Founder’s Story
My wife, Tamlyn Tomita, and I have been actors most of our lives. We count ourselves very lucky to have found a way to make our living as artists. We also teach, and are involved with community activism, as well as projects within our communities and around the country. We feel compelled to get involved in these efforts because we feel it is part of being an artist: to see and hear others and to be seen and heard; to try to understand the world and to make it a better place for all.
I have a small article I tore out of a Playbill over 30 years ago. In truth, it is not really an article, but rather a small segment of a monologue from a play entitled Another Time, a World War II drama by Ronald Harwood. I have kept it with me all these years, reinforcing it with Scotch tape as it has aged and torn as I look to it often. It is something that I have read to my acting and improvisational students the first day of every class I have ever taught.
“It’s no secret that I am a lover of books, a lover of poetry, a lover of art. I believe in art. Art, I believe, is an expression of what is best about each and every one of us…There’s not a thought in my head, not a feeling in my body, that art hasn’t, in one way or another, informed and fired…I believe art might, just might, turn the whole world upside down. Alright not the whole world, I don’t believe in miracles, but one individual world, and that’s a chance, in my opinion, you’re meant to take. After all, I speak from personal experience.”
I was a young actor, fresh out of graduate school, when I first came upon this and it resonated with me then, and it has continued to deepen its root in me as I have gotten older. Art is an essential part of who we are and how we communicate. We are in challenging times. The inequities within our culture are tearing us apart, and they have been for quite some time. There are no easy answers or solutions. But there is one thing I think we all could be better at: we could listen to each other more. Outside In Theatre is an attempt to establish a physical and digital space in which voices and stories can be discovered, evolved and shared. It intends to be a welcoming and nurturing space — a resource for artists shaping their personal stories and a resource for audiences to witness and to participate in.
And, although this may seem a simple goal, I would be remiss if I didn’t reflect upon the more layered truths this pursuit is based upon.
My mother, Carol Hall, was a composer/lyricist. Throughout her life as an artist, she nurtured a myriad of successes: she had successful shows on Broadway and off, some of which she also performed in or produced; she was the first of two women signed as solo artists by Elektra Records in 1970 (the other woman being Carole King); she wrote for albums that won Grammy Awards, she was nominated for Tony Awards, she was awarded Obie Awards, and has two Gold Albums; her songs have been performed and covered by Mabel Mercer, Barbara Streisand, Frederica von Stade, Big Bird, Dolly Parton, RuPaul, Bill Evans, Tony Bennett and more; she wrote songs for Free To Be You and Me (It’s Alright to Cry and Parents are People), Sesame Street, and is probably best known for writing the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She created a legacy of work as an artist.
She also was my mom, and I am part of her legacy along with my sister, Susannah. I spent most of my childhood playing underneath the piano where she created her art. Her songs became the soundtrack of my life. But all her achievements aside, her greatest success, in my opinion, was her relationship with the artists around her. A lifetime member of the Dramatists Guild Council and a vice-president of the Dramatists Guild Foundation, she helped develop ground rules for dramatist’s contracts that addressed the inequities of her time. She championed the rights of writers nationwide, was a Tony nominator and Tony voter, directed grants to theaters across the country, mentored young writers and was a steward for developing artists. One of the things she believed was that artists needed a place of their own in which to work, where they felt inspired, supported, and free to explore.
With this in mind, she established the Dramatists Guild Foundation Music Hall. As she stated: “I wanted to give our writers something they could really use, so I decided to give them some space!” The Music Hall is a space which can be booked by writers creating for the theater at no cost to themselves, where they can continue to develop the projects they are working on. To this day, the Music Hall has a fully-booked reservation calendar. Not a day goes by that someone isn’t creating or revising or performing their work in the Music Hall. My mom just wanted to give artists the chance to create their art.
My mom nurtured artists. My mom nurtured me. I am part of her legacy. She passed 3 years ago, and part of what she left in me as an artist now gives rise to Outside In Theatre. If it were not for her, this entire venture would not have been possible.
Outside In Theatre hopes to carry on her legacy, and to build its own, inspired by artists in the neighborhoods around it and around the world.
Outside In Theatre believes that art might, just might, turn one individual world upside down. We believe it is a chance we are all meant to take.
We hope that you will join us in this journey.
Thank you,
Daniel Blinkoff and Tamlyn Tomita
MISSION STATEMENT
Outside In is an evolving force in equitable and transformative storytelling. Through multi-platform theatrical experiences, we will create art that speaks to our intersectional communities and amplify content created by and for underrepresented voices. We will nurture brave spaces for all, including Black, Indigenous, AAPI, Latinx, Global Majority Peoples and White allies, to take their work to the next level.
Vision STATEMENT
Outside In Theatre is building the world we want to see by producing daring, dynamic, and authentic untold stories by unheard voices.
COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
Outside In Theatre has developed the “Commitment to Equity and Inclusion” Statement, outlining principles to uphold diverse representation, create brave spaces, engage intersectionality, commit to continuous learning, encourage courageous exploration, foster creativity, and build community partnerships.
Read the full statement here.
