportunity to produce shows on three consecutive weekends.”
For the past couple of years, the company has been performing at the Schuster Center’s Mathile black box theatre where seating is limited to 100 and restrictions made it difficult to produce ongoing shows. In contrast, the DAI auditorium seats 490 and will allow Zoot to run plays for three weekends at a time.
Formed four years ago, the puppet theater has joined with other artists and organizations across Southwest Ohio to offer everything from full-scale staged productions to mask and puppet-making workshops and educational programming. Partnerships have included Muse Machine, Town Hall Theatre in Centerville, CityFolk, Central State University, the University of Dayton, Playhouse South, Rhythm-N-Shoes, Human Race, and the Victoria Theatre Association.
Puppets for the 60-90 minute shows are all created locally and will continue to be built in the company’s studios on Washington Street.
The new Zoot season at the DAI will open Sept. 28 with a production of “The Hobbit.” The productions are aimed for audiences of all ages. DAI members will get discounts on show tickets.
It isn’t the first time the DAI has played host to local theater companies. The Dayton Civic Theater performed at the DAI from 1938-42 and Dayton Theatre Guild was in residency beginning in 1945 for five years.
For information: www.zoottheatrecompany.org and www.daytonartinstitute.org
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or MMoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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