After 20 years as an indie producer, and 10 years producing non-equity theatre for nonprofit theatres in North Dakota, founding Artistic Director, Kathleen Coudle-King, began Theatre without Walls. It premiered its first production, The Shelter Plays, in August 2020 as a response -- or reaction to the pandemic which made traditional theatres go dark.  She put out a call for 10-minute plays, and six plays were performed in picnic shelters in University Park, in Grand Forks, ND.  Audiences felt safe in watching from the comfort of their own folding chair and moved from shelter to shelter to take in the comic plays. 

In 2021, Theatre without Walls premiered, In Search of Persephone, another site-specific play set in a park.  Using the Greek myth, Coudle-King wrote a play highlighting homelessness, and particularly the plight of transphobia and teen runaways.  The audience walked from scene to scene in the park and GF Greenway in search of Persephone. 

 

Researching shelter insecurity led to researching mental illness, as so many of the people Coudle-King interviewed struggled with mental health issues complicated further by addiction. This work led to Retail Therapy, running May 11-21 at Empire Arts Center, "Studio E."