Tantrum Theater’s outburst

A performance arts renaissance is stirring in central Ohio, led in part by Tantrum Theater, the new professional theater founded by OHIO’s College of Fine Arts.

“And I think ‘renaissance’ is absolutely the right word,” says Daniel Dennis, PHD ’13, artistic director of Tantrum Theater.

The City of Dublin—in collaboration with Dublin Arts Council—is moving forward with building a performing arts center in Dublin’s Bridge Street District, and Tantrum Theater is poised to be its centerpiece and resident theater company, Dennis says.

“These are once-in-a-lifetime, game-changing opportunities for the theater division,” Dennis says of both Tantrum Theater and the new space. “We will profoundly increase the visibility of the performing arts in Central Ohio, the stature of Ohio University, and create really positive opportunities for our students.”

OHIO’s Tantrum Theater, in partnership with the City of Dublin and Dublin Arts Council, launched in the fall of 2015, and is in its second full season. Its name was inspired in 2015 by ten graduate student actors and two directors, who began referring to themselves as “The Tantrum” after the collective noun for bobcats.

The theater company welcomes apprenticeships for OHIO theater students. Rachel Tillman Cornish, Tantrum’s founding producing director, compares the apprenticeship to a medical student’s clinical rotations. “We pair professionals who are accomplished in their fields with a student or students so they can learn by example.”

Student apprentices range from actors to scenic artists to costume designers. Acting students participate in staged readings or serve as either minor cast members or understudies.

Cornish notes large numbers of first-generation college students in OHIO’s theater programs and Tantrum Theater apprenticeships. “I can’t even tell you how much that means to me and the work that we’re doing,” she says. “I am thrilled to see the commitment and integrity our students bring in creating great art and wanting to contribute to the culture of Ohio University and Central Ohio.”

To learn about Tantrum Theater’s 2017 season and for tickets click here.

Feature photo courtesy of Tantrum Theater