Rites and Reason Theatre

About | Mission | RPM | Logo | Staff | George H. Bass | Affiliations

Rites and Reason Theatre is a research and developmental theatre dedicated to giving voice to the diverse cultural expressions of the New World. Rites and Reason primarily develops the works of Black playwrights who explore the vast Africana experience. Rites and Reason works in its unique Research-to-Performance Method (RPM) of developing new works for the American theatre. The RPM is a rational and systematic process that organizes teams of artists, scholars and researchers in the scholarly and creative development of new theatrical performances. These RPM teams engage in direct dialogue with the community throughout the developmental process from ideas to readings to workshops to mainstage productions.

The Rites and Reason method includes the development of innovative theatrical forms rooted in cultural traditions and expressions. Within Africana cultural traditions art is a creative manifestation of thought and culture. As such, Rites and Reason trains writers, directors and actors in the process of identifying specific intellectual and cultural traditions and rituals, translating them into theatrical forms.

About Rites and Reason Theatre

Celebrating its 37th anniversary as one of the oldest continuously producing Black theatres in the nation, Rites and Reason is dedicated to giving voice to the diverse cultural expressions of the New World. Rites and Reason, a research and development theatre, uses its unique Research-to-Performance Method of Play Development (RPM) to develop new works for the American stage. Rites and Reason Theatre was founded in September 1970 by Professor George Houston Bass as a component of the then Afro-American Studies Program. Born out of the Black Arts Movement and student protests at Brown University, Rites and Reason evolved into a Research-to-Performance Method theatre. The RPM is a process that nourishes organic diversity without mandate. Throughout its history, Rites and Reason has developed works by undergraduate and graduate students and professional playwrights who have gone on to national acclaim. In recent years, Rites and Reason has developed and produced student plays about foot binding in ancient China and the conscription of Jewish boys into the Russian Czarist Army in the 1830s.

The Mission

Rites and Reason Theatre’s mission is to develop new works for the American Stage which analyze and articulate the phenomenal and universal odyssey of the African Diaspora. Over the years, the mission has grown naturally to embrace expressions of other cultural experiences.

The Research-to-Performance Method of Play Development (RPM)

The Research-to-Performance Method of Play Development (RPM) is Rites and Reason's method trademark. The RPM teams scholars, writers and community persons to create and develop significant new works. A magical and wonderful thing happens when scholars become artists and artists become scholars within the RPM process.

Logo

The Me-We is the name of the Rites and Reason logo. The upper totem represents the mind, intelligence and reason. The lower totem represents the mask, performance and rites.

Staff

Elmo Terry-Morgan, Artistic Director
Karen Allen Baxter, Producer/Managing Director
Rhett S. Jones, Research Director
Clarice LaVerne Thompson, Music Director
Alonzo T. Jones, Technical Director
Donna Edmonds Mitchell, Administrative Manager
Dawn M. Jackson, Administrative Office Assistant

George H. Bass

George Houston Bass (1938-1990), Founder and Artistic Director of Rites and Reason Theatre was educated at Fisk University, New York University, and Yale University. From 1973 until his death, he was Professor of Theatre Arts and Afro-American Studies at Brown University.

Professor Bass worked with Professor Rhett S. Jones, a historian and the Research Director for Rites and Reason Theatre to express the cultural, social and ideological concerns of the various peoples and cultures of the African Diaspora. He also worked with producer and managing director Karen Allen Baxter to codify the methods and the development of plays at Rites and Reason.

Bass is the author of numerous plays, including Black Masque, Malacoff Blue, and De Day of No 'Mo. He has worked as a director throughout the country. Brer Rabbit Whole was first produced at Fisk University, and a revised version was produced by Rites & Reason in 1985. Bass' Black Masque was part of Rites & Reason's 25th Anniversary Season. Professor Bass was also the editor of The Langston Hughes Review, the official organ of the Langston Hughes Society.

AWARDS
Bass's work has been acknowledged by the American Society of Cinematologists winning the Rosenthal Award in 1964 and the Plaque of the Lion of St. Marc at the 1967 Venice Film Festival. Professor Bass also received a John Hay Whitney Fellowship, a John Golden Fellowship from the Yale University School of Drama, a Harlem Cultural Council Grant, a Howard Foundation Fellowship, and a Fulbright Research Grant.