Hugh Jackman, Sonia Friedman team up for new theatrical venture

Los Angeles: Actor Hugh Jackman has teamed up with producer Sonia Friedman to launch a new company dedicated to creating “intimate and accessible” live theater.

The company is called Together, and its founders say, “it will be driven by a commitment to offering audiences a chance to experience theater in a fresh and engaging way”, reports ‘Deadline’.

Working alongside director Ian Rickson, Together will stage short runs of fully rehearsed, full-length plays, along with readings, panel discussions and other events in the US, UK, and elsewhere.

As per ‘Deadline’, the focus will be on collaboration, ensemble, equal pay for actors, and shared creative credit. The announcement states, “By stripping the fully rehearsed productions down to their essentials, with minimal décor, Together aims to celebrate the raw power of storytelling, getting back to what often makes theater so compelling in the first place”.

Performances will take place in small venues, where established actors will perform “just feet from the audience, creating an intimate, elemental experience and heightened sense of community”.

Above all, the announcement continues, Together is committed to keeping its productions genuinely affordable for a large proportion of the house and open to as many people as possible.

In a lengthy joint statement, Friedman and Jackman said: “With director Ian Rickson we wanted to create a company where actors, writers, and directors could experiment, explore, and take risks, away from the pressures that are often associated with the commercial theater world.

Together is about going back to basics, rediscovering the simple, thrilling essence of live performance. “At the same time”, the statement continues, “this isn’t about our stepping away from Broadway or the West End, it’s about supporting and coexisting alongside them. We have always been drawn to theater because of its raw energy, the excitement of a first reading, the joy of stepping into an unexpected role, that sense of a shared experience. With Ian, this company is our way of sharing those moments with audiences, making them part of our process”.

–IANS