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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. When the Axial Theatre Company in Pleasantville closes a performance, the actors do not go their separate ways, moving on to other plays as most in the theatre business do. They are essentially a family, and move on as a collaborative group to work on their next original play.
Howard Meyer, founder and president of Axial, said that this close-knit group creates an advantage on and off the stage.
"There's something very special about working with a set group of people over a long period of time," Meyer said. "On a lot of shows, you're working with actors and the show closes and you might not see those people for a very long time, if ever,"
To eliminate the revolving door, Meyer created the Axial Theatre Company in 1998 with more than a dozen actors, writers and directors to collaboratively develop new and original performances.
"It really struck me that if people develop relationships and connections with each other really great things can happen and you can become like a theatre family,"Meyer said.
Meyer also developed his own acting school, Howard Meyer's Acting Program. The acting school, founded in 1994, preceded the theatre company and in a way created Axial
"In developing that training program I began to see that people were beginning to excel and become developed actors, it became clear to me that I could develop something out of this," Meyer said
The acting school is still today used for a gateway into Axial. Meyer teaches beginners to experts and not only those that have ambition to become professional, but also those that wish to act as a hobby.
The Axial Theatre Company performs their plays at St. John's Episcopal Church in Pleasantville. The next performance for Axial, titled "Feathers Sometimes Soar on the Breath of God," will open on October 20 and will go on through the first week of November. The production is still in development. Meyer's Acting Program is still accepting registrations for summer acting classes currently in session and also for their sessions in the fall set to begin in the beginning of September. Visit www.hmacting.org for more details.
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